Peregrine
1st Flush Mountain is an extremely rare and quite delicious black tea
from Yunnan Province, China. The forested wild hills of Yunnan are home
to the magnificent Peregrine Falcons. Revered throughout the mountain
villages as a spiritual and sacred bird, the local people have created
fables which intertwine the Peregrine falcons with their lives. It is of no surprise that since Yunnan province is home to some of the world's finest tea, their is a fable which tea owes its existence to the Peregrine falcon.
The Fable of Peregrine 1st Flush Mountain:
A
young boy was out hunting rabbits above his village, and as he ventured
further up the steep forested slopes, he came across a falcon caught in
a snare – in those days it was customary for the aristocrats to keep
Peregrine Falcons for hunting and as the boy examined the snare he found
it had the great mark of a fierce local warlord. Faced with the
dilemma of returning the bird to the warlord or setting it free and face
certain death if his action was discovered by the warlord. Whilst deep
in thought a sudden sharp wind whisked through the forest carrying the
cry of this falcon. It said “if you release me from this trap, I will
show a great field of undiscovered tea bushes which will make an amazing
new variety of tea and this will make you rich enough to pay your
tributes to the warlord and more besides”, at this the boy released the
bird and true to the Peregrine Falcon’s word lead him to this remarkable
new tea.
Over
the years this extraordinary tea has come to be regarded as one of the
best teas produced in Yunnan province of China. Picked during the
spring Flush, it is graded as TGFOP Special (Tippy Golden Flowery Orange
Pekoe Special) - the cup overflows with vivacious malt highlights,
underpinning a full body camellia delight. It brews up a beautiful
golden coppery colour infusion.