Arya Tea Estate is a

tea garden A tea garden is an outdoor space where tea and light refreshments are served, or any garden with which the drinking of tea is associated. Especially in India, it is also a common term for a tea plantation. The tea garden was a part of early Eng ...

in the Darjeeling Pulbazar CD block in the

Darjeeling Sadar subdivision Darjeeling Sadar subdivision is a subdivision of the Darjeeling district in the state of West Bengal, India. Subdivisions Darjeeling district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions: Police stations Police stations i ...

of the Darjeeling district in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

History

The Arya Tea Estate was established in 1885 and was originally known as ‘Sidrabong’. Legend tells that the garden was founded by Buddhist monks who developed and cultivated different varieties of Chinese seed. The house inhabited by the monks in the 19th century can still be found on the estate. The original factory was destroyed by a fire in May 1999, leading to the construction of a new factory costing USD 350,000.

Geography

The plantation starts at an altitude of 1820 meters and spreads down to 900 meters, with an average elevation of about 1500 metres. It produces around 70 tons of tea annually, 30 tons less than before the estate became organic. Some of its most famous teas are its ‘Jewel’ range, including Ruby (Black Tea), Emerald (Green Tea), Pearl (White Tea), Diamond (Chunky Tips) and Topaz (Oolong). All of their Jewel range teas are produced from special clonal tea bushes mainly from AV2 varietal planted on the highest point of the tea garden area. These teas are often produced in very limited quantities and only a few re-sellers get their hands on it. They also produce classic varieties of chinary teas labelled as "FTGFOP1" and some special ones with musky flavors as "muscatel". Some new teas such as "Moonbeam" is also of excellent quality produced from AV2 leaves which is more between their Diamond and Ruby teas. The roads leading to the estate are extremely cumbersome, often with a gradient of up to 45 degrees, making it extremely difficult to drive vehicles there. Only the tea garden drivers are experienced enough to drive the Arya terrain. The monsoon season proves dangerous for inexperienced drivers due to extremely slippery road conditions. During the winter months all estates in Darjeeling go under dormant conditions due to extreme cold temperatures, until the harvests begin again in February.

Economy

Arya Tea Estate is a manufacturer of specialty

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

s for international sale, as part of the Indian holding company Eurasia Group. The estate sits at an average altitude of 1500 metres and covers 125 hectares, with just over under tea plantation. Arya Tea Estate does business as Arya Tea Co. Ltd.,

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

and its operations are certified

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

Organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

by IMO Control. The other Organic certifications are by IMO and JAS. Additionally, Arya is a certified member of the Darjeeling Tea Association.

References

{{Darjeeling District Tea estates in Darjeeling district