In Assamese Hathikuli means ‘Elephant-Frequent’, and the Tea Garden is found on the very edge of the Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park hosts two-thirds of the world’s Great One-horned Rhinoceroses, boasts the highest density of Tigers in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006 as well as being home to large breeding populations of Elephants, Wild Water Buffalo and Swamp Deer as well as numerous other mammals, birds, reptiles and plants.
The Tea Garden was started by a Scotsman, James Finley in 1902, the estate came under ownership of Tata Tea in 1983 and Amalgamated Plantations in 2007. The immediate proximity to the Kaziranga Park was paramount in the choice of converting to Organic methods initiated in 2007 and achieving completion in 2011. The estate also is part of The Rainforest Alliance. They received a prestigious award from Sanctuary Asia, ‘Wind Under the Wings’, usually only given to individuals, for their decision to go Organic especially as initial financial losses were high until the Garden to bring pests under control by natural predators.
The tea is a very nice, quite typically Assam, malty, strong and dark, in fact too strong for me, it does need milk. Helen loves it. It is also great value. I did the usual five minutes at 100
oC
