TEA ESTATES IN NILGIRIS

Tea cultivation in Darjeeling and Assam was thriving and the British East India Company was testing various other parts of India to cultivate tea. It was through such experiments that the Nilgiris region was found to be good for cultivating tea. The variety of tea grown here is different from the ones in Assam and Darjeeling owing to the weather conditions here - cold, lack of moisture unlike the humid conditions of Darjeeling and Assam.

NILGIRIS This blue mountain range is located in the southern region of India and is the part of the vast Western Ghats. While, its most famous attribute is the flower Kurinji (blue in colour) that grows here. Hence it is called Nilgiri (blue mountains). It is equally popular for it’s tea. The tea found in this region are black, ctc, green, oolong and white. Most popular are whole leaf grade Orange Pekoe and Pekoe cut black tea. Some of the popular tea estates are Craigmore, Chamraj, Unitea, and Glendale.

GLENDALE TEA ESTATE: 1835 Glendale means, a valley within a valley and stands true to its name with its arresting scenic charm. It has a state of the art factory that produces Orthodox Black tea, Green Tea and Speciality Tea. Owing to its weather which is cold, dry and misty the leaves are brisk, golden colour with distinct savoury floral aroma.

CRAIGMORE TEA ESTATE: 1884 It was originally incorporated in the UK in 1884, as Ceylon Land and Produce Company. In 1977 was purchased by Indoo Shivdasani of the Inlaks Group and remained as Craigmore Plantations (India). The estate produces High Grown Orthodox black teas and High Grown Pan fired green tea for its loyal customer base worldwide.

PASCOE’S WOODLAND TEA ESTATE It is one of the two factories owned and managed by Craigmore Plantation by the Inlaks Group. It produces high quality pan fired green tea that clocks at 0.7 million kgs per year. The teas from the tea estate are premium quality orthodox teas and most of their produce is exported.

HAVUKAL TEA ESTATE: 2009 BY HUGH FENNELL Hugh Fennell extensively planted the hill with Assam tea between 1910 and Today, it produces a wide variety of orthodox black teas and speciality teas throughout the year with no dormant season and around 85% of their produce is exported.

CHAMRAJ TEA ESTATE: 1922 It produces high quality black, green, and oolong orthodox tea. It’s factory not only credits itself with producing fine quality tea but is also the largest in the Nilgiris region.

KORAKUNDAH TEA ESTATE : 1858 BY SIR ROBERY STANES It is a part of the UNTE (United Nilgiris Tea Estates) and had gained entry in the Limca Book of National Records as the ‘highest tea garden in the country’ with tea planted at 8,060 feet. The expanse of the estate is 925 hectares, of which 275 hectares is the planted area, while a substantial area is retained as unpolluted grassland and water- body. It is completely organic and has developed its own self sufficient input unit, housing 180 cows, helping them use cow dung for compost.

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