
THE METROPOLITAN TEA COMPANY LOVER'S LEAP TEA 100G
Regular price
$9.99
- Country of Origin: Sri Lanka
- Region: Nuwara Eliya
- Shipping Port: Colombo
- Grade: OP (Orange Pekoe)
- Altitude: 6500 - 9000 feet above sea level. Estate situated in an area of very steep hills at high altitude.
- Manufacturer Type: Orthodox
- Cup Characteristics: Medium body, flavoury cup with piquant Ceylon character. Best in the morning or after dinner.
- Infusions: Bright and coppery
- Ingredients: Luxury black tea.
Not far from Lovers Leap is a lovely hotel/inn called ‘The Hill Club’. The ambiance is circa 1910. Deep leather lounge chairs comfortably display 80 years of wear, windows are open and ramshackle shutters slap in the breeze and you are addressed as ‘The Master’ and ‘The Madam’. Before dinner you must don a dinner jacket and tie, polished black shoes (shorts with knee socks are ok), repose in the bar for a predinner drink and discussion. After the second drink the maitre’d announces that dinner is served. Ladies enter the dining room first and are escorted to their reserved table; once the ladies are seated the men are invited to enter and take their seats. The waiters wear white gloves and deftly handle the serving utensils as they serve each table. Wine is served and after sorbet a port is offered, followed by retirement to the bar for one last drink and cigar. The more adventurous will wander across the 17th fairway to the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club bar (careful of the snakes!) noisily closing the bar at 2:00 am.
This tea is a true Orange Pekoe grade. Interestingly, the term Orange Pekoe has little to do with quality as it is a size grading term. Orange Pekoe in true tea jargon stands for whole leaf. When you pour boiling water on this tea you will see how the leaf uncurls and expands quite dramatically, a process called “the agony of the leaf”.