TeaChat

I've heard that there are Chinese black teas produced out of Assamica variety tea... Any suggested makers?

Any Chinese black tea from Yunnan Province would be made of var. assamica or a close relative.

bearsbearsbears wrote:Any Chinese black tea from Yunnan Province would be made of var. assamica or a close relative.

That would explain the distinctive Yunnan flavor profile I enjoy so much.

TwoPynts wrote:

bearsbearsbears wrote:Any Chinese black tea from Yunnan Province would be made of var. assamica or a close relative.

That would explain the distinctive Yunnan flavor profile I enjoy so much.

... and why I do not particularly like Yunnan blacks (although I have tried to many times) ... though I do understand why peeps like Yunnan black more than I understand why peeps like Assam black which I do not get.

Different strokes for different folks.

The main difference is the processing that each tea undergoes.

Assam teas are oxidized "faster", with harsher bruising of the leaf and time spent in hotter rooms. Chinese teas hongcha is oxidized more slowly, with less initial bruising to the leaf and a long time spent oxidizing. That explains the slightly different flavor profiles of the two teas - i.e. the thearubigens are more plentiful in the yunnan hongcha than the assam.

If I'm wrong about this, my apologies.

Yunnan blacks aren't really Assams in the traditional sense of the word. If you want the Chinese take on Assams, you need to look at Taiwan. They sell a few Assams from some pre-WWII groves.

To me, Indian Assams taste malty, while (good) Yunnans taste more on the peppery side. Now that I think about it, I guess I have had a few (not so good) Yunnans that leaned to the malty side - I never knew why, though.