878 FOODS AND FOOD ADULTERANTS. 



The out-turn. A good out-tnrn is generally indicative of a good tea. It should 

 he all, or nearly all, one color. No black (burned) leaves should appear in it. A 

 greenish tinge ill some of the leaves is not objectionable, and is generally indica- 

 tive of pungent liquor, but the prevailing color should be that of a bright new 

 penny. 



GREEN TEA. 



The leaves are first steamed until they lose their elasticity. The 

 operations of rolling' and drying follow the steaming. The leaves are 

 finally ported by means of a series of sieves. In China, instead of 

 steaming the leaves as practiced in Japan, they are heated in a pan 

 over a charcoal fire. 



The Japanese sometimes prepare a tea which they term " flat tea." 

 In this tea the leaves, as the name indicates, are not rolled. They are 

 obtained from plants which are kept in darkness for a week or two 

 before picking; keeping the plants in darkness is said to produce a fine 

 aroma. 



The operations of tea manufacture require considerable skill and ex- 

 perience. At certain stages of the work an error may ruin the quality 

 of the product. 



In general the quality of a tea depends upon the age of the leaf, also 

 upon the time of picking. The leaves gathered after the first and second 

 picking (as high as twenty-five pickings are made in India) gradually 

 become tougher and less juicy as the season advances. 



The India teas are usually very much stronger than those from 

 China and Japan, one part giving an infusion as strong as three parts 

 of that from the latter countries. To those persons who have acquired 

 a taste for the Chinese and Japanese teas, those from India at first 

 seem too strong and the flavor is not as agreeable as would be expected 

 from the high price of these teas. It is an excellent plan to add a cer- 

 tain proportion of India tea to the Chinese or Japanese product, the 

 strength and usually the flavor of the latter being considerably im- 

 proved by this mixture. 



As has been stated the leaves of the India teas only come in contact 

 with the hands of the workmen at the time of picking; this may also be 

 said to a certain extent in regard to the Japanese teas, whereas those 

 of Chinese origin are manipulated almost entirely by hand, and even the 

 feet are sometimes used in rolling some of the cheaper grades. 



The black teas have grown in favor to such an extent in England that 

 now but a small proportion of the teas consumed are green. This is 

 largely due to the supposition that the black teas contain less astrin- 

 gent matter and also act to a less extent upon the nerves. The fol- 

 lowing analyses from the valuable bulletin of Mr. Y. Koxai (/or. r/7., p. 

 24) show in parallel columns the percentage composition of black and 

 green teas made from the same leaves. In this experiment Mr. Ko/ai 

 took special precautions in sampling the leaves in order that the teas 

 might have identically the same composition provided the chemical 



