How to Make Milk Tea with Assam Black Tea
What is Assam Black Tea?
Assam black tea is one of the most popular black tea types to create a classic milk tea. Tea Board India Assam tea gives you a proper wake-up kick because it is strong and full-bodied. Once you brew it, it develops a deep amber colour and tastes malty and robust. This tea goes perfectly with milk and sugar, just like a classic milk tea. You can even make classic milk tea in just three simple steps. Learn how to make classic milk tea in just 3 steps.
Aroma
Several aroma compounds are found in assam black tea that give it that sweet, malty, floral, and slightly fruity aroma, even though they are present in tiny amounts. A breakdown of those compounds are:
- Linalool and Linalool Oxides – give a sweet, floral, and citrusy/lemon-like aroma.
- Geraniol – contributes a rose-like scent and floral flavour.
- Phenylacetaldehyde – adds hyacinth-like floral notes.
- Phenylethyl alcohol – gives fruity and honey-like sweetness.
- Methyl salicylate – provides a minty, wintergreen-like undertone.
- Benzaldehyde – gives a fruity and almond-like smell.
- (E)-2-octenal – a specific odorant identified as significant for Assam black tea.
Colour
Assam black tea gets its dark colour mainly through oxidation during processing.
- It starts as fresh green leaves. First, the leaves are left out to dry slightly, which makes them soft and starts small chemical changes.
- Next, the leaves are rolled or crushed, which breaks the cells and lets these chemicals mix with the air. This makes the leaves turn a coppery brown.
- Then, the leaves go through fermentation, where more chemical changes happen and the brown colour becomes darker and richer.
- Finally, the leaves are heated to dry them, which stops the changes and makes the leaves deep brown or black, ready to brew.
Use in Milk Tea
Assam tea is a perfect base for classic and brown sugar milk tea. It counterbalances the sweet, sugary taste of creamer and sugar perfectly. You can also use this tea for flavoured milk teas. Generally, flavoured milk teas are made with a water base instead of a tea base. However, depending on which flavour, it can also balance out the fruit flavour.
Recommended ratios:
- regular bubble tea serving (500ml): 200ml tea
- large bubble tea serving (700ml): 300ml tea
Lean how to make Brown Sugar Milk Tea and Classic Milk Tea. For more recipe inspiration, go browse our Recipes.