Nepali Green (Ilam)
Nepali green tea comes mostly from Ilam in the far east of Nepal, a high Himalayan district that shares a ridge and a growing climate with neighboring Darjeeling. Nepal's industry is built around orthodox black tea, so green is the smaller, more artisanal output. The variable that matters most is altitude and garden, since the best Ilam greens come from high-grown Chinese-type bushes and taste cleaner and more floral than the lowland material.
Good Ilam green shows well-made, intact leaf with a fresh, floral, sometimes lightly grassy or honeyed aroma rather than a dull, flat, or stewed smell. Because Nepal is dominated by black tea, green is often a side product, so look for producers who clearly handle their greens with care: even leaf, bright liquor, and a clean finish. Altitude and garden name are the real quality signals, and high-grown lots from established Ilam estates carry more aroma and complexity. Avoid anything dusty, broken, or simply labeled generic Nepal green with no origin detail. Current-season material in sealed packaging is the baseline, as Himalayan greens fade with age like other delicate greens.
Ilam district, in Nepal's eastern hills bordering India's Darjeeling, is the heart of the country's quality tea, with growing conditions (altitude, cool nights, misty days) closely mirroring its famous neighbor. Much of the bush material is Chinese-type (sinensis) and includes clonal selections shared with the Darjeeling tradition, which is part of why Nepali tea so often reads as Darjeeling-adjacent. Other hill areas such as Panchthar and Dhankuta also produce orthodox tea. Green processing here is orthodox and small-scale relative to the dominant black production, so quality tracks the garden and the season closely.
Western: 75-80°C, 3 g per 200 ml, 2-3 minutes, 2-3 infusions. Gongfu: 80°C, 4 g per 120 ml in a gaiwan, 20-30 seconds for the first steep and ascending, 4-5 infusions from a good high-grown lot. Keep the water off the boil to preserve the floral high notes; these high-altitude greens reward a gentle hand.
€8-25 (about $9-27) per 100 g for everyday grades; €30-55 (about $32-59) per 100 g for named-garden, high-grown Ilam lots.
Prices reviewed June 2026
Nepali
The black tea from the same region and often the same estates, where Nepal's reputation actually lives: orthodox, muscatel-leaning, and far more widely produced than the green.
Darjeeling
The neighbor across the border with near-identical terroir; first-flush Darjeeling in particular shares the light, floral, greenish character.
Nepali White (Ilam)
Bud-forward white tea from the same Himalayan gardens, even more delicate and less processed than the green.
Bi Luo Chun
A Chinese green to taste against it: both are floral and high-grown, but Biluochun is fruitier and twisted into fuzzy spirals.
Nepal's eastern tea districts sit right against Darjeeling and grow many of the same Chinese-type bushes in nearly the same climate, so Nepali tea is frequently (and controversially) compared to, blended with, or mistaken for Darjeeling, which has pushed Nepali producers to fight for recognition of their teas under their own name.