Assam
(æˈsæm)
The name of a state in north-eastern India, used attrib. or absol. to designate any of several varieties of tea grown there.
| 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIV. 285/1 The Assam tea-plant..has lately attracted..much attention. 1878 E. Money Cultiv. & Manuf. Tea (ed. 3) 182 The sterner sex preferring Assam unmixed, while the working classes of both sexes are unanimous in favour of the unadulterated Indian article. 1887 Rep. Col. Sect. Colonial & Indian Exhib. 1886 vi. 151 The tea known in commerce as ‘Assam’ is grown in that portion of the Province of Assam which lies in the valley of the Brahmapootra. 1892 [see pekoe v.] c 1938 Fortnum & Mason Price List 6 Blend of choice Assam, Dooars, Ceylon and Darjeeling. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XVIII. 17/1 The weight of 2,000 freshly plucked China bush shoots may be one pound..; the same number of Assam shoots may weigh two pounds. 1986 Financial Times 23 Apr. i. 36/1 Assams were generally strong with selected lines ‘substantially dearer’. |