Christina / BooksandTea Send Message

The instructions on the package said to steep it in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. However, other members of Steepster have commented that Darjeeling teas taste better when steeped at lower temperatures. Instead, I steeped the tea using 185°F (85°C) water, while keeping the other parameters the same – 1 tsp per cup, for 3 minutes.

The dry leaf of this tea is small, twisted, and black. Anyone who wants to understand how diverse tea can be should have a tea like last week’s Yunnan Breakfast Black side by side with this one. That tea was smoky and leathery, and in contrast the Second Flush Darjeeling smells sharp, fruity, and peppery.

When brewed up, the sharpness and fruitiness were still present. A lot of people in the past have commented on the “muscatel” note of Darjeeling teas, and if this tea is typical, I think I understand what people mean. There’s definitely a smell reminiscent of raisins or grapes – somewhere in between the two, really. But the taste isn’t quite as fruity. Instead, there’s more pepper to it, and it’s also somewhat bready and savoury.

But gasp! Incredibly, I can’t think of a fictional character to compare this tea to. Why? Well, my blog post will reveal all: http://christinavasilevski.com/2014/06/sunday-tea-books-second-flush-darjeeling-simple-loose-leaf/