Darjeeling second flush
The summer picking from the same Darjeeling gardens, more fully oxidised and rounder than the spring tea, and the source of the muscatel character the district is famous for — a grape-like, faintly wild sweetness that has no real equivalent in any other black tea.
Character
Rounder and sweeter than the spring picking, with the muscatel note sitting over a light malt base. The comparison to muscat grapes is unusually literal for tea tasting language.
- Flavour
- Fruity, Woody
- Aroma
- Stone fruit, Honeyed
- Mouthfeel
- Medium, Smooth
- Complexity
- Layered
- Notes
- muscat grape, apricot, walnut, warm wood
- Aftertaste
- Sweet and lingering, with a distinct grape-skin note.
Moderate intensity: noticeable weight or grip, but neither dominates the cup.
Provenance and production
- Origin
- India
- Region
- Darjeeling
- Oxidation
- Heavily oxidised
- Harvest
- Second flush
- Processing
- Withering → Rolling and shaping → Oxidation → Drying
History
The muscatel character that defines the second flush was recognised commercially in the late nineteenth century, and the tea jassid infestation that produces it was for a long time treated as a pest to be sprayed before its role was understood.
Brewing
Western brewing (teapot or mug)
1–1.5 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 1 authored infusion
Gongfu brewing (gaiwan)
4–5 g/100 ml · 90–95 °C · 5 authored infusions
No caffeine estimate is authored for this tea. TeaHQ does not infer one from its category, because category predicts caffeine poorly — matcha and gyokuro carry more than many black teas.
Common mistakes
- Over-steeping, which pushes the tannins forward and buries the fruit
- Buying on the district name alone without a flush, which tells you almost nothing
If you like this
Grouped by why they were suggested, strongest reason first. Nothing here is a blended score — a suggestion appears under the best reason that exists for it, and never under a weaker one as well.
Editorially linked
Someone wrote down why these two belong together. The note below is theirs.
- Oriental Beauty
Both carry a muscat-and-honey character despite belonging to different categories, and each is the usual recommendation for someone who has enjoyed the other.
- Sikkim (Temi)
Neighbouring Himalayan districts with comparable muscat character; Sikkim is scarcer and cheaper.
- Assam
Both black, and about as far apart as the category goes. Assam is forgiving and milk-friendly; Darjeeling asks for cooler water, a shorter steep and no milk, and rewards it with muscatel aroma.
- Nepal black tea
The same ridge system across the border, comparable muscatel character, and considerably less trade recognition.
Similar sensory profile
Shares controlled flavour, aroma and mouthfeel descriptors. A looser match — two teas can share descriptors and still taste nothing alike.
- Darjeeling muscatel
Shares 6 descriptors with Darjeeling second flush: fruity, woody, medium, smooth, stone fruit and honeyed.
- Anamalai tea
Shares 5 descriptors with Darjeeling second flush: fruity, woody, medium, smooth and stone fruit.
- Balhyocha
Shares 5 descriptors with Darjeeling second flush: fruity, woody, smooth, medium and honeyed.
- Lychee black tea
Shares 5 descriptors with Darjeeling second flush: fruity, medium, smooth, stone fruit and honeyed.
Written comparisons
Where TeaHQ has set this tea against another in full, rather than deriving the comparison.
- Black tea styles compared — Five black teas that share a processing route and almost nothing else. Anyone who has decided black tea is one flavour has met one of these and generalised from it.
- Assam vs Darjeeling — Both are Indian black teas and the resemblance ends there. They are different plants grown in different climates at different altitudes, and the gap between them is wider than between many teas from different countries.
- Darjeeling first vs second flush — The same bushes on the same slopes, picked eight weeks apart, producing teas that share little beyond a name and a district.
- The difference between first and second flush — Flush means harvest, and in Darjeeling the first two of the year produce teas so different that treating them as one product is misleading.
- Darjeeling vs Nepali tea — Neighbouring Himalayan estates growing the same cultivars at the same elevations, separated by a border and a great deal of reputation.
- Darjeeling vs Ceylon — Two names that sound like origins and describe very different degrees of specificity. One is a small protected district; the other is a whole country.
Journeys featuring this tea
- Starting with tea — Someone who drinks tea from bags and wants to know what else there is.
- Exploring black tea — Someone who drinks black tea daily and wants to know how wide the category is.
- I drink tea bags — Someone whose entire tea experience is a bag in a mug, wondering whether loose leaf is worth the trouble.
- Learning to taste tea — Someone who can tell they like one tea more than another and cannot say why, and would like to be able to.