CAMELLIA 



THEA 



Manufacture 



THE TEA PLANT 



Grades of Green 

 Tea. 



Young Hyson. 



Gunpowder. 



A Cup of Green 

 Teal 



Oolong 

 Tea. 



Special Variety. 



Method of 

 Manufacture. 



Partial 

 Fermentation. 



Grades of Green Tea. As already stated, in grading green tea 

 " broken grades " are worth very little. The grades (as with black tea) 

 are given Chinese names : " Young Hyson " is the finest part of the 

 tea, principally made from the youngest leaf on the shoots ; " Hyson 

 No. 1 " corresponds with Pekoe among black teas ; and " Hyson No. 2 " 

 is a coarser grade. " Twankay " is composed of the flat broken fragments 

 of the coarser leaves ; " Gunpowder," which has the appearance of balls 

 about the size of small peas, is formed by the smaller leaves (which are 

 very sticky after panning, and hence adhere together and so form them- 

 selves into small balls during rolling). The packing is similar to that for 

 black tea. 



Speaking of green tea, the following passage from Vigne (Trav. Kashmir, 

 LadaJch and Iskardo, 1842, ii., 265) will be found interesting : " Tea, made 

 or rather boiled with water, as in Europe, is called Moguli chd, or the tea of 

 the Moguls, as they call the Persians. But Tibeti chd, or tea as made in 

 Tibet, is a very different composition, for which the following is the recipe 

 for a party of five or six people : a teacupful of the finest green tea is 

 put into three pints of water, and upon this is strewed a large spoonful of 

 soda, and all three are boiled together. About a pound of fresh buttsr 

 or ghi, and a pinch of salt, are then placed at the bottom of the milling 

 churn, and part of the boiling contents are poured out and milled like 

 chocolate ; a little cream or milk is then added to what has remained in 

 the saucepan, and on this the milled tea is poured and boiled again, and 

 part of it again transferred to the churn, and so on till it is all properly 

 milled. All that then remains to be done is to strain it through a clean 

 cloth. Much depends upon the quality of the tea, and the manner of 

 making it. I have nowhere drank it so good as with Ahmed Shah. It 

 was always made before or after a march, and on a cold morning I found 

 it, after a little time, quite as palatable as tea made in the ordinary way, 

 and far more nourishing. When well made, it resembles chocolate in 

 appearance, in consequence of the reddish tinge imparted to the tea by 

 the presence of the soda, which prevents it also from cloying. Sutu, or 

 the flour of roasted barley, is frequently eaten with it." 



3. Oolong Tea. So far no oolong tea has been made in India ; its 

 manufacture is a speciality of Formosa, though also made in China and 

 Japan. But Formosa oolongs have a recognised place on the tea market, 

 principally on account of a very characteristic and much-desired flavour. 

 Commissioners were sent from both India and Ceylon in 1904 to ascertain 

 the methods by which this was produced. They reported that the flavour 

 was principally due to the particular variety of plant grown. But that 

 variety was not to be recommended on any other ground, as the yield 

 was small, the plant was difficult to grow, and could only be satisfactorily 

 propagated by layering. The manufacture was quite special in character, 

 and in essentials was carried out as follows : On the leaf being brought 

 into the factory at midday, it is put out in the sun to be warmed, first 

 spread thinly and then thicker, for twenty minutes to one hour. The leaf 

 so treated is taken into a house and spread on bamboo trays in a layer 

 about 3 to 4 inches thick. At intervals of 15 minutes it is collected to- 

 gether and shaken up with the hand. With this treatment continued for 

 two hours a change occurs in the smell of the leaf, and a tinge of brown 

 takes place on the softer leaf and on the edges of the others. When the 

 discoloration has spread over the softer leaves in spots, the tea is ready 



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