Acid, Aluminum, and Rain: The Soil and Monsoon Behind an Assam Cup

The valley's soil runs strongly acidic and aluminum-heavy, and the monsoon delivers nearly two meters of rain in four months. The compound most articles credit for the malty taste has never actually been tested for it. Here is what the record can, and cannot, certify.

Estates and Terroir

Assam tea grows on a hot, low, river-fed floodplain in northeast India. The Brahmaputra valley's heat, monsoon rain, and alluvial soil are what make the leaf malty and strong. This is the terroir, the two valleys, the estate system, and what a single garden's name on the tin actually certifies.