Where a Planter's Son Was Born

A Name Born From Invasion

The word Thurbo traces back to conflict. The name is a variation of the Nepali word Tombu, meaning tent. The British set up tents in this area when fighting the Nepalese in 1870. Thurbo Tea Garden was planted in 1872. Wikipedia The tents became a garden. The garden became one of the most celebrated names in Darjeeling tea.

It is now owned by the Goodricke Group, which owns such gardens as Margaret's Hope, Castleton and Thurbo — "some of the most famous tea gardens in the world." Wikipedia

Thurbo Tea Estate is located in the lush picturesque valley of Mirik at an altitude ranging from 980 metres to 2,440 metres, with a planted area of 485.11 hectares. The Mechi and Rangbang rivers flow down through this tea estate. 

A Personal Milestone

My father, Late Narendra Kumar Puri, was posted to Thurbo as Assistant Manager in 1970, serving under the legendary planter Harish Mukhia. It was a posting that he remembered throughout his life — not merely for the quality of the tea, but for what it gave our family.

Picture of Mr N K Puri at Thurbo Tea Garden, 2015.

My father Narendra Kumar Puri doing tea tasting in Thurbo Tea Garden

My father recalled that the garden was almost always engulfed in fog. During the monsoons, driving the jeep to the sections was a test of nerve as much as skill — you genuinely could not see the road ahead. After club days or weekends, the managers would wait for Harish Mukhia to take the lead. Mr. Mukhia could navigate through fog at fifty to sixty kilometres per hour when a careful driver would have taken an hour and a half on that same stretch. That quiet, practiced mastery was the kind of thing that defined the best planters of that era. Mr. Mukhia's son Pranab later went on to work for Goodricke. 

Pranab was my senior from school in St. Josephs School, North Point, our bond went beyond tea. It was our common love for tea, Pranab has the distinction of making the best moonlight white tea.

About the Estate

The Tea — What's in the Cup

Thurbo produces some of the most prized teas in all of Darjeeling — and the range is remarkable across flushes.

The estate is well known for clonal teas, where the bushes are grown from cultivars originating from the original plants brought from China. This imparts a distinct floral flavour and bright quality to these highly sought-after teas. 

My father giving us a lesson on Darjeeling Tea in Thurbo.

The cultivar mix — China, AV2 and P316 — gives Thurbo its versatility. The China bushes produce the bright, delicate first flushes that connoisseurs seek out each spring. The clonal second flush is where Thurbo truly distinguishes itself: medium bodied and well balanced between citrus, toasted nut and deep floral notes, with tasting notes of orange peel, walnut, and marigold. 

Thurbo's Muscatel is outstanding — one of the finest expressions of that character in Darjeeling. Their Moonlight White tea has also earned considerable recognition in recent years.

Tasting Profile:

Brewing Guide:

• Temperature: 85–90°C (First Flush); 90–95°C (Second Flush)
• Steep time: 2–3 minutes (First Flush); 3–4 minutes (Second Flush)
• Best enjoyed: Without milk, to fully appreciate the terroir

Why This Estate Matters to Teacupsfull

Thurbo is not simply an estate we source from. It is where my father served, and where I was born. The tea from this garden carries the memory of fog-wrapped mornings, of jeeps navigating blind bends behind a planter who knew the road by instinct alone.

Our Thurbo selections are chosen by people who have a relationship with this garden that goes back over fifty years.

I was born there in 1971 and had a special bond with Thurbo. When we went there in 2015 it was like Dad knew every inch of the garden, he had a glow on his face when he entered the factory. 

Sameer Gupta, showing us muscatel in Thurbo Factory

What made our visit to Thurbo Tea Estate special was Sameer Gupta, he joined tea under Dad in Danguajhar Tea Estate and trained under him for many years. 

Thurbo Tea Garden does not merely occupy the Mirik Valley — it belongs to it. The soil here demands a particular kind of mastery, and over generations, it has found exactly that.

Pranab Mukhia at Thurbo Tea Garden

Few estates anywhere in the world can claim what Thurbo can: a legacy shaped not by one family, but two. Narendra Kumar Puri and Harish Mukhia built something rarer than a partnership. Between them, they carried over a century of accumulated knowledge, intuition, and an almost instinctive understanding of the leaf. It was a bond that ran deeper than profession, deeper than contract — generational, rooted in mutual respect and a shared reverence for these hills. The world of Darjeeling tea is quieter for having lost them both.

But legacies of this depth do not simply disappear. Pranab Mukhia carried forward what his father built, stewarding Thurbo with the same quiet authority that defined the Mukhia name — honoring, season after season, the standard that Harish had set and that Narendra Kumar Puri had stood beside him to protect.

What these men preserved together is more than agricultural knowledge. It is the institutional memory of Darjeeling itself.

That memory now passes to the next generation. As a second-generation tea taster, Divya Puri carries forward not just a family name, but the weight of everything Narendra Kumar Puri devoted his life to — the responsibility to ensure that what their fathers built together is never diminished, never diluted, and never forgotten.

As Pranab concluded his tenure as Senior Manager last year, he leaves behind a garden that remains a benchmark. Thurbo endures as proof of what two families, bound by devotion and trust, can build across a lifetime — and what it means to truly understand the soul of the hills.

This is the bond of two families and Darjeeling Tea.

FAQ

What makes Thurbo tea unique? Thurbo's combination of high altitude, clonal bushes (AV2, P316, China), and the terroir of the Mirik Valley produces teas with a distinctive floral-muscatel character across all flushes — particularly exceptional in the second flush.

What is the Thurbo Moonlight White Tea? An increasingly celebrated specialty from the estate, made from carefully selected young leaves and buds, producing an exceptionally delicate, silky pale-gold liquor.

When is the best time to buy Thurbo tea? First Flush (March–April) for bright, floral cups; Second Flush (May–June) for the full muscatel expression. Both are available in limited seasonal lots.