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What Are Jats?

To the non-technical reader, many terms relating to tea become very confusing. This article is intended to clear up the two terms we know as ASSAM JAT and CHINA JAT. If not clear them up completely, then at least to give an explanation of them.

The correct identification of the tea plant is Camellia sinensis (L). It is a cultivated member of the Camellia family. Left to its own devices, and in the wild, it will grow into a tree attaining some 30 feet or more in height. Plantations (or tea estates or tea gardens - all of these terms are correct - today we would probably call them “factory farms”) simply cut off the main trunk of the seedlings and thus force the tree into a shrub for the sake of ease in picking or plucking the leaves. At any rate, Camellia sinensis was, up until as recently as 1950, called Thea sinensis (Thea meaning TEA). In the course of Western history, it has also been called: “Species Plantarum” in 1753, “Camellia thea,” and “Camellia theifera.” All of these were good names and there was nothing wrong with them. Now, though, and as the result of decisions made at the 6th Botanical Congress at Amsterdam (held in 1933), the tea plant was officially designated as Chinese Camellia or CAMELLIA SINENSIS AND NOTHING MORE. But until 1950 the old name, Thea sinensis hung around and was used. Even this writer prefers it, but that is symptomatic of my age.

Let us now say good-bye to the botanists and move along to the tea breeders and propagationists. One well-respected breeder gives this clear account:

  • “The planter recognises three varieties, China, Assam, and Indo-China, and hybrids between them all. Within the Assam variety, five types are recognized, the light- and the dark-leaved Assam, the Manipuri, the Burma and the Lushai. The Indo-China variety is sometimes referred to as the Cambodian or Southern form.... The Planter does not speak of varieties, types, races, agrotypes, ecotypes. He uses the vague term jat (Hind. - caste) for any group, though agrotype might be a better term. Tea seed is sold under the name of the estate on which it is grown, and this is also spoken of as the jat of the seed, but here the name has no botanical significance unless the true jat or agrotype is linked with it.”
    •

    This same breeder then goes on to explain the characteristics of the various jats---the China, with its many stems and its small, frost-resistant leaves; the Indo-China, single-stemmed, its leaves smooth and slightly serrated, a likely contributor by the way of ‘quality’ to the high-grown Ceylons; and the five Assam jats, among which he gives the thumbs up to the Manipuri and the Assam dark-leaved.

    So, and in summation, is the Assam Jat (also called India Jat) any better from an expert point of view than a China Jat? The answer is: NO! Who, exactly, should be concerned with which Jat is planted on an estate? The grower. Should you, the consumer, pay more for an Assam Jat than a China Jat? No! There are inexpensive and extremely expensive teas represented in both Jats.

    My point in this article is this: don’t be hoodwinked by what appear to be highly technical terms but which have little, if any, relationship to the quality of the tea you are buying.

    The Tea Man

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