Nuxalbari Tea Estate Woman Owned Elephant Corridor

Nuxalbari Tea Estate Woman Owned Elephant Corridor

Nuxalbari Tea Estate Woman Owned Elephant Corridor

Nuxalbari Tea Estate is located in Darjeeling District, India. This is at the foothills of the eastern Himalaya near the world’s third largest peak – Mount Kanchenjunga.  This tremendous massif influences the area’s weather patterns and creates a lush environment for the tea to grow and flourish.

Tea Plants

Nuxalbari dates back to 1884 through five generations. The estate values healthy soil so that the tea plants are strong and it propagates the best bi-clonal seeds and quality clones.  Their hand picked, artisan tea comes from heritage plants that are over 100 years old, which contributes to its exceptional and fine taste. These heritage tea bushes are the largest that we have seen – as tall as your head and wide as your body.  The result is that Nuxalbari teas are full-bodied, aromatic and flavorful.

Hathi Sathi, Elephant Friend

Sonia Jabbar is the owner. She established an environmental curriculum for the children of her 1,000 employees called Hathi Sathi, or Elephant Friend.  Sonia  teaches the Hathi Sathi philosophy to her workers and their families. She believes that if the younger generation values a healthy lifestyle and environment for people and animals, then all can live healthier lives in the future. The program teaches the children about the natural environment and the value of learning to live with elephants and other wildlife.

Green Corridor Champion

Sonia and her staff are stewards of the land. They’ve transitioned much of the estate to organic. The process required to transition a farm to organic takes many years with steadfastness and patience. The tea plants need time to develop their natural resistance to pests without the application of pesticides.  This transition period generally requires two years for the tea plants to develop a healthy immunity and can also be plucked for tea. Elephants and other animals stay and travel through the farm. Sonia’s vision is to reforest a 50 acre patch above a creek that flows through the estate to provide both food and forest cover for animals.

Nuxalbari is a ‘Green Corridor Champion’ that works with Wildlife Trust of India. This means they ensure the survival of wild Asian Elephants as they travel through Nuxalbari. Sonia was recognized by Prime Minister Modi for her environmental work on wildlife issues. Additionally, the estate offers a green model for other tea farms in the region. And it’s working with other conservation organizations to develop a research station at Nuxalbari for wildlife scientists doing research on Asian Elephants.

A Sustainable Model for Growing Tea

Nuxalbari strives to make a difference with wildlife and nature, their employees’ lives, and finding a better way to live a life. We think Nuxalbari is a more sustainable model for growing tea in India. To top it off, they involve men and women equally to make this happen. Lake Missoula Tea Company is excited to sell tea from Nuxalbari Tea Estate.

Products

Women’s Empowerment Tea Box

When women flourish, their families and communities do, too. Promote women owned business and expand their opportunities by doing business with them. We proudly offer our Women’s Empowerment Tea Box.
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Nuxalbari CTC

A black tea with a punch. This stout black finishes with an ever so slight hint of tart. Designed to go well with milk and sugar. Read the description below to learn more about this black tea.
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Darjeeling Shanti Hathi

This Darjeeling is named Shanti Hathi, or Peaceful Elephant, because elephants take refuge at this tea estate in India. The tea taste is bold yet still smooth. Read the description below to learn more about this great Darjeeling tea.
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Scheherazade Shai

When women flourish, their families and communities do, too. Promote women owned business and expand their opportunities by doing business with them. We proudly offer our Women’s Empowerment Tea Box.
Learn More

Darjeeling District Green

A lovely green Darjeeling with delicate notes of cream and wisps of sweet. The farm where the tea comes from is woman owned and also functions as a corridor for elephants. Read more about this green Darjeeling in the description below.
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Posts

New Directions for Tea in India

The seemingly impossible is happening at Nuxalbari Tea Estate in the Darjeeling District. A woman is running this major tea operation in India. She has paradigm shifting ideas for the people, animals and tea on her estate. Thus, she is taking India’s tea growing traditions in new directions.
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True or False? Making tea is hard work

It doesn’t take but a second to figure out the answer to that question when you visit a tea farm. Aside from the patience and work necessary to grow the tea, it requires manufacturing at the tea factory. The factory is full of loud, hot, expensive machines designed to do very specific tasks as the tea is processed.
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Media Mentions

at Nuxalbari with Sonia

Lake Missoula Tea Company visits Nuxalbari Tea Estate to see first hand what changes are happening at the Estate in Darjeeling District, India.

Sonia Jabbar presidential award

Sonia Jabbar, Nuxalbari Tea Estate owner, receives the Nari Shakti Puraskar 2018 from the President of India for her work on creating a sustainable tea estate with a commitment to the environment and the endangered Asian Elephant. (image and content borrowed from Nuxalbaritea.com)

Jumbo pick me up

Read more about the work at Nuxalbari Tea Estate, including animal corridor expansions, Hathi Sathi environmental education and wildlife destruction crop insurance for farmers.