Jungpana Summer Delight, Second Flush 2020

This tea is very clean, smooth, full-bodied, finishing only a touch astringent. Cocoa, malt and touches of caramel and autumn leaf push this toward being a rich brew but a brilliant tangy, fruity quality lightens it considerably. The two types of flavor balance each other almost perfectly. The fruitiness is complex and difficult to parse: red grapes, muscatel, red wine, pomegranate, raspberry, peach-orchard fruit. Those notes carry through into the aftertaste with additions of rose, incense and those green Indian chillies (mirch?).

Thank you Leafhopper for sharing :) It is aptly named, isn’t it?

I love the flowery, over-the-top names given to some Darjeelings (like Moonlight, Enigma, and Summer Punch), especially when the teas deserve them. I’ve enjoyed Lochan’s offerings from Jungpana in the past, so I have high expectations going into this tea. I steeped 4 g of leaf in a 355 ml mug at 195F for 5 and 8 minutes.

The dry aroma is of muscatel, pastry, chocolate, flowers, and grass. The first steep has notes of heavy muscatel, dates, raisins, pastries, butter, chocolate, rose, spring flowers, spices, wood, straw, earth, tannins, and grass. The chocolate aftertaste is pronounced. The second steep is less exciting, with autumn leaf pile, malt, muscatel, tannins, wood, straw, and earth.

This is a lovely second flush Darjeeling that is indeed a summer delight. I was advised to get 100 grams, and I’m glad I listened.