From the first Silver Tips at Thurbo to record auction prices at Castleton: how Arun Kumar Gomden came to name Darjeeling muscatel.
The Glenburn Boutique Hotel, Darjeeling
How a tea planter’s bungalow on Glenburn estate became one of Darjeeling’s most loved boutique hotels, told by Husna-Tara Prakash.
A walk through Darjeeling’s tea gardens
A spring walk through Darjeeling’s tea gardens, in photographs: the pluckers, the neighbors, the kids and the landscape.
Almost every great tea comes from a mountain. Here is why mountain regions are tea’s megabrands, and how to use them to explore new teas.
A coarse, aromatic barbecue rub of Darjeeling black tea, warm spices and dried chilies that goes best with red meats and keeps for a month.
Castleton and the mystery musk
The story and the truth behind the famous muscatel tea, and the Darjeeling estate that first produced it.
Sudeshna Shome Ghosh opens her diary to three moments when a cup of tea changed the day, from exam nights in 1993 to her son’s first pot of tea.
What I Learned at My First Ever Tea Tasting
A two-day sensory analysis workshop with perfumer-turned-tea expert Carine Baudry, and what it taught one writer about tasting tea.
Chinese Marbled Tea Eggs by Angel Wong
Angel Wong of Angel Wong’s Kitchen uses a Margaret’s Hope spring Darjeeling tea to make Chinese marbled tea eggs, a pretty snack for holiday menus.
Hope and aspiration in Darjeeling’s tea gardens
Nirvan Subba, a schoolboy on Darjeeling’s Mim tea estate, wants to become a doctor so his community no longer has to travel 20 km to see one.
A five-minute winter hot toddy made with spring Darjeeling black tea, brandy and honey, served warm with a slice of lemon.
Bonnie Eng of Thirsty for Tea made holiday Spice Drawer Tea Sachets from our teas, and told us how she chooses teas for crafts, recipes and her daily cup.
From plucking and withering to oxidation, fixation, rolling and drying: the basic steps that turn fresh tea leaves into the tea in your cup.
Meet the team: Ravi Kothari, Tea Buyer
Teabox tea buyer Ravi Kothari on his years in tea broking, switching to the buyer’s side of the table, and what Teabox’s quality checks taught him about tea.
Of Kings and Queens: The St. Helen’s Story
Old girls of St Helen’s, Kurseong, gather for its 125th year, with memories of classmates who became queens of Bhutan and Nepal, beef stew and Goethals socials.
In the wow zone at the Goomtee cottage
A stay at the visitors’ bungalow of Goomtee tea estate in Darjeeling, its books and pinewood floors, and the staff who make it memorable.
On the road between Darjeeling tea estates, Anik Basu meets monks who count cash, play ludo and coach football, and visits a monastery built above a shop.
Meet the man who created the Darjeeling oolong
Sumon Majumder nearly ended up selling gin. Instead he joined tea, made the first Darjeeling oolong at Namring, and returned years later to help rebuild the estate.
A balancing act in the Darjeeling tea gardens
In Darjeeling’s tea gardens, an old 25-paisa coin is still the weight for tasting samples, and one estate uses a Pakistani quarter. Nobody quite knows why.
How a wounded Chindit soldier fell for a Lepcha nurse, became a planter at Lopchu, and raised a family in the tea gardens of Darjeeling and Assam.
From Europe and food to Asia and tea
Food writer Jeff Koehler on moving from Spanish and Moroccan cookbooks to Darjeeling, his book on the region’s tea, and the teas he drinks.
The autumn flush, India’s third harvest: woody, understated Darjeeling autumnals for quiet evenings, and spicy Nilgiri teas as the season turns.
Postcard from a Teabox customer
Longtime tea lover Marion Ware writes about growing up on tea in Vienna, drinking it from a clear glass, and discovering muscatel teas with Teabox.
Conversations from a tea garden
A break-time conversation with tea pluckers at Jungpana in Darjeeling, about bad rains, good harvests and weather that offers no guarantees.
What’s the fuss about the first flush?
Why Darjeeling’s first flush is so eagerly awaited: when the spring harvest runs, how lightly the teas are processed, and why they fetch top prices.
A Postcard from Darjeeling: Thinking Spring
A spring snapshot from Darjeeling: a little shop near Goomtee used by tea garden workers, and the flower gardens that mark the season in the hills.
From blending tea at Starbucks in Seattle to the Teabox office in Siliguri: Shruti on tasting days, fussy palates and whether blending is art or science.