Located in the foothills of the Himalayas of northeastern India, Darjeeling is renowned for producing the "Champagne of Black Teas". It is one of the four main tea growing regions in India and, at 6,000 feet, the highest in elevation. The Arya Estate (which means “respectable” or “best” in the Indian language) is a relatively small tea garden that was established in the eighteenth century by a group of Buddhist monks, whose original dwelling is preserved on the property to this day. It is fully certified organic and is strongly committed to environmental sustainability. The Estate actually has the distinction of having the first private hydro-power generator in Asia! As a small organic tea garden, Arya’s focus has always been on producing artisan teas of exceptional quality.

In practice, most Darjeeling estates give little importance to the production of green tea.  Those that do produce it tend to do so during the off-season during the monsoons. Arya, however, produces this jewel of a green tea during the peak season using its best AV2 clonal tea bushes. Emerald mingles the very delicate characteristics of a classic Darjeeling with those of a first rate China green.