Lopchu Tea Estate, Tea garden in Darjeeling district, India.
Lopchu Tea Estate is a tea garden in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India, sitting at around 4,800 feet (1,460 m) on a mountain ridge between Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The planted fields cover roughly 90 hectares and grow plants that were originally sourced from China's Yunnan region.
British planters founded the estate in the 1860s, during the period when colonial authorities were opening tea gardens across the Darjeeling hills. In 1954, two cousins from Kolkata, S.N. Kanoria and G.L. Kanoria, bought the property and took over its management.
The name Lopchu comes from the Lepcha language, spoken by the people who have lived in these mountains for centuries. Walking through the rows of tea plants, visitors move across land that the Lepcha community has long called home.
The estate lies along a winding mountain road between Darjeeling and Kalimpong, so the drive takes time and involves steep curves. Visitors should bring warm layers regardless of the season, as cool air and fog can appear at any point during the day.
The black tea from this garden develops malty and slightly smoky notes that are rarely found in other gardens at this altitude. These flavors come from the combination of the local soil and the particular way mist moves through the fields each morning.
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