December, 1908. j 



543 



Edible Products, 



in cup, but retain their pungency when 

 cold ; poor grades of coarse teas with 

 clear liquors do not do so. 



Briskness is an attribute induced by 

 firing and is similar in taste to pungency. 

 It is essential to fire coarse teas in all 

 Uieir grades as higher temperatures than 

 fine teas, so as to make their absence 

 of pungency or natural strength less 

 apparent, Coarse grades of soft or low 

 fired teas cannot command attention 

 from any but the lowest market values. 

 High firing tends to destroy the cream 

 in high-class grades, but as low-class 

 teas are not expected to cream in the 

 cup, this objection does not hold with 

 the latter. In final firing good teas 

 they should not be taken off the dryers 

 until they have acquired a temperature 

 of at least 130° Fahr. With low-class 

 teas this temperature can be pushed 

 with advantage to 200° Fahr. Good teas 

 should acquire briskness slowly and care- 

 fully, but at the same time thoroughly, 

 which, plus the maximum of strength, 

 should enable them to command leading 

 prices. In low-class teas briskness should 

 be pushed to the limit of high firing 

 High firing may be suspected in dark 

 malty smelling teas and can be con- 

 firmed by the outturn of infused leaf 

 crumbling in the hand when rubbed. 

 Burnt teas have black leaves in the 

 outturn. Nothing has been said about 

 the appearance of the infused leaf or 

 outturn in this article, as teas have no 

 retail market value for this attribute. 

 A bright outturn means fine leaf pluck- 

 ed young ; all dark uncoloured leaves 

 are more matured leaf in which all 

 sell. Tissues are harder and more diffi- 

 cult to act upon in the rollers and 

 fermenting rooms, especially at low tem- 

 peratures.— Indian Planters' Gazette. 



THE TRUTH ABOUT TEA. 



It has long been said that if two cups 

 of cocoa are consumed the lavish adver- 

 tisement current for that commodity 

 represents the cost of the cup. Tea is 

 getting into a somewhat similar position. 

 If the methods of publicity employed 

 were directed to the stimulation of the 

 demand for all classes of tea alike, the 

 producers and the distributors would 

 all benefit. Tea advertisement, as at 

 present mainly carried on, however, only 

 stimulates the demand for common sorts, 

 to the loss alike of the careful planters, 

 of the distributors who take a pride in 

 their business and want to sell fine 

 qualities, and of the consumers, on 

 whom a potent black decoction is forced. 



All the old epithets of the "fragrant 



leaf," the "cup that cheers," and so on, 

 may as well be dropped if the present 

 state of things be continued, and some 

 much more uncomplimentary epithets 

 be applied to the brew that is foisted 

 on the public. That persons of taste do 

 not like the present style is seen by the 

 undoubted revival in the demand for 

 fine China tea. In the tea shops of 

 London the skilled purveyors who know 

 what their consumers like, now offer a 

 choice between China and other tea, 

 and you order which you prefer. All 

 the leading family grocers also offer 

 China tea. The public do not want 

 strength, blackness and bitterness, but 

 fragrance, flavour and aroma. There 

 are plenty of fine flavoury Indian and 

 Ceylon growths prepared by the more 

 skilled planters, which would be avail- 

 able, if only the trade were not deterred 

 from encouraging their sale, by the 

 blatant pushing, as the finest grown, 

 of what, from the price, can only be 

 common tea. There are exceptional 

 cases where a magnificent retail business 

 has been built up with fine Darj eelings 

 at prices up to 3s. 6d. and 4s. per pound. 

 Such teas are relatively cheap at the 

 money, for as tea is not a food, but a 

 stimulant, it is the pleasantness of the 

 drink and not its strength that ought 

 to be studied. A pound of fine tea also 

 makes more cups than a pound of com- 

 mon does, while the difference in the 

 cost on the three or four cups of tea 

 drunk by an individual in the course 

 of a day is almost incalculably small. 



The following approximate estimate 

 of the cost of a cup of tea at different 

 retail prices is the result of actual experi- 

 ment. There appear to be about 112 

 teaspoonfuls in a pound of tea ; one 

 teaspoon is taken to yield two cups up 

 to the price of Is. 8d., and 1\ cups above 

 that price. 



Cost of One Cup op Tea at Different 

 Retail Prices. 



Price 



Cost of 





per lb. 



one cup 





s. d. 



d. 





1 4 



.. 0'071 1 





1 6 



.. 0-080 \ 



224 cups to the lb. 



1 8 



.. 0-089 J 



2 



.. 0-085^ 





2 6 



3 



.. 0-107 1 

 .. 0-128 \ 



280 cups to the lb 



3 6 



.. 0-150 J 





[The number of cups in a pound is 

 taken as 224 up to Is 8d ; and at Z80 above 

 that price. The cost is of course taken 

 without milk and sugar.] 



