Makaibari Facts

  • Established in 1859, Makaibari is the oldest garden in Darjeeling
  • Elevation - 1500 Meters
  • Harvest Season: March - November
  • Certified Organic, and Biodynamic.

The Seasonality of the Makaibari Tea Estate

Every year brings us a new season at the Makaibari tea estate, ensuring a brand new selection of inventory for you. While the first and second flush are always available on our site, you’ll also find Silver Tips and Long Leaf Green.

For fans of Makaibari – our teas are guaranteed authentic, straight from our estate, and we will support our genuine products with specific lot numbers, origin details, and harvest nuances. We stand by all our products, so shop our selections with confidence!

Overcoming New Struggles

Since the pandemic started, Makaibari has made many changes to their manufacturing, processing, and shipping methods as we strive to mitigate the effects of significant disruptions to the supply chain. We’re doing our best to bring you new teas every year, even as we experience a lack of vessel space and reduced sailing capacity. While prices are increasing at every stage of the tea-making process, we try hard not to pass on all those increases to you – our customers! You’ll still be able to buy all of our teas, even Makaibari tea, online at prices still lower than at other sites.

As new lots come in from the Makaibari Tea Estate, and the world continues to evolve, we’ll do our best to inform you of additions, substitutions, and news on our Home page, in our blogs, and through our newsletters.

Previous Season

As usual, any leftovers from the previous season's tea are still available in our store at a discount. Shop last season’s Makaibari teas online for less than you ever believed possible! Please keep in mind that we are the only company that clearly distinguishes between seasons. We will not pass off old stock as new – you have our word on it!

 

Makaibari Tea Manufacturing

The harvest at the Makaibari Tea Estate starts with the first flush in March and continues through the year until the final harvest in November. We celebrate the first day of the season, called “Paila Patti,” with special blessings and gifts. As the harvest continues, we have about 200 women and about 100 men working to pick over 90 acres of tea fields daily. Through their hard work, they can cover the entire farm in just six days! All of the bushes on the Makaibari Tea Estate are harvested once a week, every week, from the beginning of the harvest until its close in the fall. 

 

Once the workers pick the leaves, the rest of the team works together with their families to process the products. The estate employs about 600 workers each year – that’s over half of the 1,100 people who live in the region! Learn more about the Makaibari Tea Estate Manager and our harvesting processes here! 

 

Each year, Makaibari produces Green, Black, Oolong, Silver Tips, and White teas that are graded FTGFOP1S Leaf, TGBOP1 Brokens, and GOF Fannings. We also offer Limited Production teas when ideal conditions present themselves. These specialty teas may include Crystal Flush, Silver Tips Imperial, and Silver Tips Muscatel. We notify you when these Makaibari teas are online through our blog and newsletter.

 

BBC Travel Gallery

Makaibari Tea Estate is part of many special traditions. The BBC and other news agencies have covered them for excellence in tea. Explore articles and coverage from the BBC today, including: “India's Rare Tea Picked Under a Full Moon,” by Kalpana Prodhan, September 2018


 

Awards and Accolades

Makaibari Tea Estate has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including:

  • Certified biodynamic by Demeter since 1991
  • Certified organic since 1988
  • Award-winning varieties, like Silver Tips, that break auction records
  • Sustainability through biogas units that eliminate the need for cutting down forests for firewood.
  • Ensuring the estate creates environmental benefits that far exceed those mandated by the government, like biodynamic gardening techniques.
  • Pioneering women’s participation in management, planning, and strategy throughout the company.
  • Introducing permaculture in 1975 with indigenous fruit trees, vegetation, ground creepers, leguminous shade trees, forests, and finally – tea.
  • Awarded the Organic Food Award for the Demeter Darjeeling Tea Makaibari from Britain’s SOIL Association.
  • Total integration with the forest and its living creatures for a holistic farming environment through a Joint Forest Management Application.
  • Record-breaking price for an Indian tea at auction, earning us $1850/kg. for Makaibari Silver Tips Imperial.
  • The World Wildlife Fund considered Makaibari for a Gift of the Earth designation from its Living Planet Campaign for the introduction of integrated forest management.

If you love what you’ve learned about their harvesting methods and innovative farming solutions, shop Makaibari teas online to keep supporting this important work!