212 TEA AND SILK FAKMING IN NEW ZEALAND. 



fragrance of the mountain-grown article is superior to that of 

 any scent which art can communicate; nevertheless we find that 

 some of the costliest sorts in use among themselves are artifi- 

 cially flavoured, although never coloured. Examples of this are 

 to be seen in the finest specimens of Chulan, or pearl-flower, 

 sometimes called cowslip hyson, and Loong-tsing, or hyson- 

 pekoe, used by the wealthy Chinese as presents among each 

 other, both of which owe their delicious aroma to the flowers of 

 the Chlorinthus inconsjoicuus. The following are the methods 

 adopted for 



Scenting Green Tea. 



After the final roasting a portion of the tea to be treated is 

 taken hot from the pan and poured into a hyson chest to the 

 depth of about two inches, over which a handful or so of the 

 freshly-plucked flowers of the Chlorinthus inconsjncuus is strewn. 

 Another layer of tea is added, succeeded by one of the flowers, 

 and so on until the box is full, which is then placed aside in a 

 warm corner and left undisturbed for twenty-four hours. At 

 the end of that time the contents are turned out, thoroughly 

 incorporated together, and fired for about two hours, or until the 

 flowers become crisp and brittle. Their function being now 

 ended, they are sifted out, and the tea thus scented becomes as 

 it were the leaven, and is used in the proportion of one part in 

 twenty to impart its fragrance to the stock. 



Scenting Black Tea, 



Communicating an artificial aroma to black tea is difl'erently 

 managed, and indeed the plan adopted varies in diff'erent dis- 

 tricts, as well as the flowers used. Under ordinary circum- 

 stances the choice of blossoms lies between the Chlorinthus 

 inconspictms, Gardenia florida, Olea fragrans, and Jasminum- 

 samlax. One or other, or a mixture of these flowers, is placed 

 in a sieve under that containing the tea to be scented, and the 

 whole is set over a charcoal fire for two hours, when the flavour 

 is generally found to have been imparted, The chief modifica- 

 tions occur in cases where the Chulan flavour is wanted in a 

 chop of souchong or caper, or where fragrance is required for a 

 special quality of tea for native consumption, which is sub- 

 jected to very little heat. In the former the previously dried 

 flowers, reduced to powder, are freely sprinkled over the tea 

 whilst in the roasting pans, and in the latter the heated aromatic 

 flowers in little crape bags are kept in contact with it during 

 the whole process of manipulation. It may also be interesting 

 and useful to note that, with one exception, whatever flowers are 

 chosen, they are plucked whilst in full bloom, the exceptional 



