Black, in a pot
Boiling water. Assam is fully oxidised and does not need coddling.
- Orthodox whole leaf: 3 g per 200 ml, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Orthodox, with milk: same leaf, 4 to 5 minutes, so it has something to stand on.
- CTC in water: 2 to 3 g per 200 ml, 1 to 3 minutes. Watch it. It gets away from you.
- Assam green: 75 to 80 degrees, 2 minutes. Boiling water makes it bitter and most people blame the tea.
Whole leaf orthodox will take a second infusion, a minute longer than the first. CTC will not; the first brew has taken everything.
Proper Assamese milk tea
This is a pan method. Steeping a teabag in a mug of hot milk is a different drink and it is not this one.
- Water and milk into the pan together, roughly two parts water to one part milk. Not milk alone, which scalds and dulls.
- One heaped teaspoon of CTC per cup. Use a small grade. PD or Dust is correct here.
- Sugar in now, not at the end. Sugar boiled with tea tastes different from sugar stirred into it, and this is not folklore, it is the reason the stall version tastes like that.
- Bring it to a rolling boil. Let it climb.
- Off the heat for thirty seconds. It will settle.
- Back on, up to a boil once more.
- Strain into cups from a height, if you want the foam.
Crushed ginger, added at step one, is standard through winter in most Assamese houses. A green cardamom pod is a habit that travelled here from elsewhere. Use it if you like it, but do not think of it as the Assamese version.
What most instructions get wrong
“Use good leaf for chai.” No. A whole leaf second flush orthodox in boiled milk is money set on fire. Its character is exactly the part the milk removes. Buy a good CTC instead and spend the difference on a bigger bag.
“Never boil tea.” True for delicate teas, wrong for this one. Assamese milk tea is boiled, twice, deliberately.
“One teaspoon per cup and one for the pot.” An English rule for an English strength. Assamese milk tea runs stronger. Start at a heaped teaspoon per cup and adjust down if you must.
Water
If your tap water is very hard, the cup will look dull and taste flat. Filtered water is a bigger improvement than an upgrade in leaf, and it costs nothing to test: brew the same tea twice, once with each.
Ratios for a pot of six
- 750 ml water
- 375 ml full fat milk
- 6 heaped teaspoons CTC
- Sugar to taste, in the pan
- A thumb of ginger, crushed, optional
What we have not verified
Ratios here are what we make at home and what we have been given in other people’s kitchens. Every Assamese household has its own and several will tell you this one is wrong, which is fair.
Related reading
Common questions
- What temperature should Assam tea be brewed at?
- Boiling, 100 degrees Celsius, for black Assam whether orthodox or CTC. Assam is a fully oxidised black tea and does not scorch the way a green or a white tea does. Assam green tea is the exception and wants 75 to 80 degrees.
- How long should Assam tea steep?
- Three to four minutes for whole leaf orthodox taken black. Four to five if you are adding milk. One to three minutes for CTC in water. Milk tea made in a pan is a different method and runs on boils rather than a timer.
- Why does my Assam tea taste bitter?
- Usually too long, too much leaf, or a small broken grade brewed as though it were whole leaf. Dust and fannings release everything in under two minutes. Cut the time before you cut the leaf.
- How do you make Assamese milk tea?
- Water and milk go in the pan together, roughly two parts water to one part milk, with a heaped teaspoon of CTC per cup. Bring it to a rolling boil, take it off for thirty seconds, bring it up once more, then strain. Sugar goes in the pan, not the cup.
Written by
Kundan GuptaWrites from Assam. Checks fares and fees in person before publishing.
Kundan Gupta runs Axomor and edits its Northeast India coverage. He is responsible for the accuracy of the guides published here, including checking permit rules, fees and travel logistics against primary sources before they go live.