Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1854-07-06
GREEN TEA.

In late number of Blackwood's Magazine we
find tho following quotation from work on the
tea districts of China, by Robert Fortune. The
statement-which the author says is uerbatim
from his notebook, having noted down the pro-
cess at the time-may enable the drinkers of
green tea, who have an arithmetical turn of
iiiihu, to estimate the number of pounds of blue
paint they imbibe in the course of a year. Black
teas are not colored -
| Inc superintendent of the workmen managed
'he eoiorlng part Of the process himself. Hav-
ing procured u portion of Prussan blue, he
'hrew 1t into porcelain bowl, not unlike q
chemists mortar, and crushed it into very
flne powder. At the same time d quantity of
gypsum was produced, and burned in the char
coal fres, which, were then roasting the toas.
The object of this was to softer it, in order that
1t might be readily pounded into very fine
powder. The gypsum having been taken out
OF the fire, after certain time had elasped, it
readily crumbled down and was reduced to pow
der in mortar. These two substances, having
been thus prepared, were then mixed together,
IN the proportion of four parts Prussian blue to
one of gypsum, and formed a light blue powder,
which was then ready fer use. This coloring
matter was then applied to the teas during the
last process of roasting
About five minutes before the tea was re-
moved from the pans,-the time being regula-
ted by the burning of a joss-stick,-th SUPER
intendent took Il small spoon, and with that, he
scattered a portion of the cooring matter over
the leaves in each pan. The workmen then turn
the leaves rapidly round with both hands, in
order that the color might be equally difuscd.
During this part of the operation the hands
of the workmen are quite blue. | could not
help think if any green tea drinkers had been
present during the operation, their taste would
have been corrected, and may be allowed to
add, improved. 1t seems perfectly ridiculous
that civilized people should prefer these dyed
teas to those of natural green. No wonder
that the Chinese consider the natives of the west
to be II race of barbarians"
One day an English gentleman in Shanghae,
being in conversa tion with some Chinese from
the green tea county, asked them the reason
they had for dyeing the tea, and whether it
would not be better without undergoing the
process. They acknowledged the tea was much
better when prepared without having any such
ingredients mixed with it, and they never drink
dyed teas themselves, but justly remarked that
as foreigners seemed to prefer having mixture
of Prussian blue and gypsum with their tea, to
make it look uniform and pretty, and as these
ingredients were cheap enough, the Chinese had
no objection to supply them, especially as the
teas always fetched higher price.
took some trouble to ascertain precisely the
quantity of coloring matter used in the process
OF dyong green teas,--not certainly, with the
view Of assisting Others, at home or abroad.
in the art of coloring, but simply to show gecn
tea drinkers in England, and more particular
ly in the United States of America what guam
tity of gypsum they imbibe in the course of a
year. 10 fourteen and half pounds of tea
were applied four mace and two and half can
darcens of cooring matter, Or rather more than
an ounce. ln.every hundred pounds of green
tea CONSUMED in England or America, the con-
sumers actually drink more than half pound
of Prussian blue and gypsum! And yet tell
the drinkers of this colored tea that the Chinese
eat cats, dogs, and rats, and they will hold up
their hands in amazement, and pity the poor
Celestials Il"