ie rw = 
3808.] Rein Observations on Tea. 41g 
ing, the men employed in this business 
are obliged to bathe two or three times a 
day; nor are they sullered to gather the 
leaves without gloves, for fear of soiling 
them. When they have been dried and 
properly prepared, they are put into pre- 
cious vases, and conveyed in great pomp 
to the palace of the Emperor. Mee 
_ The tea is prepared in public buildings 
destined for the purpose, where the pro- 
per instruments are furnished. The pre- 
paration consists inputting some pounds 
_ of fresh-gathered leaves into a large shal- 
dow pan, made of thin iron, either round 
or square, and heated by an appropriate 
stove, described by iwmpfer. ‘They are 
_ shaken and turned with the hands very 
quickly, in order that they may dry as 
equally as possible. This operation is 
continued till a little crackling is heard 
on the iron plate. The heat, in depriving 
the leaves of their juices, dissipates the 
marcotic and injurious qualities which 
they naturally possess. It is necessary 
to roast the leaves whilst quite fresh, 
because if kept some days, they tura 
black and loose their value. The heat 
used, should be such as the hand can 
scarcely bear, In China, they immerse 
_ the leaves in boiling water for the space 
of half a minute betore they are roasted. 
When they are sutliciently done, they are 
‘taken out of the pan with a wooden 
spoon, and distributed to persons whose 
usiness it is to rollthem. The rolling 
As performed rapidly bya uniform motion 
with the palms of the hands, upon a low 
table covered with a mat made of very 
fine stripes of rushes. The slight pres- 
_ Sure the leaves undergo in this operation, 
occasions them to exude a yellow green 
juice, which excites a most intolerable 
heat in the hands; the operation must 
_ -hevertheless be continued, till the leaves 
are cold, as it is only whilst they are 
~ warm that they will roll, and they will 
Lnvoll again unless retained under the 
hands till cold, The more expeditiously 
they cool, the better the rolling is pre- 
served; the cooling is even hastened by 
_ fans; but whatever care is taken, some 
_ deaveswillalways unrol, These are, how- 
__|_.90°°SF5iaeeeentpeeaieneneenneeee ee 
x 
| “palace of the Emperor with so much pomp, 
' that one which contains only a few pounds, 
“is accompanied with nearly two handred at- 
tendants, By these means, the price of this 
is extremely enhanced. “When Kempfer 
ithe honour of drinking some of this tea 
‘the palace of the Emperor, the person who 
whanded it to him, offered it, saying, Juke jt 
efreely and with a god appetite, for every cup 
9 ests an Mrwigo, (about halt a guinga.)~T, ~ 
ever, rolled again, and such as, for want 
of being sufficiently dried, will not roll, 
are even subjected to a second roasting, 
with the. precaution however of slack- 
ening the fire, lest they should be black~ 
ened or scorched, There are some who 
even roast and roll them five times over, 
gradually diminishing the heat, by which 
means they preserve their green colour 
better, and are less subject to change 
with keeping, Every time the roasting 
is repeated, the iron pan is. first washed 
with hot water to clean off the juices, 
and other matters that may happen to 
adhere to it. ‘The leaves thus prepared 
are put on the floor covered with a mat, 
where the thick leaves and such as are 
badly rolled, or scorched, are picked out. 
The tea of the first quality requires té be 
more roasted, in order that it may pow- 
der readily. When the leaves have been 
gathered very young and_ tender, the 
operator contents himself with immersing 
them in hot water, and then drying them 
on thick paper over a charcoal fire, dis-» 
pensing with the rolling altogether, on 
accuunt of their small size. 
The country people roast their toa 
with very little trouble, by shaking the 
leaves in earthen vessels exposed to a 
fe. The tea thus prepared, though 
sold at alow price, is often of a good 
quality; and M. Cepigni asserts, that in 
Cochinchina, the rolling of tea is now 
eutirely laid aside, 
After some months, the tea is taker 
out of the vessels in which it had been 
kept, and exposed to a gentle heat to 
dissipate all moisture, lest it should run 
the risk of damaging, after it is finally 
packed up. 
In order to preserve tea perfcctly, it 
must be kept in vessels that are capable 
ofexcluding the air‘entirely ; and. Kemp- 
fer affirms, that the tea which is exported 
to Europe, always loses paro of its qua- 
lites, and that he has never found it to 
have the same agreeable taste and deli- 
cate odour, which it possesses in its na- 
‘tive country. In China, the tea is pre- 
served in vessels of thin lead; which 
when of a large size, they strengthen bw 
external cases of wood, securing the cre- 
vices with paper both within and without; 
and in this manner it is sent into foreign 
countries. ‘the Japanese keep the or-— 
-dinary kinds in large earthen jars, with a 
narrow mouth. That which is intended 
fur the Emperor and the grandees is put 
into vessels of porcelaine, or otker very 
valuable material. — It keeps perfectly, 
and is even said to be better fur keeping. 
The 
