High tea

Set 2,200m high on the steep slopes of the Indian Himalayas and surrounded by the ice-capped peaks of Khangchendzonga, the world’s third-highest mountain, the hills surrounding Darjeeling are – quite literally – breath-taking. Wild elephants and tigers roam the valley ridges and Buddhist monasteries cling to the slopes, but it’s Darjeeling’s vast blanket of emerald-green tea plantations that has led its cash crop to be called the ‘Champagne of teas’ and propelled it to international fame.

Each of Darjeeling’s 87 tea estates is renowned for producing delicate, muscatel-flavoured brews. But if you venture 33km south from the town’s bustling Victorian-era resorts to one of the world’s oldest tea factories, you’ll find a rare variety that’s arguably leaf and bud above the rest. Known as Silver Tips Imperial, it’s only plucked by expert pickers from the Makaibari estate on clear, full-moon nights when the planets align to produce optimal harvest conditions. This mystical Oolong isn’t only cosmic, it’s costly: in 2014, it sold for the equivalent of $1,850 per kg, making it the most expensive tea ever produced in India.