OOLONG, BRICK AND LKTPET TEAS 



Long 

 Fermentation. 



CAMELLIA 



THEA 



Manufacture 



for punning. This operation is carried out by keeping the leaf constantly Panning. 

 nly on the move in a pan about 2 feet in diameter, retained at 

 :ture of 360 to 400 F. and for about 10 minutes. Rolling 

 ud finally firing in the small charcoal stoves used universally 

 L manufacture in China and Japan. For further particulars the 

 report of the Indian Commissioner, Mr. J. Hutchinson (Cult, and Manuf. 

 niosa Oolong Tea, Calcutta, 1904) should be consulted. 



4. Brick Tea. Hitherto little attempt has been made to manu- Brick Tea. 

 ; * Brick Tea in India, though it is the staple of the Central Asian 



trade. In view of the possibility that this trade may be opened up in 

 the near future, a careful investigation was made in 1905 of the methods 

 employed in Western China by a special commissioner sent by the Indian 



Association to the districts in which it is produced. He describes in Manufacture of. 



.port how it can be made either from the young shoots (as with 



black tea), which gives the highest quality of brick, or from coarse leaf 



many stalks and twigs. In some cases, indeed, stalk and twig 



ominate in the material used. 



Phe manufacture involves (1) Panning, in pans as described under Panning. 



tea, kept at such a temperature that the leaf emits a sharp crackling 

 id, due to the bursting of the cells as it is rubbed over the surface, 

 operation takes from 6 to 10 minutes. (2) Rolling. This process Roiling. 



irried out by hand in the usual manner, only light rolling, however, 

 done. (3) Fermenting. Here the peculiar part of the manu- 

 comes in, for the leaf spread in heaps 3 to 4 inches deep is allowed 



snnent for 3 to 4 days, the temperature rising in the meantime to 



to 112 F. The resultant product is then dried in the sun. After Manufacture, 

 preparation it has to be formed into bricks, and for this purpose it is first 

 steamed over a boiler (5 Ib. at a time) for 2 to 3 minutes, and will then 

 hav<- a temperature of 150 to 170 F. If few stalks are mixed with the 

 leaf it will be found that a fairly firm brick may be turned out without 

 any addition ; if not, a mixture of boiled glutinous rice-flour is necessary 

 to give sufficient adhesiveness. The whole is then put into a wooden 

 mould of suitable size and shape and pounded down lightly with a wooden 

 rammer weighing 17 Ib. Several bricks are, usually, put in the same 

 frame, separated by a layer of bamboo matting. The whole frame when 

 filled is put aside for several days to set and dry ; after which the 

 bricks are taken out, trimmed, wrapped in paper, and put back into the 

 case again. The bricks usually made are 10 inches in length by 4 inches 

 thick. [Cf. Horace Delia Penna in Markham, Journ. of T. Manning to 

 Lhasa, 1879, 119, 317.] The manufacture of brick tea differs in quality 

 and material rather than in principle from the compressed tablets of 

 tea-dust to which reference has already been made. 



5. Letpet or Leppett Tea and Lao Mieng Tea. The manufacture Letpet Tea. 

 of this kind of tea is peculiar to Burma, the Shan States and 



some of the hills lying between Assam and Burma. A fairly complete 

 account of the whole subject of its production will be found in the Kew 

 Bulletin (1896, 10) and in The Agricultural Ledger (1896, No. 27, 

 J35-66). There seem to be two ways of preparing it, as follows : The 

 leaves are first thrown into boiling water and allowed to remain for a 

 short time or until they become soft, then are taken out and rolled by 

 hand on mats and allowed to cool. The process which follows consists in 

 ramming the leaves down tight into the internode of a bamboo (the 



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