SORTING. 141 



more than these quotations, a few Pekoe ends or tips will generally be 

 found, which bring it under the name of Pekoe Dust. 



We will now look at Black Teas in a body, and point out what is 

 desirable and what is objectionable in them. 



We have seen that all Teas which contain Pekoe fetch higher 

 prices than others, consequently we infer that Pekoe is a desideratum. 

 If we glance at the descriptions of the various classes of Tea which 

 have been given above, we shall find that it is an element of strength 

 and good flavour. I do not mean to say that any Pekoe is stronger 

 or of better flavour than any Tea which does not contain Pekoe, as 

 the soil, the climate, the cultivation, the manufacture, and various 

 other causes, may influence the strength and flavour of different Teas ; 

 but, as a rule, in Teas that are produced under the same circum- 

 stances, the classes containing Pekoe are stronger and of better 

 flavour than those without it. 



There is another class of Tea which I have not yet described that 

 possesses very great strength and very fine flavour. This is the class 

 known as the " Namuna " kind. All readers of these pages who have 

 been connected with India any time will recognise the word,* though 

 they may not quite see how it comes to occupy the position in which 

 we consider it. It is said that its first application in this manner arose 

 from a planter having sent to England some sample boxes of Tea with 

 the ticket " namuna " on them. These Teas happened to be of the 

 peculiar description which now goes by that name, and which I 

 proceed to describe. The London brokers have always since then 

 applied the name " namuna " to this class of Tea. The leaf may have, 

 perhaps, the ordinary greyish blackish aspect, with generally a 

 greenish tinge. In the pot it produces a very pale liquor, but on 

 tasting it its quality belies the poor thin appearance of the infusion. 

 It is very strong, stronger by far than ordinary Pekoe ; in flavour, say, 

 about half-way between a Flowery Pekoe and a Green Tea, quite 

 distinct from the Flowery Pekoe flavour, possessing somewhat of the 

 rasping bitterness of the Green Tea class with the flavour a little 

 refined. The out-turn is generally green, sometimes has some brownish 

 leaves mixed. Any of the black leaf Teas may be of this Class, from 

 the Pekoe to the lowest dust, and all throughout the scale, if the 



* I need hardly remark that the Hindustani word Namuna (pronounced 

 Nemoona) means sample. 



