Luxury Darjeeling tea gets good price

A number of experts feel that luxury tea prices would remain upward this year

Speciality or luxury tea producers among the Darjeeling plantations had a good start to the year, as the prices in private sales went upward.

Compared to the normal Darjeeling tea, which sells at Rs 700-1,500 a kg for whole leaf and Rs 300-500 a kg for the broken and fanning variety, speciality teas, considered as luxury items, normally sell at Rs 6,000-14,000 a kg.

Makaibari Tea Estates was able to craft five kg of luxury tea from its Kurseong plantation, which sold for Rs 19,365 a kg ($302) in a private sale, its best price realisation from the first flush (first plucking