Lover's Leap - Why does this tea have such an unusual name?
Many teas have wonderful names which have originated from legends and stories - some true, some maybe not?
Think Tie Guan Yin, Iron Goddess of Mercy, the beautiful oolong from Fujian Province in China with the heart-warming story of an impoverished farmer repairing a derelict temple and being rewarded by the Goddess, Guanyin, with a tiny tea bush for his devotion. Or Margaret's Hope Estate, in which the name of the estate was changed when the owner’s daughter, on being sent to school in England and hoping to return to her beloved tea garden in Darjeeling, never returned due to a fatal illness. Lover's Leap is no different!
Lover's Leap is an area in the famous Pedro Estate nestled in the central hills of Sri Lanka. The estate sits on the outskirts of the small town of Nuwara Eliya at an altitude of approximately 6,000 feet. Each area within the estates are known correctly as divisions and Lover's Leap Division gets its name from a rather sad story!
Historically Kandy was the capital of Sri Lanka and the story tells how a Kandyan Prince fell madly in love with a maiden of lower caste. Some versions of the story tell of how whilst hunting in the jungle he became lost and a local girl found him and helped him to safety and they then fell hopelessly in love. The Prince's father, the king, learnt of their relationship and in terror the couple took flight. The king sent soldiers in pursuit and sadly the lovers soon realised they had no chance of escape and so jumped together from a waterfall rock face, preferring to be united in death rather than divided in life! The waterfall is within the Lover's Leap Division hence the name! Open to debate is the fact it is said if you visit at night the waterfall is haunted by the spirits of the two lovers, however one thing is for certain, the tea from this division at Pedro Estate is truly delicious. https://dorothysteas.co.uk/tea...
