Alipurduar, West Bengal

Alipurduar Tea (Falakata garden tea)

Alipurduar district has about 62 tea gardens and processing factories, making tea the district's signature plantation crop, and tea estates such as Dipankar Tea Estate at Bhutnirghat and the Cooch Behar Tea Garden factory at Bara Shoulmari operate around Falakata. The estates sit on the sub-Himalayan foothills of the Terai, and the leaf is grown, plucked and processed locally before being auctioned with Dooars/North India teas. Buyers get estate-grown CTC and orthodox teas of the North Bengal (Dooars/Terai) style rather than Darjeeling, usually sold in small retail packs.

Typical price: ₹150-800

Buying tip: Buy directly from estate gates or the tea gardens' retail counters in Falakata for fresher leaf and better prices; price is per 250 g pack.