Jungpana Tea Estate

Some might consider Jungpana Tea Estate to be teas Shangrila. This remarkable tea estate is remotely tucked away in the magnificence of the Himalayan foothills. Perched at an altitude of 4000 to 6500 feet above sea level, this relatively tiny tea estate manages to find a soft spot for even the most discerning tea drinkers.

The leaves of this pure second flush tea are picked from late May to June and produce an amazing, well rounded, mature and floral flavour of tea that is said to be less astringent and even better than the first flush. The leaves steep up a liquid that is bright with a taste that is full, round, and has an excellent muscatel character – perfect for your afternoon tea with scones and raspberry conserve.

The Jungpana estate is fairly well known among lovers of Darjeeling teas. The name “Jungpana” is based on a legend and meaning roughly where Jung Bahadur had his last drink of water. Jung was a helper mauled by a tiger he was trying to keep from attacking his British hunter employer. And “pana” means water.

The estate, originally planted by a British tea planter named Henry Lennox in 1899, has been producing undeniably vintage Darjeeling teas famous for their muscatel flavour. Despite its hard-to-access location due to the lack of roads, it has still managed to build quite a reputation. Their teas have a distinct flavour attributed to their micro-climate on the south side of a mountain in the foothills of the Himalayas. Their tea bushes are of the pure Chinese variety coupled with their unique manufacturing techniques that produce the finest rich flavour and bouquet for which Darjeeling teas claim the name “the champagne of teas.”