Single-estate, second-flush Darjeeling, hand-picked at 1,800m.
Grown on one ridge since 1962
Four generations of one family have worked this ridge above Mirik, picking by hand between the fog and the first light. We still send tea the way the estate always has — whole leaf, one garden, no blending — and we grade every batch ourselves before it leaves the ridge.
Four teas, one calendar year
Each flush is picked, withered and graded on its own week; nothing here is blended across a season to even it out.
First Flush
Bright, floral and green-edged — the first pluck after the spring rains.
Second Flush
Muscatel and full-bodied — the garden's signature liquor, plucked in June.
Monsoon
Deep, malty and robust — brewed strong, the everyday cup of the estate.
Autumnal
Mellow, coppery and nutty — the last pluck before the garden rests for winter.
“We are certified organic because the ridge was always farmed this way — the certificate just gave it a name. Every leaf on this estate is still plucked by hand.”
Kabita Rai — Garden Manager, Mirik Ridge
The soil
At 1,800 metres the ridge holds a thin, acidic loam that stresses the bushes just enough to concentrate flavour in the leaf — the same reason Darjeeling gardens are planted on slopes nobody else would farm.
The history
Planted in 1962 by the Rai family on land cleared for cinchona, the garden has stayed family-run through five decades, converting fully to organic and biodynamic methods in 2004.
What the cup says
“The second flush tastes like the label promises — muscatel, unmistakably, in a way I haven't found from any other garden.”
Priya Raman — Kolkata
“I have reordered the Autumnal three times this year. It's the tea I make when I actually want to sit down and drink it.”
Daniel Ashworth — London
“Whole leaf, properly graded, and it arrives within days of the pluck date printed on the tin. That's rare at this price.”
Meera Iyer — Bengaluru