The Making of India’s Most Expensive Tea

Workers carry baskets of hand-picked tea leaves at the Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. The 155-year-old Makaibari Tea Estate recently sold it’s Darjeeling tea, named Silver Tips Imperial, for $1,850 a kilo to buyers from the U.K., the U.S. and Japan, becoming the most expensive Indian tea ever sold. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Workers hand-pick tea leaves on the Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Workers hand-pick tea leaves on the Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Workers hand-pick tea leaves on the Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

A supervisor holding an umbrella, right, watches workers hand-pick tea leaves on the Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Freshly hand-picked tea leaves sit in bags at the Makaibari Tea Estate factory in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Workers offload freshly hand-picked tea leaves outside the Makaibari Tea Estate factory in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

The Makaibari Tea Estate factory stands in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Silhouetted workers arrange tea leaves in a withering trough at the Makaibari Tea Estate factory in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

A worker collects tea leaves in a basket at the Makaibari Tea Estate factory in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Workers load tea leaves into a green leaf sifter machine at the Makaibari Tea Estate factory in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

A worker sweeps spilt tea leaves at the bottom of a staircase a the Makaibari Tea Estate factory in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

A worker prepares to pack tea into bags at the packing section of the Makaibari Tea Estate factory in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

A manager takes stock of packed bags of tea at the Makaibari Tea Estate factory in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

A variety of premium teas are laid out for tasting at the Makaibari Tea Estate in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Swaraj Kumar “Rajah” Banerjee, chairman of Makaibari Tea Estate, tastes tea in his office in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)

Swaraj Kumar “Rajah” Banerjee, chairman of Makaibari Tea Estate, tastes tea in his office in Kurseong, West Bengal, India, on Monday, September 8, 2014. (Photo by Sanjit Das/Bloomberg)