54° 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February i, 1884. 



DIKECTIONS FOE DEVEL0P3IENT OF MALTY FLAVOUK ASD 

 FOR GIVING "good KEEPING " aUALlTIRS TO TEAS. 



It is now an asscertained fact that, ivith the ' Sirocco' 

 apparatus, the much wanted ' malty ' flavour can be 

 developed upon any ordinarily well manufactured tea, and, 

 at the same time, its ' keeping' qualities be improved. 



" It is in the final ' Siroccoing' of the tea before pack- 

 ing, that this flavour is developed, and the apparatus can 

 produce if even upon teas which have received theu" pri- 

 mary drying over charcoal. 



■' Careful attention to tliis process may easily effect a 

 difference of 2d to 3d per lb. in the value of the teas for 

 the London market ; although if disposed of in Calcutta 

 the relative difference might be less noticable, as properly 

 ' Siroccoed ' teas actually improve by a few mouths keep- 

 ing in well closed chests ; whereas teas which have been 

 imperfectly treated before packing * go off ' and depreci- 

 ate in qualily before .arrival in London, and continuously 

 get worse if kept aftei'wards. 



** The process is really a ' roasting ' more than a dry- 

 ing process, for, at low temperatures, the tea could be 

 made perfectly and absolutely (/ry without in the sUghtest 

 degree producing the richness of flavour that a suitably 

 high tejnperature will develop, just in the same way thst 

 coffee beans, until they are roasted to an exact degree 

 of tem]ierature, do not yield a proper flavour; although, 

 with coffee, the degree required is far beyond that which 

 is most suitable for tea, but the object of the process is 

 analagous. 



" It is the chemical action of hot air upon the tea which 

 produces the rich flavour referred lo, and air at about 

 260 ° F. develops it better than at any other temperature. 

 '■ Pure hot air has a more energetic and perfect uliemical 

 action on tea than air which is imprcijnated witli fumes 

 off coke or charcoal fires, even if same be quite free 

 from taint or smell, and consequently, though the No. 

 2 B ' Sirocco ' (using a mixtnre of air and coke or 

 charcoal fumes) may be employed for this roasting pro- 

 cess, its results are not eqal to thos" obtainable with the 

 No. I ' Sirocco,' the pure, and coutiuuously fresh, liot 

 air from which, in passing through the tea^ develops the 

 richest malty flavour and best keeping qualities that can 

 possibly be produced upon it. 



'• It is absolutely necessary that the hot air should get at 

 every leaf properly, so that the tea itself be raised to the 

 requisite temi^erature ; and it will not do, therefore, to 

 hurry this roasting process, as a certain amount of time is 

 roquii'ed for the heat to thoronghl}' permeate into the leaf, 

 ii3 well as a proper temperature, in order to produce the 

 desired result, but so far as my present experience goes, a 

 fair outtuni per machine would be something near a chest 

 per hour, proper!;/ roasted for packing, and the apparatus, 

 should be used as follows ; — 



"The temperature should be maintained at about 260 ° F. 

 and about six to seven ponnds weight of tea should be 

 spread upon each tr.13', though * with fiue brokens less 

 should be used,' because they lie so close that they offer 

 a much greater resistance to the passage of the hot air 

 through the trays, than is the case with open lying teas 

 like Pekoes or Souchongs, ' and consequently the broken 

 teas requii-e to be spread more thinly.' At 2d0 ° F. I 

 recommend, that each tray of tea should have about four 

 to five minutes exposm'e in the last or hottest place, which 

 means, that in order to properly develop the requisite 

 flavour, a tray should occupy, altogether, from sixteen to 

 twenty minutes in passing through the apparatus from it 

 is put in at the top till it is removed from the bottom 

 space, although, to some extent, the time required depends 

 on the condition of the tea when it is put in for the roast- 

 ing process. 



" A temperature of 30O ° F. can he used if the teas 

 have been kept a length of time before packing, and have 

 become somewhat flat and soft fl.avoured ; but at this 

 temperature very careful attention is required, together 

 with thin spreading of the tea upon the trays, and quick 

 removal the tnf inent the necessary flavour is attained, 

 because, if the tea bo left Jong in a temperature of ,S00' 

 F., discolouration of the infused leaf would be the re- 

 sult, whereas, at 260 ° F. the leaf is scarcely perceptibly 

 <larkened in colour, no matter how long it may be sub- 

 jected to that degree of heat. 



" Care must therefore be taken that the roasting be 

 not carried to too high a temperature; but, at "the same 



time, the higher the temperature employed, without touch- 

 ing too much upon a burnt flavour, and without dis- 

 colouration to the infused leaf, the better will be the 

 character of the flavour developed, and the tea also will have 

 better keeping qualities. 



" This process has such a direct and important bearing 

 upon the market value f>f tea that it should be attendeil 

 to as a Rpecialty^ and carried out in a separate depart- 

 ment of the tea house to that in which the primary 

 drying is done. It onc:ht to be worked regularly from 

 day to day and always in charge of careful and reliable 

 men. 



*' It is advisable to have one * Sirocco ' for this process 

 to each three employed in the primary drying, and to 

 keep the same men reyuiarly at this work, as experience 

 soon enables them to judge the exact amount of roast- 

 ing to give the teas, so that the whole outturn of the 

 estate may be up to an uniform standard of aroma, and 

 they should be required to show infused samples of each 

 day's work in order to check results. 



" The infused leaf of the roasted teas should be a de- 

 gree (but oa\y just a perceptible degree) darker in colour 

 than the same teas before being roasted, and m the dry 

 tea the leaf should be a some what more glossy black 

 and the j^ekoe tips a shade yellower. 



"Tea coming direct to the London market, can withs af ety, 

 be a little more highly roasted than the Calcutta trade 

 might fancy in dealing with it for sale there inside a 

 month from packing, as that tea, when three months 

 packed, will have mellowed do^vn considerably, and what 

 might seem, perhaps, a degree highly roasted if reported 

 on immediately after packing, will, by the time it reaches 

 London, have assumed a very desii'able flavour. 



" A tin lined biu or box, of suitable dimensions, to 

 hold about ten chests of tea, should be provided alongside 

 the ' Sirocco,' and each trayf ul of tea, as finished, should 

 be emjitied into it. 



" A full day's work of one ' Sirocco,' ought to fill this 

 bin, and, before packing, the tia should be well bulked 

 together, for, even with practised hands, it is almost im- 

 possible to get every trayful roasted exactly alike, and 

 much variation in value, on this account alone, might exist 

 in the difl'ennt layers of a chest were each trayful put 

 direct into it from the 'Sirocco.' 



" The tea will be found to remain hot enough in the biu 

 to be suitable for bulking and packing in the evening, as 

 above recommended."' 



The next candidates on our list are Messrs. .John Greig 

 & Co., wlio have invented a " patent green leaf tea cutter," 

 a " link and lever tea roller," an " improved tea sifter," 

 " the Greig patent, or cyclone green leaf withering, self- 

 acting tea drier, a"id tea winnowing machine combined." 

 and "the Greig patent multum in uno," or " economic tea 

 drier." 



The following very intelligent report on the above machines 

 appeared in the Grocer newspaper of 22nd September 

 1883:— 



■' On Wednesday the representatives of the press, along 

 with several gentlemen connected with tea-planting in 

 Assam, were present at a private view of macliineiy which 

 has been patented in India by Messrs. John Greig and 

 Co., Engineers, Kegent Works, Edinburgh, and will be 

 forwarded next week to the international exhibition which 

 opens in Calcutta in December. The machinery is designed 

 to perform the various processes which are required to 

 prepare tea for the market, and will effect a considerable 

 saving both in time aud laliour. From the fact that the 

 article experimented upon ou ^^'eduesday was cabbage- 

 leaves, the raachinci.v was not exhibited to the best adv- 

 antage ; but, neverthi!les.s, general satisfaction was expressed 

 with <'-- ' ■ 



"'I' gjithered is placed in what is called a 



<cvc ^' and dryiug ma:*hiae,' which consists 



of"a ; '.\'.\ an" exhaust and force fan working 



ill .-tii ; n in the interior. It is stated to 



1.1 of the kind in existence, and is 



the present slow process of drying 

 i (ho heat of the sun, or in a hot 



ch:.:jili,r. In till- rxle-.ior of the drum arc two doors aud 

 two steam pa,ssages. The tea having been placed in the 

 interior, the door is fastened. As the leaf is eoustantly 

 1 turning over, the hot air from the fan plays upon it, ex- 



