Tea culture Assam tea is known for its robust taste and dark colour, and Nilgiri tea is dark, intensely aromatic and flavoured. Assam produces the largest quantity of Tea in India, mostly of the CTC variety, and is one of the biggest suppliers of major international brands such as Lipton and Tetley. The Tetley Brand, formerly British owned and one of the largest, is now owned by the Indian Tata Tea Limited company. On April 21, 2012 the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission (India), Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said that tea would be declared as national drink by April 2013. Speaking on the
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