CAMELLIA 



<,I;KI.\ TKA THBA 



Manufacture 



M>M,T,-,|. It is of tin- utmost importance that the package should be as 



;s possible, since tea is exceedingly quick in absorbing moisture Airtight 

 the air (up to the amount of 16 to 17 per cent.) and then becomes 

 rupitllv mouldy and useless. Before packing, each grade of tea is always 

 1 at a temperature of 180 to 200 F., and packed while still just 

 \s put in the boxes, it commonly contains from 2 to 3 per cent. 

 moistun-. 



2. Green Tea. For many years the manufacture of Green Tea in Green Tea. 

 lia may be said to have died out except in the Kangra Valley and in 

 laon. It was formerly made in some quantity, but black tea being 

 if more marketable article, the green gradually ceased to be manufactured, 

 illy after the introduction of machinery, since no apparatus had 

 Icvised for green-tea manufacture. While the object aimed at in 

 preparing black tea is to change the materials in the leaf, by fermentation, 

 the mveii colour becomes brown or black, the astringency is reduced, 

 t lie aroma altered in character : in manufacturing green tea, the aim 

 to prepare the leaf without any alteration taking place. 

 Fermentation Prevented. The first operation in manufacture is, always, NO 

 arefore, to heat the leaf, immediately it is received from the pluckere i ' ermentation - 



without any withering, so as to destroy the ferment (enzyme) and 

 event any after-colouring of the leaf, and at the same time to bring 

 leaf into the soft condition required for rolling. When small quan- 

 tities are dealt with, this result is obtained by panning. The pan is a 



e cast-iron basin 2 feet wide let into brickwork and with the hinder Panning, 

 about 1 foot higher than the front. This is heated from below. When 

 pan is " roasting hot " a small quantity of leaf is thrown into it and 

 ept tossed about by hand so that no portion is allowed to rest on the 

 iron long enough to get singed. When soft enough it is slightly rolled 

 hand, then panned again, and so panned and rolled alternately until 

 edges of the leaf become very slightly crisp. The leaf thus prepared 

 then dried off as quickly as possible, by methods and appliances similar 

 those described for black tea. 



Where large quantities of leaf have to be dealt with, machines have 

 ently been invented by means of which the panning operation is re- 



by a steaming of the leaf, under pressure, in a rotating cylinder, steaming, 

 steaming must be very short or the leaf gets a boiled-cabbage 

 jarance and is then useless, and yet it must be treated long enough 

 ensure the destruction of the ferment. About 1 to 2 minutes under 

 jam pressure of 20 Ib. to the square inch is generally sufficient. After 

 ing, the excess of water is usually got rid of in a centrifugal 

 shine, though much juice is lost at the same time. Then the leaf is 

 led slightly in machines similar to those used for black tea. The rolling 

 st only be slight, for broken grades are almost worthless in green tea. 

 b is immediately thereafter dried off as rapidly as possible. 

 In order to obtain a green appearance in the final product it has been ^^5. 

 stomary in China to " face " the tea by rubbing it, when finished, in a 

 pan with a small quantity of indigo and gypsum or other similar 

 cture. In Kangra the Native manufacturers use a small quantity of 

 greenish-coloured soapstone for this purpose. But the employment of such 

 materials is to be deprecated, and a very fair finished surface can be given 

 to the tea by rubbing it in a hot pan alone without any foreign material, 

 which only too frequently assumes the condition of an adulterant. 



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