The Tea That Failed Three Inspections Before Anyone Believed It

Assam tea was rejected in writing at least three separate times, by three different men, over eight years, before the Company's own botanist agreed it was real. The paper trail survives, names included.

The History of Assam Tea

The complete record of Assam tea: the wild assamica plant noted in 1823, the British annexation that opened the valley, the first eight chests sold in London in 1839, the Assam Company, the CTC machine that put Assam in the world's tea bags, and the region that grew into the largest tea producer on earth.