Nepal Tea: From Deepak’s Dream To A Collective Cup

In the 1960s, fifteen-year-old Deepak Prakash Baskota visited the tea-growing hills of Darjeeling. He returned to Phidim in eastern Nepal with more than memories: he had a vision of a tea farm that could create opportunity for his community.

The path from that idea to Nepal Tea Collective was not immediate. It took a backyard, a family’s determination, farmers willing to join together, and another generation ready to carry the story forward.

A Vision The Village Did Not Yet Share

In the early 1970s, Deepak asked village elders for unused land where he could plant tea. They rejected the proposal. Instead of abandoning it, he began planting in his own backyard in the late 1970s, alongside his wife Dambar and close friends.

Four years later, the plants offered something an argument could not: visible evidence that tea production was possible. Farmers began to see the potential for themselves.

The Next Generation Grows Up On The Farm

Nishchal, Deepak and Dambar’s youngest son, was born on the tea farm in 1991. He later went to college in the United States with an accounting career in mind, but his direction changed.

After graduating in 2015, he returned to Nepal. That year’s earthquake made it a difficult period for the country, and the brand’s account describes both hardship and resilience.

Nishchal helped his sister market Nepali teas locally through Baskota Group and opened a tea bar, described in the supplied history as Nepal’s first. The farm’s story was finding a new way to meet tea drinkers.

2016–2017: A New Identity For Nepali Tea

In 2016, Nishchal returned to the United States and established Nepal Tea, with the aim of giving Nepali teas a clearer identity internationally.

A 2017 Kickstarter campaign drew support from almost five hundred backers. The brand credits that campaign with helping develop products and immersive tea-tourism experiences, widening the connection between the cup and its origin.

Recognition In The Cup

The supplied timeline records Nepali Breakfast among a consumer-voted top ten in 2018, drawing on a survey with more than seventy thousand reviews.

In 2019, White Prakash, named after Nishchal’s father, won a bronze medal at the Global Tea Championship. The current listing also identifies that award, a milestone for a tea with a deeply personal name.

2021–2023: Friends Become A Bigger Team

Pratik, a third-generation Nepali tea producer, joined as a co-founder in 2021, bringing finance and logistics experience from Wall Street. The history describes him building the wholesale and fulfillment side of the collective.

Amigo joined in 2022 after studying at the London School of Economics. He, Nishchal, and Pratik had played cricket and soccer together in Kathmandu; now their friendship became part of building a tea company.

By 2023, the timeline described a twelve-member team. Shalin contributed numbers and insight, Bidhan social-media skills, Kajina and Anish design and execution, and Ishan email and marketplace work. Pratima, Kshitiz, and Aakriti supported business clients, while Rabin helped get teas to customers.

2024–2025: A Wider Collective

The company reports crossing one million dollars in revenue in 2024, moving into a larger office, and becoming a Certified B Corporation that year. These are milestones in its supplied history, alongside its farmer-first and transparency-focused mission.

That year also brought a partnership with Himalayan Java and the acquisition of Build a Blend, a private-label manufacturing operation with facilities in Nepal and the United States.

The timeline records the Shangrila acquisition in 2025 and participation in the North East Tea Festival, expanding the collective’s reach and introducing Nepali teas to more drinkers.

2026: A Place To Sit And Sip

The latest chapter is The Collective Brew, the company’s café at 198 Van Vorst Street in Jersey City. In the supplied account, it is a return to the tea-bar idea, now offering a place to enjoy teas brewed in the spirit of life back on the farm.

From backyard plants to a shared café table, the journey keeps finding new ways to connect people with Nepali tea.

Herbal Blends Have Their Own Place

Lemongrass, Hibiscus, Chamomile with Ginger, Golden Milk, and Golden Turmeric Ginger add more flavor directions to explore. Kathmandu Cosmos has separate regular and caffeine-free herbal listings, so choose the intended version carefully.

Green, white, black, and oolong teas generally contain caffeine; a light-colored cup is not proof of none. Check ingredients and caffeine information on the product you choose. Flavor notes such as honey or butter describe taste, not necessarily added ingredients.

Why We Carry Nepal Tea

We appreciate a story built through persistence and shared effort: Deepak and Dambar planting when others doubted, farmers pooling land, and Nishchal and his colleagues helping give Nepali tea a wider identity.

The collection invites you into that story through the cup. Choose a familiar style or explore something new, and let the tea’s own character guide the moment.