Kolukkumalai Tea Estate

Kolukkumalai Tea Estate, about 32 kilometres from Munnar near the town of Suryanelli, sits at an altitude of roughly 2,400 metres (8,000 feet) — making it the highest tea estate in the world. The Atlas Obscura entry describes the estate correctly: at this elevation, the views across the Western Ghats are extraordinary, the air is cold even in summer, and the tea grows in conditions found nowhere else.

Getting there is a significant part of the experience. The final section of road is too rough for ordinary vehicles, so the standard approach is to drive to Suryanelli, then transfer to a shared or private jeep for the climb to the estate. The jeep track winds through cloud forest and tea bushes in a state of permanent mist. The estate's small factory still uses century-old machinery and processes the tea the same way it has been done for generations. Sunrise visits, starting from Munnar at around 4 am, are popular for the early light on the tea bushes and the views before cloud cover arrives.

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At 8,000 feet, Kolukkumalai is the highest tea estate in the world — higher even than the famous Darjeeling gardens of West Bengal. The British planters who established it in the early twentieth century were convinced that the extreme altitude would produce a uniquely fine leaf, and they were right: the tea grown here has a muscatel character that tea buyers describe as one of the most distinctive in India. Getting there by jeep through the fog is part of the experience.

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