Two women hand-plucking leaves to make a Nepal green tea.
Nepal's tea regions and teas
While Nepal's CTC teas, grown in the low-
lying Terai plains running along the south-
ern side of the country, are sold into the
domestic market or to Russia (CIS), India,
and Pakistan, the leafy orthodox teas from
the hill country are now finding their way
into niche specialty markets in the US, Eu-
rope, the UK, Australia, and Japan.
The main tea areas in the Eastern de-
velopment region are Ilam, Dhankuta,
Panchthar, and Terthathum, where the
bushes grow at around 1,000 feet (305
meters) up to elevations as high as 7,500
feet (2,286 meters). Ilam, with its thick
pine and birch forests, mountain streams
and waterfalls, borders with Darjeeling
and is home to the best known of Nepal's
tea gardens, including the original Ilam
Tea Estate planted in 1863; Kanyam Tea;
Sunderpani, an organic cooperative of
300 smallholders who process their leaf at
the Gorkha Tea Factory; Maloom Estate,
which was opened in 1993 and buys leaf
from smallholders and Sandakphu, the
first and only factory to employ women
in positions of responsibility. These fac-
tories all manufacture high quality black
orthodox teas and hand-rolled black teas,
