History of tea in India Upper Assam; in 1840, the Assam Tea Company began the commercial production of tea in the region, run by indentured servitude of the local inhabitants. [This tea was not for export - dis ambiguities needed] Beginning in the 1850s, the tea industry rapidly expanded, consuming vast tracts of land for tea plantations. By the turn of the century, Assam became the leading tea producing region in the world. India was the top producer of tea for nearly a century, but recently China has overtaken India as the top tea producer due to increased land availability. Indian tea companies have acquired
History of tea tea is sweetened with sugar and condensed milk. Usually, Thai people drink Thai hot tea in the morning, frequently with Yau ja gwai (fried dough) or "Pa-tong-ko" (). The varieties of Thai tea include: Turkey is traditionally one of the largest tea markets in the world. Turkish black tea is the most popular drink in Turkey, even more popular than Turkish coffee. The first record of tea in English came from a letter written by Richard Wickham, who ran an East India Company office in Japan, writing to a merchant in Macao requesting "the best sort of chaw" in 1615.