We have often bought from this estate in the Mirik Valley. You can count on Binod Mohan of Tea Promoters and his staff to make great tea. The growers allow a leafhopper (Jacobiasca formosana) to attack the tea leaves. The plants release a compound in self-defense that we find deliciously similar in flavor to muscatel grapes. It has an intriguing story—the tea plant protects itself from insect attack by creating a compound that has a wonderful muscatel aroma. Singell tea garden is located below Kurseong town in Darjeeling. Planting of the tea garden began around 1861 by the British, who picked the location because of the favorable weather conditions and moderate temperatures. Originally, while scouting around to decide which crop would be the most suitable for this region, the British planted out a large area with coffee in addition to tea. Over time, the British found tea to be more successful in terms of quality, leading to the transformation of Singell into a tea garden. Today, the tea garden still has 3000 of these original coffee plants that were planted by the British. Located at an altitude of 1400 meters and an hour's drive from Darjeeling town, Singell has an active UNESCO-protected heritage train line passing through it. Darjeeling's famous heritage toy train runs along the garden’s northern boundaries. The British planted the entire tea garden with original Darjeeling tea bushes. Although old and low-yielding, these heritage tea bushes still produce the finest tea leaves. A majority of the tea that Singell produces still comes from these heritage tea bushes. Singell produces close to 70,000 kilograms of soothing, mellow golden teas with a unique muscatel flavor. Beginning on August 27, 2026, Elyse Harney has committed 50% of sales of Nepalese and Darjeeling teas to the Nepalese Red Cross via the American Red Cross.
