I found this interesting. Hope you do too.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_....php?id=746382

I wonder if my black tea called Assama from a Taiwan company is
similar to this? I assumed it was an Indian Assam from a Taiwan
company but it is a little different in taste. It comes in 600g
nitrogen packs different from any commercial Assam Ive seen.

Jim

TokyoB wrote:
> I found this interesting. Hope you do too.
>
> http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_....php?id=746382

Jim,
I think it probably is the same. When I was in Taiwan near the Tea
Research Institute, there were several vendors of Assam that was
locally grown. In Mandarin it was pronounced something like "ah sam
mu". Someone mentioned Taiwan variety #18. Where did you buy yours?
TokyoB


On Sep 24, 10:22*am, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> I wonder if my black tea called Assama from a Taiwan company is
> similar to this? *I assumed it was an Indian Assam from a Taiwan
> company but it is a little different in taste. *It comes in 600g
> nitrogen packs different from any commercial Assam Ive seen.
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> TokyoB wrote:
> > I found this interesting. Hope you do too.
>
> >http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_...php?id=746382- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

TokyoB > writes:

> Jim,
> I think it probably is the same. When I was in Taiwan near the Tea
> Research Institute, there were several vendors of Assam that was
> locally grown. In Mandarin it was pronounced something like "ah sam
> mu".

Sorry about the nitpicking, but the Pinyin for this is A Sa Mu.

What's more interesting, in my opinion, is that, given the right soil
and climate, the Assam cultivar can be manufactured into tea that's
extremely different from what most people think of as Assam tea. It's
been mentioned here before, but it's worth repeating: some of the good
tea grown in Darjeeling is genetically Assam.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

On Sep 24, 10:22*am, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> I wonder if my black tea called Assama from a Taiwan company is
> similar to this? *I assumed it was an Indian Assam from a Taiwan
> company but it is a little different in taste. *It comes in 600g
> nitrogen packs different from any commercial Assam Ive seen.
>
> Jim
>
> TokyoB wrote:
> > I found this interesting. Hope you do too.
>
> >http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_....php?id=746382

More info on Taiwan Assam

http://barismo.com/labels/Tea.html

The packaging does say a Product of Taiwan. Before I just chalked
that up as a redundant export requirement. The pinyin on the
packaging says Assama with the Chinese characters for Assam. I found
it in a Chinese grocery store which has a good selection of commercial
Taiwan teas. It tastes more like an Indian assam than not but a
little more smokey and pungent. Im developing a new appreciation for
Assam because it is the primal tea stock. I came across a website
yesterday that said the Yunnan assam was intentionally planted along
the silk road into India via Burma. My books say independent
geographical isolated areas.

Jim

TokyoB wrote:
> Jim,
> I think it probably is the same. When I was in Taiwan near the Tea
> Research Institute, there were several vendors of Assam that was
> locally grown. In Mandarin it was pronounced something like "ah sam
> mu". Someone mentioned Taiwan variety #18. Where did you buy yours?
> TokyoB
>
>
> On Sep 24, 10:22?am, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> > I wonder if my black tea called Assama from a Taiwan company is
> > similar to this? ?I assumed it was an Indian Assam from a Taiwan
> > company but it is a little different in taste. ?It comes in 600g
> > nitrogen packs different from any commercial Assam Ive seen.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> >
> >
> > TokyoB wrote:
> > > I found this interesting. Hope you do too.
> >
> > >http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_...php?id=746382- Hide quoted text -
> >
> > - Show quoted text -

On Sep 25, 2:13 pm, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> Im developing a new appreciation for
> Assam because it is the primal tea stock. I came across a website
> yesterday that said the Yunnan assam was intentionally planted along
> the silk road into India via Burma. My books say independent
> geographical isolated areas.

Actuallu Yunnan Assam does not exist taxonomically . The large leaf
Yunnan is actually a subvariety of Camellia - Camellia sinensis var.
sinensis f. macrophylla

The taxonomy of tea has been continually disputed since 1752 when
Linnaeus originally named it Thea sinensis (the naming based on a 1712
drawing of a specimen collected from Indonesia). Later Linnaeus
abandoned the specific sinensis and substituted T. bohea and T.
viridis (effectively black tea and green tea; the great taxonomist
being unaware that either type of tea could be manufactured from any
tea variety. There followed centuries of dispute between the claims
of Camellia and Thea as the correct genus for cultivated tea. The
Gordian Knot was effectively dealt with in 1891 by Carl Ernst Otto
Kuntze whose pioneering work entirely revised plant taxonomy (but
whose efforts were until long after his death reviled, then buried, by
the academic elite). Otto recognized tea as a true Camellia and today
tea is botanically referred to simply as Camellia sinensis (L.) O.
Kuntze, in recognition. This cleared the botanical decks of hundreds
of tea "species" - C. assamica, C. irrawadiensis, C. hongkongensis, C.
taliensis, and C. macropylla amongst them. Post Kuntze all these
became varieties of C. sinensis. While dispute still continues about
the genetic contribution of a host of geographical varieties, we now
have since 1958, a simple formalized classification thanks to Sealy:
Camellia sinensis var. sinensis for the China type bush (capable of
withstanding cold down to frost conditions) and Camellia sinensis var.
assamica for the larger leaved Assam type bush more typical of the
tropics, incapable of withstanding frost. Note that Camellia sinensis
var. sinensis is further divided into sub varieties: Camellia sinensis
var. sinensis f. parviflora - the very small leaved bush type found in
Japan (e.g. Yabukita) and Camellia sinensis var. sinensis f.
macrophylla - the Yunnan 'Big Leaf' bush which mainly provides pu erh.

You will still find many tea scientists and tea book authors locked in
a time warp and using old taxonomic nomenclature (I do myself
sometimes) and a further complication is that C. sinensis is an out
breeder. A myriad of hybrids exist between the species, varieties and
sub varieties - both naturally by cross pollination (though limited by
geography) and intentionally by plant breeders where any combination
may be tried.

Nigel at Teacraft

Are you saying the DNA of tea plants wouldnt necesarily lead us back
to the Yunnan region in general or to a specific variety if it still
existed. Even if it didnt exist there should be the closest surviving
variety. I guess has any DNA work been done on tea?

Jim

Nigel wrote:
> On Sep 25, 2:13 pm, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> > Im developing a new appreciation for
> > Assam because it is the primal tea stock. I came across a website
> > yesterday that said the Yunnan assam was intentionally planted along
> > the silk road into India via Burma. My books say independent
> > geographical isolated areas.
>
> Actuallu Yunnan Assam does not exist taxonomically . The large leaf
> Yunnan is actually a subvariety of Camellia - Camellia sinensis var.
> sinensis f. macrophylla
>
> The taxonomy of tea has been continually disputed since 1752 when
> Linnaeus originally named it Thea sinensis (the naming based on a 1712
> drawing of a specimen collected from Indonesia). Later Linnaeus
> abandoned the specific sinensis and substituted T. bohea and T.
> viridis (effectively black tea and green tea; the great taxonomist
> being unaware that either type of tea could be manufactured from any
> tea variety. There followed centuries of dispute between the claims
> of Camellia and Thea as the correct genus for cultivated tea. The
> Gordian Knot was effectively dealt with in 1891 by Carl Ernst Otto
> Kuntze whose pioneering work entirely revised plant taxonomy (but
> whose efforts were until long after his death reviled, then buried, by
> the academic elite). Otto recognized tea as a true Camellia and today
> tea is botanically referred to simply as Camellia sinensis (L.) O.
> Kuntze, in recognition. This cleared the botanical decks of hundreds
> of tea "species" - C. assamica, C. irrawadiensis, C. hongkongensis, C.
> taliensis, and C. macropylla amongst them. Post Kuntze all these
> became varieties of C. sinensis. While dispute still continues about
> the genetic contribution of a host of geographical varieties, we now
> have since 1958, a simple formalized classification thanks to Sealy:
> Camellia sinensis var. sinensis for the China type bush (capable of
> withstanding cold down to frost conditions) and Camellia sinensis var.
> assamica for the larger leaved Assam type bush more typical of the
> tropics, incapable of withstanding frost. Note that Camellia sinensis
> var. sinensis is further divided into sub varieties: Camellia sinensis
> var. sinensis f. parviflora - the very small leaved bush type found in
> Japan (e.g. Yabukita) and Camellia sinensis var. sinensis f.
> macrophylla - the Yunnan 'Big Leaf' bush which mainly provides pu erh.
>
> You will still find many tea scientists and tea book authors locked in
> a time warp and using old taxonomic nomenclature (I do myself
> sometimes) and a further complication is that C. sinensis is an out
> breeder. A myriad of hybrids exist between the species, varieties and
> sub varieties - both naturally by cross pollination (though limited by
> geography) and intentionally by plant breeders where any combination
> may be tried.
>
> Nigel at Teacraft

Two more Products of Taiwan from this company I saw in a store over
the weekend, Jasmine and green tea, a black tea of assamica and
ceylon. Both 600g vacuum pack.

Jim

Space Cowboy wrote:
> The packaging does say a Product of Taiwan. Before I just chalked
> that up as a redundant export requirement. The pinyin on the
> packaging says Assama with the Chinese characters for Assam. I found
> it in a Chinese grocery store which has a good selection of commercial
> Taiwan teas. It tastes more like an Indian assam than not but a
> little more smokey and pungent.
...talking to myself again...