Blog

Welcome to the fourth in a series of blogs from our Spring/Summer trip to Darjeeling : you can find the first three here : Blog 1 :  'A new side to Darjeeling : Tunglabong' and Blog 2 : 'The rise of a new generation : Burbung Busty'; Blog 3 : Darjeeling 2022 : Onwards to Poobong & the sweetest green tea . This blog finds us at Nuxalbari Tea Estate in the Dooars a place Michelle last visited in 2018.  We have shared stories from Nuxalbari before in our book and also on the blog.  For this blog we are specifically looking at the...

This is the third in a series of blogs from our Spring/Summer trip to Darjeeling : you can find the first two here : Blog 1 :  'A new side to Darjeeling : Tunglabong' and Blog 2 : 'The rise of a new generation : Burbung Busty'  . This blog finds us leaving Burbung Busty and heading down into the misty landscape of Poobong just below Ghoom.  This is an area we were to revisit later in the trip but for now we were here to meet Ashweta who is not only a wonderful human and tea maker but also a partner of...

One of the key motivations for our trip to Darjeeling was to visit the small growers of Darjeeling, understand their work and see first hand how the landscape of tea in this famous region is changing. .Michelle : We were heading to Burbung Busty near Kurseong to meet Rajiv, his brother Anurag and their family who have set up a small tea processing unit making black green & white teas.  Rajiv is a hugely experienced tea maker with a career in a number of larger gardens [Ambootia, Nuxalbari] under his belt. Motivated to ensure buyers get good teas at good prices made in a way that supports...

A new side to Darjeeling : Tunglabong __________________________________________ Welcome to our blog!  This is the first in a series of blogs sharing insight from our month long 2022 trip to Darjeeling where we were visiting many of the smallholder communities across the hills; we hope you enjoy the read! __________________________________________ Michelle : We were staying in Tunglabong the Lepcha name for the village meaning ‘Tapioka.’ - the plant that was abundant here in the early days of settlement.  This is Lepcha country - the Lepcha are the original people of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Sikkim & Ilam with a rich culture, forts, kings and a strong connection to the land.  Farden Lepcha, who was...

Here at Comins we are starting to receive and enjoy new teas from the new season - we are excited to share a few of these below.  We are also preparing for our first tea trip for several years.  .On 23rd May we will travel to Darjeeling for a month - taking the whole family with us.  If you know us then you know that for us Darjeeling is a very special place both personally & professionally.  Many of our great tea friends in tea are in Darjeeling & since the sudden passing of Michelle's mum just before the pandemic she has...