Conversations from a tea garden

Written in May 2015; “last year” and “this year” refer to the 2014 and 2015 harvests.

The other day, we were at Jungpana Tea Estate (in Darjeeling) with the tea pluckers. It was break time. The first shift had ended. The morning’s pickings had been brought, weighed and taken away to be processed. There was a pleasant lull in the air. Conversation flowed easily.

At some point, we started discussing the weather. “Last year, the rains were bad,” they said. “Not a good harvest.”

“And this year?” we asked.

“Good,” they said. “It’s been good…”

We gazed skyward. Some worry was evident on their faces. With weather, there are no guarantees anymore.

Photograph by Gautam Virprashad

Originally published on Still Steeping, the Teabox blog, on May 29, 2015. Lightly edited for clarity in October 2026. Taste the tea from the garden in this story: Darjeeling Jungpana Spring Chinary Black, or explore all our single-estate Darjeeling teas.