TV1 vs TV23
Two Assam clones released decades apart into an industry that changed what it wanted in between. TV1 is where Assam’s shift from seed-grown gardens to clonal ones begins; TV23 is what that programme produced once CTC had become the destination for most of the crop.
cultivar
What is being compared
Point by point
| Aspect | TV1 | TV23 |
|---|---|---|
| What it was selected for | Consistency and performance in an industry moving off seed. | Yield and liquor strength for CTC manufacture specifically. |
| Liquor | Full and conventional Assam character. | Strong, coloury and brisk — built for a teabag and for milk. |
| Aroma | More aromatic than the later CTC selections. | Not a priority, and it shows. |
| Manufacture it suits | Orthodox and CTC alike. | CTC above all. |
| Historical significance | Substantial: single-estate consistency in Assam starts here. | Commercial rather than historical. |
| Where you meet it | In orthodox Assam from estates that kept older clonal blocks. | In blends, almost never named. |
The short answer
The pair is the clearest short answer to why orthodox Assam and teabag Assam taste so unalike: it is not only the cut, it is decades of selection towards a different product. An estate naming TV1 on an orthodox lot is telling you something real about what it kept.
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