TEA MAKING 137 
into slabs, originally with the intention of economising 
bulk in the prolonged and difficult overland transport 
between China and Russia. The material used in the 
process is obtained chiefly from China, but considerable 
quantities of tea dust are now exported from India, 
Ceylon, and Java to Hankow, where the factories (under 
Russian control) are situated. In making the bricks 
the sifted tea dust is steamed and then poured into 
wooden moulds in which it is subjected to hydraulic 
“ pressure. The bricks weigh from 1} Ib. to 2 lb. each, 
and are remarkably hard, smooth and tough; they are 
marketed under the trade-mark of the exporter, stamped 
upon them while in the press. Tablet teas are essentially 
brick teas put up in smaller sizes weighing each a few 
ounces. 
The second type of brick tea is that manufactured by 
the Chinese for Tibet. This remarkable product (which 
is made in Szechwan) was investigated by Hutchison 
in 1905 on behalf of the Indian Tea Association. Tea 
leaf, and not dust, is used. Very rough material, how- 
ever, is employed for the average qualities, leaf-stalks, 
small twigs, and even clippings of the bush being 
utilised, This coarse “ pluck ’’ is heated in iron pans 
for a short period, then subjected to a light hand-rolling 
and subsequently allowed to ferment for the long period 
of three or four days, when the leaf is dried in the sun. 
No chemical investigation of this process has been 
made, but it is evident that such should prove of con- 
siderable interest. In making the bricks the fermented 
“leaf ’’ is steamed, and while moist rammed lightly into 
wooden moulds, its adhesion being assisted, in the 
coarser qualities, by the addition of rice paste. The 
