56 TEA 



BRICK TEA 



A most interesting variety of tea is that so extensively 

 used in Tibet and some parts of Russia, and known as 

 "Brick Tea." The product may In- briefly described 

 as very cheap and coarse teas which, with the small 

 twigs, have been compressed into blocks. The chief 

 centre of^the industry is at Ssu-clman, in Western China, 

 and it has been estimated that the Tibetans annually 

 import the tea to the extent of from twenty to thirty 

 million pounds. Very little care is exercised in the 

 plucking process. The main object of the cultivator is 

 to obtain a good weight of the product with as little 

 trouble as possible, and hence the first six or 91 

 leaves are roughly stripped from the twigs or, as is more 

 generally the case, the twigs, to a length of perhaps 

 twelve inches, are literally reaped from the plant. There 

 is no withering or regular fermentation process; the 

 twigs and leaves are at once heated in thin iron pans 

 for a few minutes, and then tied up in bundles and sacks 

 and taken away to the factories or " hongs," where the 

 material is piled in heaps and allowed to ferment. After 

 being dried in the sun, the tea is sorted into grades, 

 when it is steamed and finally pressed into a shallow 

 brick-shaped mould by means of a heavy rammer ; it 

 is often necessary to mix the chopped twigs with a paste 

 made from glutinous rice in order to make them adhesive. 

 In three or four days the bricks have become quite hard, 

 and, after being stamped with the maker's name or 

 device, are wrapped in paper and made into strong 

 packages for transport to Tibet. 



Large quantities some 20,000 tons per annum of 

 brick tea are made at Hankow, and the same town also 

 manufactures " Tablet Tea," both for the Russian 

 market. The bricks are very different from the Tibetan 



