l8o TESTING, BLENDING AND PREPARING. 



component parts being selected with due regard to size, 

 color and uniformity and broken as little as possible so 

 that all may harmonize well together. It is a serious 

 mistake to imagine that the successful or profitable 

 blending of tea consists solely of an indiscriminate or 

 injudicious heaping together carelessly and indifferently 

 of two or more varieties of tea in one homogene- 

 ous mass without the least regard to quantities, qualities, 

 affinities, affiliations or assimilations of leaf, liquor, 

 character or flavor of the component parts. On the 

 contrary, the art consists in combining the two or 

 more different varieties or grades of tea forming the 

 combination in an intelligent, judicious and scientific 

 manner so as to yield an unique and particular tea of 

 uniform quality, strength, flavor and pungency at a given 

 price, pleasing and satisfactory to the greatest number and 

 maintaining its standard at all times and under all 

 circumstances. 



But while it is admitted that it is next to impossible to 

 understand tea-blending thoroughly without an ap- 

 prenticeship to the business and that the combinations 

 that may be formed from it are almost kaleidescopic in 

 their range, requiring a separate work. Still, even a 

 novice need not spoil good tea by injudicious mixing, as 

 a little study and a few simple rules carefully followed, 

 although they cannot be substituted for years of ex- 

 perience in such a difficult branch, will prevent any 

 serious error and ensure a fair measure of success. It 

 must be understood at the outset that all combinations 

 of tea, as a rule, must depend upon the character, flavor 

 and grade of the tea most in demand in the section or 

 neighborhood of the dealer, that particular variety form- 

 ing the base or foundation of the blends prepared, that 

 is, it must dominate the combination. To illustrate, if 



