@ Blair:
How about Halmari - they're good.
One way to find out the really good gardens is to check out their
average prices achieved over the year. The records can be accessed at
this web site - http://www.assamteaxchange.com. This is the official
website of the GTAC [ Guwahati Tea Auction Centre] and they record all
the teas sold through the Auction System in Guwahati. The Auction
system brings together buyers from all over the world to bid on teas on
offer - it's a clear indicator of a tea garden's quality vis-a-vis
other gardens. For exmaple - an estate averaging Rs 100 [Halmari] will
be considered to be making superior quality tea to an estate averaging
Rs 60 [lots of them]. Another factor to look for while comparing
gardens is to look at the quantum of teas sold. Let us take the example
of an estate averaging Rs 100 but having sold only 10000 kgs, and an
estate averaging Rs 90 but having sold 200000 kgs. It's quite obvious
that there has to be some minimum quantity sold level to make a fairer
comparison. We generally only compare estates having sold 150000 kgs or
more in the GTAC. This then ensures that there is a 'consistency'
parameter attached to the findings.
Another thing which most people may not know is that most of the really
good estates [Rs 80 average or higher in 2005-06] do not sell their
produce in retail form. Blenders and packeteers buy their produce in
the Auctions, blend them and then sells this blend to the end consumer.
Without doubt, the quality of the blend is not superior to any top
estate's tea in stand-alone form. Some of these estates are now
realizing this, and to optimize profits as well as bring to the
consumer better quality tea are now getting into direct retail
themselves. If you're lucky enough to ever taste some good estate's tea
- unblended and factory fresh, you'll never want to drink those
Unilever/Tetley/Brook Bond/Earl Grey packets again. They dont hold a
candle to even a medium-good estate's tea in it's unblended form.