Assam’s tea gardens brace for the climate squeeze on first flush
Warmer winters and erratic rain are shifting the calendar of the world's biggest tea-growing region.
In the gardens around Jorhat, pluckers are picking what managers call a ‘confused first flush’ — early, uneven, and thinner than the celebrated spring crop that commands premium prices in London and Tokyo.
The region’s tea estates have logged a one-degree rise in winter minimums over 30 years, and rainfall that once arrived in dependable bursts now comes in violent squalls.
Planters are responding with shade trees, drip irrigation and new clones, but the industry body warns that without long-term investment, the flavour profile that defines Assam tea is at risk.