Mr. Warington on the Green Teas of Commerce. 5 1 3 



" Young hyson*, until spoiled by the large demand of the 

 Americans, was a delicate, genuine leaf." "As it could not be 

 fairly produced in any large quantities, the call for it on the 

 part of the Americans was answered by cutting up and sifting 

 other green teas through sieves of a certain size ; and as the 

 Company's inspectors detected the imposture, it formed no 

 portion of their London importations. But the abuse became 

 still worse of late, for the coarsest black tea leaves have been 

 cut up, and then coloured with a preparation resembling the 

 hue of green teas." At page 4>66 Mr. Davis continues, after 

 speaking of the frauds with spurious and adulterated teas 

 which the Chinese had endeavoured to practise, " But this 

 was nothing in comparison with the effrontery which the 

 Chinese displayed in carrying on an extensive manufactory of 

 green teas from damaged black leaves, at a village or suburb 

 called Honan." 



"The remission of the tea duties in the United States occa- 

 sioned, in the years 1832 and 1833, a demand for green teas 

 at Canton which could not be supplied by the arrivals from 

 the provinces. The Americans, however, were obliged to sail 

 with cargoes of green teas within the favourable season; they 

 were determined to have these teas, and the Chinese were 

 determined they should be supplied. Certain rumours being 

 afloat concerning the manufacture of green tea from old black 

 leaves, the writer of this became curious to ascertain the truth, 

 and with some difficulty persuaded a Hong merchant to con- 

 duct him, accompanied by one of the inspectors, to the place 

 where the operation was carried on." " Entering one of these 

 laboratories of fictitious hyson, the party were witnesses to a 

 strange scene." The damaged black tea leaves, after being 

 dried, were transferred to a cast iron pan placed over a fur- 

 nace, and stirred rapidly with the hand, " a small quantity of 

 turmeric in powder having been previously introduced ; this 

 gave the leaves a yellowish or orange tinge, but they were 

 still to be made green. For this purpose some lumps of a 

 fine blue were produced, together with a substance in pow- 

 der, which, from the names given to them by the workmen, 

 as well as their appearance, were known at once to be Prussian 

 blue and gypsum. These were triturated finely together with a 

 small pestle, in such proportions as reduced the dark colour 

 of the blue to a light shade; and a quantity equal to a tea- 

 spoonful of the powder being added to the yellowish leaves, 

 these were stirred as before over the fire, until the tea had 

 taken the fine bloom colour of hyson, with very much the same 

 scent. To prevent all possibility of error regarding the sub- 



* p. 464. 



Phil. Mag. S. 3. No. 162. Sttppi. Vol. 24-. 2 L 



