Tea it is sometimes served with biscuits to be dipped in the tea and eaten before consuming the tea. More often than not, it is drunk in "doses" of small cups (referred to as "Cutting" chai if sold at street tea vendors) rather than one large cup. On 21 April 2012, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission (India), Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said tea would be declared as national drink by April 2013. The move is expected to boost the tea industry in the country. Speaking on the occasion, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said a special package for the tea industry
Sayama tea of tea was interrupted by war during the Sengoku period. Widespread tea growing restarted in the Mid-Edo period. In 1802, a technique called , first steaming and then roasting on the surface of washi was invented by , , and , based on the Uji roasting technique, which was deemed the best method in Japan at that time. This led to the revival of tea production in the region. In 1819 (Bunsei 2), tea leaves produced in this method started to be shipped to Edo in large amounts, receiving good reputations. After the Meiji Restoration, tea became one of the