The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-09-15
Gree. Tea-He,v Csisred.

celebrated green tea district oil Wheychou.
Thinning this Q. good opportunity for OBJ
tanning some information regarding the
mode Of coloring green teas. and as was
accompanied by Mr.. M'Donald. an excel
lent Chinese scholar, | had some questions
put to them on This subject. They would
not acknowledge that any coloring matter
was used in the manufacture OF their teas.
and pretended to laugh at the idea Of such
a thing. They said, moreover. that they !
were aware that the practice Of colorine |
was a common one about Canton, wher,
inferior teas were msie-but that they
never colored their teas in Wheychou.-
They then skilfully emo lgh tried TO chang
the subject by telling US that we should no
give credence to all We heard. al We do
o." said they, "we would make som'
strange mistakes with regard to the produc-
lions and manufactures Of your country
For example," they continued. ait is com
monty reported that you buy our teas u
order to convert them into opium and resell
Them in that form TO US Now, We do no
believe that you do that; and neither SHOULD
you believe all you hear about the colorint
Of our green teas" After giving US this
age advice. they asked Us very gravely how
we used this tea ia Eng land-and ii II Wa
lrue that we had the leaves boiled and bea
~ with sugar and milk!
1t is, however, difficult thing to get the
ruth Oh, OF Chinaman; and from inlorma-
ion which | had received | knew quit,
we'll that our Wheycou friends were deceiv
ing us in the present instance. Shortly al
forwards had an opportunity Of seeing the
whole process; and ss il is one OF consider
able interest, | noted it down at the TIM
Sith great care, and now send you a copy
Il my observations.
The superintendent OF the tea makers man.
aged the coloring part of the business him
self. In the first place, he procured Pol-
ZION Of indigo which be threw into POT-
celain bowl, not unlike chemists mortar.
and crushed it into a fine powder. He
then burned a quantity Of gypsum in tn,
charcoal fires which were roasting the tea
The object Of this was TO soften the gypsum
in order that it might easily be pounded into
a fine powder in the same manner as the
indigo had been. When taken from the
FIRE it readily crumblec down and vas re
duced to powder in the mortar. These two
substances having thus been prepared, were
then mixed up in the proportion Of fOuI
parts gypsum to three OF indigo, and togeth
er formed light blue powder which in this
state was ready for uss. This colOurine
matter was applied to the tea during the
last process Of roasting. The Chinese
manufacturer having no watch to guide him.
uses Joss stick to regulate his ovements
with regard to time. He knows exactly
how long the Joss stick burns, and it Of
course answers the purpose OF a watch
About FIVE minutes before the tea was ia
ken out of the pans. the superintendent took
small porcelain spoon and lifted out q
portion OF the coloring matter from the %
sin and scattered it over the tea in the frs
pan; be did the same as to the whole, and
the workmen turned the leaves rapidly round
with their hands 10 order that the coloI
might be well dlffused.
During this par; Of the operation the
hands Of the men at the pans were quite
blue. | could no; help thinking that il
any drinker Of green tea had been presen'
curing this part Of the process. his IasI,
would have been conec,ed-and hope !
may be allowed to add, improved. 1t seem
ed perfectly ridiculous that civilised PEG
pie should prefer these dyed Ieas TO thoS,
Of a natural green. No wonder thai III,
Chinese consider the nations Of the Wesl
as "barbarians." One day MIR. Shaw, a
merchant IN Shanghae, asked the Wey
chou Cinnamon their reasons for dyeinp
their teas: they quietly replied that as foI,
eigners always paid higher price for sucl
teas they Of course preferred them-anc
that such being the case the Chinese manu-
iacturer could have no objection to supply
them!
took some trouble to ascertain precisel,
the quantity Of coloring matter used in tn,
process Of dyeing green teas; certainly no
with the view Of assis ing Others, either
home or abroad, in the art Of coloring, bu
simply to shew green tea drinkers in Eng
laDd-and more paricu srly in the Unitec
States Of AmeGca-what quantity Of ryp
4 sum oA'N HhOiSO llCl Get UT utlnk IN tnt
course OF the year. To IA ~ lbs. OF tee
were applied rather more III an ounce o.
coloring matter. For every hundred pound
olgreen tea which are consumed in Englanc
or America, the consumer really eat mon,
than half pound Of gypsum and indigo.
and | have little doubt that in many instan
ces Prussian blue S substituted for indigo.
And yet tell these green tea drinkers ths,
the Chinese eat dogs. cats, and rats, and
they will hold up their hands IN amaze.
ment and pity the taste Of the poor Celes.
tisls.
In i've minutes from the time of the col.
or being thrown inlo the pan the desired ef
feet was produced. Before the tea was re.
moved, the superintendent took tray and
placed handful from each pan upon i'll
These he examined at tho window to see nj
they were uniform in color; and if the ex.
animation was satisfactory he gave the order
to remove the tea from the pans-and the
process was complete. II sometimes han. |
Pened that there was slight difference
amongst the samples: and in that case il
was necessary to add more color, a d con-
sequently keep the tea little longer in the
Pan.-Foreign Correspondence OF the
Athenaum.
DIVISION OF THE FoRESoos IN ELIz.
BETH REI9N.-"We wake Mt s;x a,5