As I’ve said before, I’m not an expert on Darjeeling – I know enough to know that Darjeeling is what black tea is supposed to taste like; if you’ve been drinking supermarket-brand black tea in bags with yellow tags, then real Darjeeling is the stuff that makes you realize, “Oh! This is actually tea, and that bagged stuff is a shadow!” And so, when I describe a Darjeeling, I am not going to compare one estate to the next, or talk extensively about the muscatel notes, or those other things that great experts say for the edification of other great experts. (That’s a line from Anna Russell, world’s greatest classical music comedienne, by the way.)

So what do I say? Well, I say, this is a good black tea. It’s robust. It tastes coppery, a bit, and wine-y, a bit. It doesn’t taste as wine-y (that’s the flavor the experts call muscatel) as my absolute favorite Darjeeling, but, as the company’s description shows, it definitely tastes better than most.

Speaking of Lahloo’s description, here it is:

This award-winning Darjeeling Second Flush is incredible! The tiny Jungpana tea estate, nestled perfectly on the misty south-facing slopes of the mighty Himalayas, has been producing enchanting Darjeeling tea for over a century.

The most delicate and succulent ‘second flush’ Darjeeling tea leaves are plucked in June and July when the tea bushes are bursting with flavour from the changing seasons of the Himalayas – alternating summer sun, mists and warm rains. The family is fanatical about producing tea that is renowned for its elegant honey and pistachio aroma and rich muscatel taste.

Darjeeling Second Flush makes an exquisite afternoon tea, when you can really take the time to enjoy it. Pure refreshment and one not to be missed!

Winner – World Tea Expo World Tea Championship 2008 and 2009 – Best Darjeeling Second Flush

Besides being a good afternoon tea, the leaves of this tea are good for a second steeping, which is still quite flavorful, but has less than 20% of the caffeine of a first steeping – which makes it a good evening tea! I often do that with teas, since I can’t drink much caffeine in the evening if I hope to fall asleep before dawn: brew the first cup and drink it early in the day, and put the steeped leaves in the refrigerator, saving them to re-use later in the day. I recommend, when letting leaves sit around like this, that you don’t keep them in a metal mesh infuser, nor should you put them in plastic – your best choices for not adding artificial notes to the flavor are to store the leaves in glass or ceramic, or a non-reactive nylon infuser. If your ceramic teapot has a ceramic infuser insert, in other words, it’s fine to leave them in that infuser, and just stick it in the fridge, on a saucer in case of drips.

Lahloo is a UK company, and at this time, regular delivery is to the UK and Europe; if you live elsewhere – such as the US – you can contact the company by email to see if they can make special shipping arrangements.