Darjeeling Tea Estates: D-J
Dhajea Tea Estate
Owned by the Chamong Group, Dhajea estate is located at Rungbong Valley at an average altitude of 3,000 ft. This is a bio-organic garden with an area of 180 hectares under tea plantation out of a total land area of 317 hectares. The uncultivated land includes forests, worker village, factory and other facilities. Around 500 workers are employed in the estate.
The production capacity is 95,000 kgs of tea annually. The produce includes back and green tea. The garden was originally established 1870s. Initially the green tea cultivated here were transported over cable cars for processing at another place. This negatively impacted the flavor of the tea. In 1995 an on-site factory was setup at the garden itself.
Chamong Tee Exports Pvt. Ltd.
2, N. C. Dutta Sarani, Sagar Estate, 5th Floor, Unit 1, Kolkata – 700001, India
Giddapahar Tea Estate
Giddapahar is a cliff in Kurseong area. The location of the garden is also known as Eagles Cliff. The 109 hectares of tea plantation area is located on this cliff and at an average altitude of 1482 meters. The garden which is owned by a small family is well known for producing Darjeeling green tea. The view of the mountains from the garden is awesome. The garden sells the tea through tea merchants.
This is a bio-organic garden and belongs to the Chamong Group. The estate is in Lebong Valley in west Darjeeling. The area under tea cultivation spreads across 255 hectares out of a total estate area of over 600 hectares. About 230 hectares of area is maintained as natural forest and the rest are used for workers village, bungalow, factory etc. The garden is perched at an elevation that varies from 2,000ft to 5,000ft. Over 600 workers are employed by the estate that produces black, green and white tea.
Chamong Tee Exports Pvt. Ltd.
2, N. C. Dutta Sarani, Sagar Estate, 5th Floor, Unit 1, Kolkata – 700001, India
This is a heritage estate and over 150 years old. It is owned by the Prakash family who have been running the estate through four generations now. The total area of the estate is about 1,600 acres out of which area under tea is about 390 acres. It's a bio-organic garden producing mainly green tea.
The estate is located about an hour's drive from Darjeeling town. The elevation of the estate ranges from 3,200ft near the planter's bungalow down to about 800ft at the bottom where two mountain rivers flow through the estate. Glenburn is well known for offering great tea tourism where visitors can experience tea garden life, luxury stay, and engage in many nature activities while enjoying the magnificent views of the landscape. Check out the link above for details of Glenburn's offerings.
Goomtee Tea Estate is located in south Kurseong area and has a total area of 225 hectares out of which about 50% is used under tea plantation. The garden has an average elevation of about 4,000 ft and is a bio-organic garden producing mainly black tea and employing over 300 workers. The garden originally belonged to the British pioneering tea planter Henry Lennox in 1899. It is now owned jointly by the Kejriwal and Prasad families. Goomtee Tea Estate has sweeping views of the valleys and mountains, and offers great tea tourism. Check out the link for details.
Gopaldhara Tea Estate
This is a family owned estate located at the Mirik Valley with a total area of 320 hectares. Area under tea plantation is 172 hectares. This is a high altitude tea garden with elevation ranging from 1500 - 2300 meters and producing black, green and white tea. In 1982 the company also started planting clonal teas. The name of the estate originated from a person named Gopal who owned the paddy fields where the tea bushes were planted in late 1800s by British planters. There were also several 'dharas' (streams) that pass through the estate, and therefore the name Gopaldhara. The estate has changed several hands over the years and now belongs to the Saria family. There is an on-site modern factory, manager's bungalow and other facilities.
Gopaldhara Tea Co Pvt Ltd
17, Business Point, Ganesh Chandra Avenue, Kolkata: 700013, India.
The estate was originally established in 1854 by British planter David Wilson and the production started by 1860. The tea estate with plantation area of over 270 acres is currently owned by Mr. Sanjay Bansal. This is the closest tea estate from Darjeeling town and about 3kms away. The entire production is exported to international buyers like Harrods of London. However you can buy packaged tea directly at the factory.
Jungpana Tea Estate
This is a tiny tea estate nestled in the forested mountains of south Kurseong with elevation ranging from 3,000 to 4,500ft. This garden originally belonged to the British tea planter Henry Lennox who started plantation in 1899. Subsequently it was taken over by the Ranas of Nepal and currently owned by the Kejriwal family for more than five decades. This organic garden produces finest of black and green tea that have received wide-scale recognition worldwide for its delicacy, flavor and aroma. Pure China bushes are planted in the garden.
Even today the garden is not accessible by vehicles. From the garden factory, the porters carry the tea boxes climbing down the steep 380 steps to an wooden footbridge below at 500ft altitude where the trucks await to pick up the boxes. The delicate tea produced by the garden has been long patronized by many international distributors including Fortnum & Mason of U.K, Harrods of Knightsbridge U.K, Boutiques of Germany and many others.
90/31, Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata – 700 038, India
Phone: 91/33-2458 8602, (Direct) 2458 8603
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