Upper Surianalle Tea Estate, Munnar
Tea Town Munnar is located in the Upper Surianalle Estate, Devikulam, spread over 638 hectares of tea cultivation. It is the highest tea growing region in the world. It is home to the Surianalle Tea, one of the finest tea renowned the world over. Surianalle in the vernacular means Land without the sun.
The closeness to Annaimudi the highest peak in South India and the Eravikulam National Park famed for Nilgiri Thar adds to the pristine nature of these hills. The tea bushes here derive its sustenance from the mist and clouds and the occasional peck of the sun’s rays, all of which contribute to the magical quality of these teas.
Munnar is a town in the Western Ghats mountain range in India’s Kerala state. A hill station and former resort for the British Raj elite, it's surrounded by rolling hills dotted with tea plantations established in the late 19th century and mainly grows high range teas such as Lockhart, Pannier, and Surianalle.
Surianalle is a CTC tea which means Crush, tear, curl. This is a method of processing black tea in which the leaves are passed through a series of cylindrical rollers with hundreds of sharp teeth that crush, tear, and curl the tea into small, hard pellets. This replaces the final stage of orthodox tea manufacture, in which the leaves are rolled into strips
Why we love Surianalle
Clean & medium-toned fragrance of sweet biscuit in a dip of malt. Liquor of golden yellow with an orange and a rounded cup. Strong bodied with lively briskness, a touch of fruit and a sterling lingering note of sweetness in the finish. Expect the unexpected. The beauty of the hills beckons you to an inspiring morning of tea. A lot can certainly happen over this cup of tea!
Location: Devikulam
Country: India
Capital City: New Delhi
Coordinates: 10.062640°N 77.103990°E
Elevation: 1,532 m above sea level
Soil type: Sandy Loam
Manufacture: Surianalle tea
Season: December - February
Av temp: 19°C
Estate size: 638 hectares of organic tea plantation
Facts:
> Munnar is famous for the wild Neelakurinchi orchids, which bloom once in twelve years when the entire valley turns violet.
> Surianalle means land without the sun.
> The area is a heaven for food loves, with everything cooked with coconut oil and garnished with crushed coconut.