The black teas produced in Ceylon, India and China are the preferred teas in Europe and America. The freshly picked leaves undergo a long process of transformation, for black  must be fermented. And the fermentation of tea requires as much care and close, scientifically controlled attention as does the fermentation of wine. This industrial art constitutes the modern, technological face of these exotic and apparently unchanging tea gardens, and merits the same detailed description as the colorful swirl of saris. But whereas it is pleasant to linger under a shade tree to watch the plucking, ears lightly humming with the music of wind in the leaves or the voices or the murdered songs of the tea pickers, once at the door of the factory it becomes impossible to tarry for long- much less day dream in the thundering din of machines.
Here, men do most of the work. Barefoot laborers and technicians in British styles shorts bustle among an indescribable clutter of machines, amid dim shade, heat and incessant noise.
Every where it is produced, black tea undergoes five successive stages. The leaves are first softened by a withering process that reduces their moisture content by half and enables them to be rolled without breaking. They are spread in thin layers on the wide screen stacked eight inches apart to allow a current of warm air to circulate for roughly twenty four hours. The most modern factories, however now accomplish the task in tunnels or vats, reducing withering time to six hours.
Withering is not followed by rolling (or maceration). The leaves are rolled to break down cell wall and release their essential oils. This was done in the palm of the hand, but has long since been performed by impressive rolling machines composed of heavy metal disks rotating in opposite direction.
The rolled leaves are then placed on long mats to be sorted according to size and condition- whole or broken. This sorting is still done entirely by hand I some gardens, enabling the leaves to be graded into various classes of black tea. In the finest gardens, whole leaves are classified according to the size and the way in which they are rolled, yielding Orange Pekoe, Flowery Orange Pekoe, Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe or Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe, Tippy Golden Broken Orange Pekoe. Finally the so called crushed leaves which are infact small pieces are called dust and Fannings.

                                                         

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Amidst the mystic mountains of the Himalayas there exists a few tea estates, which can be called flag bearers oftop quality world famous Darjeeling teas and India’s pride “Namring (Upper)”, tea drinkers delight all over the globe, consists of 440 hectares of tes plantation, spreading over a gross area of over 50sq.km. Bushes grown from seeds originally brought out from China mainland by British planters, way back in 1855, are still in existance in the garden.Most rare and desirable “Muscatel”flavour is typical of “Namring (Upper)” teas, during the second flush period which are smartlyabsorbed by German and Japaneseimporters.

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Tucked away in the North-East India at 6500 feet is Darjeeling. The only place in the world that grows the ‘Champange’ of teas. Popularly known as the Queen of the hills, Darjeeling produces the finest, rarest and the most prestigious of orthodox teas. Usually savoured without milk, its incomparable quality is the result of climate, altitude and the cool Himalayan breeze. The steep slopes too inhibit mechanization, impoing traditional methods of harvesting which ensure outstanding quality. The harvest periods for Darjeeling tea can be divided into First flush, Second flash, Rains flush &Autumnal flush. While Darjeeling is home to nearly 61 gardens, one tea estate, OKAYTI is by far the favorite among tea connoisseurs world over.

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Nestled in the mighty Himalayas a tiny tea estate Jungpana has been enchanting tea lovers for over a century. Planted by the British it was owned initially by the Scotland based Duncan Brothers, later by the Ranas of Nepal and thereafter has been with the Kejriwal family for over five decedes.

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Margaret’s Hope is situated 8 kms north of Kurseong town and lies below the hill Cart Road. It shares common boundaries with Balasun Tea Garden to the south and Ringtone Tea Garden to the north-west. The Beltar river flows between its two divisions i.e. Margaret’s Hope and Maharanee. It is a mark acclaimed both at home and abroad for quality teas produced from the Chinary bushes which comprises a major portion of the garden.

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The Singell tea garden was planted out in 1861 by Mr. James White just below Kurseong Town. At that time it was the largest tea garden in Darjeeling and was entirely planted out with the original China Variety of Tea plants which are still producing tea even today.

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Sungama Tea garden is situated at an altitude of 1097-2000m in the Rangbheng Valley in Darjeeling District. Sungma Tea estates teas are mainly manufactured from chinese bushes and it is because of this that they have such good taste and flavour.

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Castleton is located in the outskirts of the town of Kurseong,midway between the plains of Siliguri and Darjeeling town. Castlen was planted in the year 1885 by Dr. Graham.

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Selimbong Tea Estate is locally known as SILIBUNG. The estate was established in the year 1866 by a gentleman Mr. William Lloyd. Selimbong has an area of about 160.96 hectares under tea cultivation. This garden is situated very close to the famous tourist spot of Tiger Hill from where on a clear day , the magnificien Mount Everest can be seen. The average elevation of this garden is between 1500 to 2000 meters. Selimbong tea is popular for its fine Organic teas having a delicate aroma & smooth taste.