Deadly Typhoo
Really – it is capable of killing you. Its easy to miss facts like this when so many articles and magazines are telling you that tea is tantamount to the elixir of life. Unfortunately not so for Typhoo tea.
But first some background…
Typhoo was a brand established and ‘raised’ in the UK form 1903. It was a Birmingham based grocer John Sumner Jr. who decided to introduce a tea made of leaf fannings due to its supposed ‘calming affect’.
Little did John Sumner Jr. realise that 105 years later in a town just south of Birmingham a gentleman tea fanatic would be drinking a cup of his brew – thinking it was the much superior Yorkshire – only to discover it was the inferior Typhoo. At that moment a shocked breath caused a mere drop of Typhoo to enter the lungs of said gent and cause a coughing fit the likes of which no one had ever seen.
Typhoo, my dear readers, is the most fatal of the teas and must be avoided at all costs!
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Assam
It’s been almost 12 months since my last introduction to teas from around the world but much has happened since then and I should now be able to continue the series with grace, regularity and consistency.
So lets get on with it and today I’ll be discussing Assam.
Assam Tea Located in India
Similarly with my previous post introducing Darjeeling this tea is from a region in north west India by the name of Assam (see map for details).
Flavour
Assam is a black tea which has a malty and full bodied texture with a strong flavour. It’s often the main component of Breakfast Teas due to its robust flavour and higher caffeine content.
A Little Known Fact
Assam tea was originally chewed by locals as well as drunk – although not as common since commercialisation.
Assam Born
It is the region of Assam along with China that were the cradles of traditional commercial tea production and so it has a long and prestigious history. The Assam cultivation industry sprang forth in 1838 when 350 lbs of tea were imported from there into London to be sold at the London India House. It was such a popular success that Charkes Bruce began clearance of jungle for the new tea plantations.
Assam Gold Rain Black Tea
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