PEKOE TEA. 155 



well as that of Fleur cle The, appears to have ori- 

 ginated in a supposition, that these white downy 

 leaves were the blossom of the tea. The Fleur cle 

 The, so much esteemed on the Continent, and par- 

 ticularly in Russia, for its exquisite odour, is no 

 other than fine Pekoe tea. The tea blossom has 

 little fragrance at any time, and still less when 

 preserved in a dried state ; it is, therefore, quite 

 incapable of diffusing that delightful and powerful 

 scent ascribed to the Fleur de The. It is true, 

 however, that the blossom of tea has a slight fra- 

 grance, and is occasionally used by the Chinese in 

 their tea. Two or three of these dried flowers are 

 put into a cup of tea, not on account of their fra- 

 grance, but for their ornamental appearance, which 

 is certainly elegant, when seen in their expanded 

 state floating on the surface of the pure and bright 

 infusion of tea, as used by the Chinese, who do not 

 cloud and adulterate it with any admixture of 

 sugar and milk. 



The manipulation of this tea is thus described 

 by an old and respectable Chinese tea factor : — 

 " After the leaves are gathered, they are spread 

 out on flat bamboo trays in the air to evaporate 

 the watery juices, which is termed Leang Ching ; 

 they are then roasted (chao) once over a slow fire, 

 spread out again in trays to cool, and are after- 

 wards dried in a poey long. They require no 

 rolling." 



The usual mode of rolling is certainly not em- 



