Makaibari | village, tea house

 village, tea house

MAKAIBARI FACTS:
- Established in 1859, oldest garden in Darjeeling.
- Still farmed by the original founding family, now in its 4th generation.
- Elevation - 1500 metres.
- Harvest season: March - November.
- 100% Organic and Fair Trade.

"Best Cup of Tea"

If Darjeeling is the champagne of teas, Makaibari is the Krug or Henri Giraud. At the
677-hectare Makaibari Tea Estate nestled in the eastern Himalayas, you not only taste
the finest of its aromatic, amber brews, but experience tea as a way of life. Gurkha tea
workers host visitors in chalets attached to their own homes, which dot the seven villages
of the estate, situated roughly 1,400 m above sea level.
After a day's induction — with tea-tasting sessions and a guided tour of the factory
to see how luscious, freshly plucked leaves are processed into green, white,
oolong and black teas — visitors get some hands-on experience. Those who prefer to be in
the tea gardens can choose between planting tea bushes, plucking tea
("two leaves and a bud" is what you need to break off each time) and tending the nursery.
Those who enjoy more vigorous challenges can try milking cows or cleaning cattle sheds.
And at the end of a hard day, you relax with a home-cooked meal made with
locally grown organic produce, then drive home with a cuppa brewed from
leaves you plucked the previous day.
There's no TV, so after a fireside chat with your hosts — who will happily share folk tales,
folk songs and plantation lore — you'll probably turn in early, and that has an added bonus.
If you rise when the first sun rays touch the valley, you stand a good chance of sighting
exotic Himalayan birds like the pied hornbill and the sultan tit. If you're very lucky,
you may even spot a leopard or two before hiking back to your hosts for that tantalizing
first brew of the day. Not a tea lover? You will be at Makaibari.