Thurbo Tea Estate - Produces some of the best Darjeeling Tea
A historical event is where the garden gets its name from.Years ago, camp or 'Tombu', which actually means tent by the localities, were built by the British to invade Nepal. Further in the years to come the name might have been changed to Thurbo. Thurbo is at an altitude varying from 762 to 1890 meters.Near Nepal, in the idyllic Mirik, Thurbo shelters itself in the great Kanchenjunga.The beauty of Nepal, its hill its peaks comes to our eye frame from here, while the streams and rivulets being there to mark the boundaries.To its north The Mechi while to the South Rangbang River flow-by serving the plains. An addition to this gardens charm are the orange orchids and the orchid farms nearby.
The nearest railway station, “New Jalpaiguri” is approximately 65 km's, and the airport in Bagdogra is about 58 km's from the garden. Thurbo Tea Garden experiences a climate typical of the hills, where due to the altitude the temperatures remain low with less sunshine. This shortage of sunshine hours happens in the rainy season and during the winter season. The other months are generally dry and windy with low temperatures. The rainfall varies from 171.60 cms to 338.56 cms, and the temperature varies between 41 – 79 degrees Fahrenheit.
Thurbo Tea Estate is known to manufacture some of the best Darjeeling Tea in the region, it is blessed by nature and the cool climate helps the garden yield best quality teas. The garden has a mixture of cultivars, AV2, China and P316. The tea plantation has subtle flavours, the 'Chinas’ are famous for their bright and rich in flavour qualities whilst the Assam teas are wanted for being rounded and sweet. The autumn produce from Thurbo is fragrant, sweet smelling with a mellow-like flavour.
Thurbo makes the most outstanding Muscatel, the picture above has been taken in their factory. Their Moonlight White tea is hugely popular and according to a recent newspaper report in The Telegraph a big hit
Some interesting personal stories:
Picture of Mr N K Puri at Thurbo Tea Garden, 2015.
Mr NK Puri worked in Thurbo Tea Garden from 1970 to 1973. His first son, Divya was born here in 1971. He is the founder and Tea Master of Teacupsfull.
Mr Jivan Pradhan worked in Thurbo Tea Garden from 1998 to 2002. He retired from Thurbo in 2002 and is now a Tea Master with Teacupsfull.
Mr NK Puri recalls that the garden would always be engulfed with fog and mist and during the monsoons it would be difficult to drive the jeep to the garden as you could not see the road. After the Club Day or weekend we would all wait for Mr Harish Mukhia to take the lead, he was able to see through fog and would drive at a speed of 50 - 60 kmph to the garden while a normal driver would take at least an hour and a half to drive to through the fog to reach the estate. Mr. Mukhia's son Pranab works for Goodricke.
You can buy authentic Darjeeling Tea selected by Ex Goodricke Tea Planters and Teacupsfull - Tea Masters, an assurance that no other tea boutique can give.
