Tagged: chai

Milk and Assam: Why the Strong Tea Takes It

Assam is the tea built for milk, and there is plain chemistry behind it. Milk's casein binds the tea's tannins before they reach your mouth, softening the pucker, which is why a brisk, full-bodied Assam survives the jug where a delicate tea is drowned by it.

Where Assam Goes

Most Assam never leaves the country, and the blend that says Assam on the tin does not always have any in it. Here is the honest map of where the leaf travels, by weight and measure.

Ronga Saah: The Assam Tea Stall Is Not a Chai Wallah

Ronga saah is Assam's default tea stall order, black tea steeped strong and sweetened in a small glass tumbler, no milk. Walk up to a roadside stand here and that is what lands in front of you, not the milky, spiced chai "chai wallah" means everywhere else in India.