Manipuri jat
One of the seed jats of Indian planting practice, named for the region its stock came from, and reported to be hardier and more cold-tolerant than the Assam indigenous material while retaining large-leaf vigour. Jats are not cultivars and the distinction is load-bearing: a planter choosing a jat was choosing a population with a general character, not a plant with known behaviour.
Where it sits in the botany
Manipuri jat is recorded under Camellia sinensis var. assamica, the variety group one level above cultivar. It is associated with India, which is where it was selected or is most widely planted rather than the only place it grows.
Also transliterated as: manipuri jat.
Where it came from
Seed stock from the Manipur region, adopted in Indian plantations as one of the recognised jats alongside Assam indigenous, Burma, Cambod and China.
How firm this is: Inferred rather than taken from a primary breeding or registration record. The jat framework is documented in Indian planting literature. The specific traits attributed to Manipuri material are trade consensus rather than a verified measurement.
What the plant is like
Reported as more tolerant of cold and of exposure than the Assam indigenous stock, and used in districts where that mattered. Like every jat, it is a population and it varies.
What it is usually made into
The categories this cultivar is typically processed into. It is a statement about common practice, not a limit — processing decides the category, and a cultivar can be taken down more than one route.
- Black tea — Tea taken deliberately through full enzymatic oxidation, giving the dark leaf, amber-to-red liquor and malty or brisk character most Western drinkers think of as simply 'tea'.
Other cultivars in Camellia sinensis var. assamica
- Assam indigenous jat
- Benifuji
- Benihikari
- Benihomare
- Benikaori
- Betjan
- Camellia sinensis var. assamica
- East African seedling tea
- Fengqing Da Ye
- GMB 7
- Kiara 8
- Lingyun Baihao
- Menghai Da Ye
- Mengku Da Ye
- Miang landrace
- PH1
- Shan Tuyết
- Sri Lankan seedling tea
- Tai Cha No. 8
- TRFK 301/4
- TRFK 303/577
- TRFK 306/1
- TRFK 31/8
- TRFK 6/8
- TV1
- TV23
- TV25
- Yinghong No. 9
- Yunkang 10
- Yunkang 14
- Yunnan Da Ye Zhong
- Zi Juan
- Zi Ya
Sources
- TeaHQ editorial synthesis — TeaHQ
This page is TeaHQ’s own synthesis throughout. No breeding register or institutional record stands behind the account above, which is why the origin note carries its confidence in the open rather than reading as a citation.