October x, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
261 
TEA TASTING AND IMPEOVED MANUFAC- 
TURE . 
By Mb. A. M. Gepi\ 
(A Paper read at a Meeting, of the Dimbula Planters' 
Associ ation, 17th' Sept. 1887.) 
TEA TASTING. 
It will, I fear, be somewhat difficult to render my 
Taper interesting as well as instructive on tea tast- 
ing proper, but still I shall try my best. 
1 may claim for my brother Tea Tasters that ours 
is not altogether a mushroom creation, though it may 
not be ono of the uoblo professions. There is no 
doubt that the Chinese (the pioneers of tea) always 
taste theii teas before submitting them to foreign 
competition iu order to test their value, and they aro 
as good if not better judges than the professional 
Chaazse or tea taster (derived from the Chinese word 
Cha). Shipments of tea in any quantity first commenc- 
ed about the year 1835 and hence arose the need for the 
tea taster to be able to decide which were the best 
kinds of teas for the English market. It is not so absol- 
utely a matter of necessity that the tea taster in 
China should "taste" his teas. The China teas 
have an aroma on the dry leaf by which you are in 
a great many instances able to decide the value. 
Bearing on this an amusing story is told of a 
Hankow Chaazse. When the new season's black leaf 
teas arrive at the shipping port of Hankow there 
used to be great anxiety displayed by foreign buyers 
to get the first samples of the new teas. Some of 
the new teas were brought down from the interior 
during the course of the night, and in order to " secare 
the early worm " the buyer arranged to have the 
samples sent in bofore daylight, of course lamp or 
candle light would be most deceptive for the purposos 
of examination, but tho tea taster said : Maskee taste, 
aaaskee looksoe, if cansmell'em, then can buy. (Maskec- 
never mind.) 
Tea tasting may be described as the art of being able 
to discriminate not only between good and bad tea but 
after a timo to detect which are the kinds most suit- 
able for the London market. I have no doubt of course 
that several of you gentlemen interchange samples, 
but say for instance that you have got a set of 
standard samples to live up to, as it were — then 
comes the trouble when you have finished your day's 
make. How can you be sure that your tens are 
equal to tho Htandards. After tho teas are graded 
it will not bo dillicult to have some idea as to whether 
your own teas arc up to the samples as far as ap- 
pearance goes, but unless you are able to taste tea 
you will still be very much in the dark. Say that 
your standards are strong, full llavoury teas, how can 
you know that your day's make is the same. A know- 
ledge of tea tasting will enable you to test this. I 
honestly do not think that a tea taster can be self 
taught. He requires someone to point out the 
different flavours most suitable for the trade. One tea 
may be malty, another pungent, another thin but of on 
extremely delicate flavour, another strong and coarse. 
This latter characteristic does not of course come 
under the heading of tine teas, but from a buyer's 
point of view it may be by no means a tea that, 
should be avoided at a certain price. The teas to be 
avoided are those which are thin, raw or much burnt. 
A tea taster ought to he able to say without tast- 
ing after looking at the infusions and the liquors 
whether the tea is good or not. A bright, coppery 
colour and all the leaves of an even colour, together 
with a bright, rod liquor and yellowing towards the 
aides of the cup is au almost certain indication of 
ood tea, whereas a dull uuattraetive liquor with 
lack or brown infusions almost invariably indicates 
a common unde irable tea. Perhaps ,it may bo in- 
teresting to describe the entire process of tea tust- 
ing for the benefit of those of my heurers who, 
though they um\ bnvo tasted teas in a neighbour's 
factory, have not commenced making tea themselves 
and see im> nee, hmU tor starting a Tea Tasting [loom 
Tho embryo tea tauter haviug duly furnished himself 
with perhaps n dn/.eii tasting puts and cups, scales, 
sandglass and spittoon, place* his pots and cups iu a 
row on bis tasting table aud proceeds to weigh up 
the same quantity of tea into each pot. During 
this time the kettle has been put on, soft not hard 
water should be used. In order to ensure a good 
tasting gret<t care should be taken that the kettle boils 
as this is half the battle. The sandglass should be 
turned to run 5 to o' minutes before the teas aro turned 
out into the cups. After letting them drain for a 
little while the tea taster should go down his rows of 
pots and taki g off the lids carefully note the aroma, 
in his own mind, or better still on paper, of each tea. 
Doubtless he will not be able to describe it, but ho 
may recognize the same aroma on another tea. Then 
let him reverse the lids showing the infused leaves. 
He had better then examine each sample of the 
leaf and write down on a piece of paper the description 
of tho tea, whether broken orange pekoe, broken pekoe, 
pekoe, pekoe souchoug, souchong, cODgou, pekoe dust, 
or ordinary dust, with any peculiarity or characteristic 
he may detect, and in the san.e way with the liquors, 
carefully putting down what strikes him, whether the 
teas are burnt, sour, thin, strong, llavoury or pungont. 
I do not think it will be out of place to mention 
that in my system of teaching by correspondence 
which I am carrying out, I send my pupils a set of 
samples twice a week and get them to taste the teas 
themselves and send me their report which, haviug 
previously tasted the teas myself, I check by a report 
of my own aud return their own as well for comparison. 
IMPROVED MANUFACTURE. 
I need hardly, I think, go into the question of manu- 
facture geuerally. All you gentlemen know it more 
or less thoroughly, but I may be able perhaps to give 
a few hints which you may think useful. 
Out of the various stages or processes that the 
green leaf has to go through after arriving at the 
factory none in my opinion is more important than 
a good wither and yet how difficult it is to get it 
in cold, rainy weather such as wo have had. After 
a good wither, the green leaf receives the action 
of the roller more oasily. The question of the length 
of time for rolling has been much debated, but I 
think 2 of an hour for the 1st roll and then sift 
out the small leaf in tho usual way and roll tho 
large leaf for another * hour or so and again sift 
out, which will slightly increase your percentage of 
pekoe tips, and then roll again for a third time, about 
'20 minutes. This will soften any hard, coarse leaves 
you may meet with. The length of timo required 
for a good ferment must be left to the direction of 
the tea maker, but I tbiuk there is a danger at the 
present time of underfermcnting in order to give 
pungency ; but it must not be forgotten that leaf which 
has not gone through the full chemical process is 
not so likely to keep. Proper fermentation, the leaf 
being a bright coppery colour, gives strength and pung- 
ency combined, whereas you sacrifice your strength 
by under fermenting. 
As to tho question of firing I would advise most 
strongly rather go to the extreme of ovcrfiring than 
underfiring. An imperfectly fired tea will not keep, 
tho liquor tastes thin and dull, but an overtired 
tea with a slight suspicion of being burnt will not 
unfrequontly loso the firo during tho voyage home and 
tho flavour will develop. 
It must also not be forgotten that the grocer at home 
has to keep his teas and he soon spots the kinds whi :h 
have the best keeping properties and after all we 
have to study not only flu: original buyers of our teas 
in London but the retailer who eventually comes iu 
contact with the consumer. 
As regards sorting, the three principal grades of 
broken pekoe, pekoe aud pekoo souchong seem most 
iu favour with tho home trade, unassorted having for 
the time at all events gone out of fashion. Iu con- 
clusion I would caution you as to using too fine sieve* 
for your grading. The cooly, iu order to get as much 
tea to pass over through the meshes, is apt to smash 
and bruise the leaf against the wires and in conse- 
quence tho loaf becomes grey ; rather use the next 
largest to what you ordinarily do and sieve quickly 
breaking up your rough leaves with a cutter. I ncxl not 
retor to the marketable sizes of each grade of JOOX 
break, but the larger you ran make each prude the 
gre.Uor tho competition you will obtain iu Loudou 
