Arya Tea Estate, Tea garden in Darjeeling, India.

Arya Tea Estate is a tea garden on the mountainous slopes near Darjeeling town, with land stretching across elevations between 900 and 1820 meters. The tea plants grow on terraced hillsides throughout this elevation range, where the conditions suit the production of different tea varieties.

The garden was established in 1885 and was first called Sidrabong. A legend holds that Buddhist monks founded it and developed several varieties from Chinese seed; a house they used in the 19th century still stands on the estate. The original factory burned down in May 1999, and a new one was built for USD 350,000.

The estate's Jewel range takes its names from stones: Ruby black tea, Emerald green, Pearl white, Diamond chunky tips and Topaz oolong. These teas come from clonal AV2 bushes planted at the garden's highest point and are made in very limited quantities, so only a few resellers obtain them. The garden also sells chinary teas graded FTGFOP1 and muscatel-flavoured lots, plus a newer tea called Moonbeam.

Roads to the garden climb gradients of up to 45 degrees, and only the estate's own drivers are experienced enough to handle them. Monsoon rain makes the surface extremely slippery, so avoid self-driving then. The bushes lie dormant in winter's cold until harvesting resumes in February.

The property preserves an original 19th-century house where Buddhist monks lived during the estate's early establishment. This surviving building offers insight into life during the initial phase of tea cultivation.