Thanks to the folks at Devotea for sending me a sample of this. I must readily admit I’m not the biggest fan of second flush darjeelings so you may wish to take this review with a grain of salt.
My cup brews up to be a dark reddish brown and I’m getting a bit of the muscatel flavor, as well as something that reminds me of lemon rind, followed by a spice note. There is a bit of astringency in the finish. I liked this much better after adding a little bit of rock sugar which made the fruit flavors pop more. I really appreciate the chance to have tried it but I’m still not a big convert to the 2nd flush… unless they’re from Nepal.
Everyone has different tastes. It’s always worth trying something, even if just to confirm you’re not keen. This is one of my absolute favourites and has been for many years, but then second flushes and autumnals are very much my favourite.