Edible Products. 



542 



[December, 1908. 



meat and the most modernised and 

 accepted systems entirely verify. Given 

 fine leaf every precaution must be taken 

 to prevent its heating, and the first 

 danger lies in the baskets used by the 

 pluckers. If the leaf cannot be brought 

 in hourly, by far the best plan, it should 

 be turned over every time the woman 

 empties the plucking basket, a long 

 narrow one holding at most two or 

 three seers, into the stock basket in 

 which she carries her morning's accumu- 

 lation of leaf to the factory. Fine young 

 leaf brought cool on to the factory 

 should be spread at once, evenly and 

 thinly ; no two leaves should be super- 

 imposed and no spaces left vacant. 

 The quicker the leaf can be withered 

 and the lower the temperature at which 

 the leaf can be kept during the process, 

 the greater the resultant pungency and 

 quality as regards rolling. Slight rolling 

 preserves appearance ; it does not impair 

 the pungency, but tends to depreciate 

 relative quality in the lower grades. 



Rolling. 



Hard rolling without separation of 

 fine grades destroys the standout appear- 

 ance values of high-class Orange and 

 Broken Orange Pekoes, which the 

 class of leaf under consideration would 

 command ; but improves the cup quali- 

 ties, especially in the lower grades, 

 giving enhanced values to the Pekoes, 

 Souchongs, and Broken teas, but inas- 

 much as Pekoes, Pekoe Souchongs and 

 Broken teas bear a very much higher 

 relative proportion to the crop than 

 Orange and Broken Orange Pekoes, 

 Broken Pekoes not being much affected 

 in the process, hard rolling should on 

 a simple business basis be a distinct 

 advantage. Generally it may be assumed 

 then that hard rolling inasmuch as 

 it improves the bulkier lower grades 

 is the soundest course to follow, evading 

 for the time being all side issues which, 

 if necessary, can be touched upon in 

 future articles. The most advantageous 

 period for rolling is difficult to fix, 

 but frequent rollings are better than 

 one continuous roll, and the reason 

 is not far to seek. In hard rolling 

 the leaf heats ; admittedly this heat is 

 not due to anything but a very 

 unavoidable friction, but nevertheless 

 a rise in temperature here as else- 

 where and from whatever cause impairs 

 pungency ; every time a leaf leaves the 

 rollers it is separated and cooled, hence 

 the advantages of frequent rolling. In 

 hard rolling the greater inherent pun- 

 gency or strength of the fine grades is 

 diffused through the whole bulk, and in 

 obtaining this result a large quantity of 

 the liquid ingredients of the roll are and 

 must unavoidably be expressed, but it 



is of paramount importance to see tha t 

 none of this liquor is lost, and any loss 

 in this direction directly affects the cup 

 value of the resultant teas, 



Colouring. 



We now turn to the colouring or 

 fermentation of the roll. In this pro- 

 cess as in all others, and for the 

 same reason the rolled leaf must 

 be kept cool. It will colour more 

 rapidly and take on a better colour 

 at higher temperatures, but always at 

 a sacrifice of pungency or strength. 

 The amouut of colour rolled leaf may 

 be allowed to take on with advantage 

 varies on all gardens and can only be 

 gauged by tasting the infusions. Every 

 planter should cultivate this faculty of 

 tea testing enough to judge for himself 

 in the matter of how much colour he 

 can give without deteriorating the pun- 

 gency of the roll. Very few planters 

 give this subject of tasting any careful 

 attention. As it is a faculty easily 

 acquired, it should commend itself to 

 their notice. The colour can be pushed 

 with advantage until a loss in pungency 

 is appreciable, when it should, of course, 

 be stopped. Non-tasters should be guided 

 by local customs and results, which are 

 after all quite reliable. 



How Quality is Guaged. 



At this stage the exact definition of 

 the various terms in common use by 

 brokers and planters when referring to 

 teas become imperative to narrow down 

 as far as possible the points at issue. 

 Quality is a term used in connection 

 with the cup or liquor of infusion. All 

 teas possess good quality cream at 

 temperatures below 80° Pahr. This rapid 

 creaming is a direct gauge to quality, 

 and in this connection the following 

 inferences may be drawn. High-class 

 teas creaming with a pale straw-coloured 

 liquor have probably been manufactured 

 from good young leaf lightly rolled 

 and coloured at a low temperature. 

 These teas should be very pungent, and 

 if attaining a good standard of briskness 

 should command leading prices for 

 known marks. Darker creaming teas 

 point to higher climatic temperatures 

 and Souchongs and Broken teas that 

 cream down cannot, when the marks 

 become known as reliable, fail to com- 

 mand standout prices for their grades. 

 Pungency or strength (the meanings are 

 similar and accretive) is a term applied 

 to the bitter taste imparted to the 

 palate on tasting the infusion. A strong 

 pungent liquor is one that has the 

 pungency more marked than what is 

 indicated by a good pungent liquor. 

 Teas with quality 4 not only cream rapidly 



