TEAS METHODS OF MANUFACTURE. 877 



in cloudy or rainy weather. An hour's sunning is usually sufficient. 

 After withering, the leaves are rolled and twisted. Black teas are 

 usually rolled in an apparatus made especially for this purpose. The 

 rolled leaves are now subjected to a fermentation. This is a very im- 

 portant operation since its influence on the quality of the tea is consid- 

 erable. During this operation the leaves lose their disagreeable raw 

 odor and acquire a fine flavor and the desired tint. One method of 

 fermenting the leaves is to make them up into small balls, which are 

 placed in shallow bamboo trays, covered with a white cloth, and set 

 aside in a sunny place. A second method is to spread the leaves in a 

 tray, press them together, cover and place them in a sunny place as 

 above. The progress of the fermentation is determined by the appear- 

 ance of the leaves, the full time required being about an hour. After 

 fermentation the leaves are exposed in a thin layer to the sun. During 

 this sunning the green color of the leaves gradually changes to a black. 

 The next process is termed the "firing." The leaves are placed in a 

 tray over a charcoal fire. The temperature gradually increases as the 

 moisture is driven off. The leaves are constantly turned to insure uni- 

 form drying. The leaves are transferred to another tray carefully 

 mixed, and the drying repeated until they are dry. The final operation 

 consists in passing the leaves through sieves of different meshes and 

 packing. The tea is divided into three classes depending upon the size 

 of the leaves, viz, Pekoe (the leaf buds), Souchong, and Bohea. 



As already stated, these manipulations are very much simplified in 

 India. According to Col. Money J the operations practiced in the older 

 tea countries have been reduced from twelve to five. Col. Money states 

 that the brokers in India judge of the quality of the teas by the fol- 

 lowing examination: 



They judge from three things, (1) the tea (t. c., the prepared leaf), (2) the liquor, 

 (3) the out-turn. 2 



The tea. The color should be black, but not a dead black, rather a grayish black 

 with a gloss on it. No red leaf should be mixed with it, it should be all one color. 

 The tea should be regular : that is, each leaf should be about the same length, and 

 should have a uniform twist, in all but " broken teas." (These latter are called 

 " broken," because the leaf is more or less open and broken.) The tea should also be 

 regular of its kind, that is, if Pekoe all Pekoe, if Congou all Congou; for any stray 

 leaves in a tea, even if of a better class, will reduce its value. In the high class of' 

 teas, viz, Pekoe and broken Pekoes, the more Pekoe tips that are present the higher, 

 in consequence, will its price be. 



The liquor. In taste this should be strong, rasping, and pungent, in case of Pekoes 

 a "Pekoe flavor." There are other words used in the trade to particularize certain 

 tastes, but the words themselves would teach nothing. Tea-tasting can not be 

 learned from books. If the liquor is well flavored, as a rule, the darker it is in the 

 cup the better. But to judge of teas by the color of the liquor alone is impossible, 

 for some high-class teas have naturally a very pale liquor. 



1 Tea cultivation, Lieut Col. Edward Money. W. B. Whittingham & Co., Lon- 

 don. 



*The out-turn consists of the tea leaves after infusion. 



