What are the most important tea regions in India?

When we talk about Indian-made tea and its origin, Assam and Darjeeling come into mind often. However, India is vast, and therefore, many other locations produce some amazing tea as well. And each of these locations’ tea is unique and delivers distinct flavors that can be easily distinguished. Let’s look at some of the most well-known and underrated tea-producing regions in India.

Assam is the tea garden of India. More than half of all Indian tea comes from this region alone. Furthermore, Assam is the first region where the tea plantation program started as early as the 19th century. According to the available data, the Indian state will produce 716 million kilograms of tea alone in 2019. Today Assam is the home of 800 tea estates. However, if we take the smaller tea garden account, then the number is more than 49100. The state produces so many distinct tea types that one can not even try every flavor in their lifetime! Most of the teas are broken from leaves which is ideal for making strong tea.

Darjeeling produces some of the best black teas in the world. Compared to Assam, the overall tea production by volume is much lower in Darjeeling. In fact, Darjeeling produces about 1 million kilograms of teas every year from 87 different tea gardens. Although the overall output by volume is much lower, it makes it up for its quality. It has a unique character that makes the tea premium quality. Compared to Assam, Darjeeling tea has small buds and leaves. And this tea is very famous outside India. And there are many reasons why people want to buy Indian made products.

Nilgiri is the third-largest tea producer. Often it is described as the shadow of Darjeeling and Assam tea. Why? Well, that is because the Nilgiri black tea blends quite well with Darjeeling and Assam tea. According to research, Nilgiri tea has less caffeine compared to Assam and Darjeeling. This tea has higher levels of manganese and copper. The flavor is quite light and easily recognized for its copper color.

Sikkim the state situated right next to the state of West Bengal and the renowned tea producer of Darjeeling. Sikkim teas, too, have a lot of commonalities to the Darjeeling teas. Especially in terms of the flavor as well as the appearance. Here the flush is more floral. And moreover, the tea has green-brown leaves with visible buds. Sikkim as a tea producer started its journey fairly new only 50 years ago on the Temi Tea Estate.

Few notable mentions are Karnataka, Kangra, Munnar, Dooars, and Terai

India is vast, and numerous states produce teas on a regular basis. We have shared only a few notable names. And we will continue to update the tea producers according to the latest data. I hope this blog helped you to gather some knowledge about your favorite beverage, tea!