Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1855-07-10
Tea and ils AduItsrations.

- ~ Do met with IN Ecgiand' ~ 10
10 China and We have lately
leAgpt 10 sduIterate II st homo, almost
% we'll % ,hs cunning Asia,ic. The
pure green tes made from the most deli.
cate green lssves grown upon msnured
soil, such % the Chinese use themselves,
10, Il 10 true, wholly unisinted /; and we
ere Informed tha, its beautiful blush
bloom, like that upon grape is given
by Tho third process Of roasting which il
.pndsrgoss. The enormous demand for
. moderately. priced green tea which has
sfisen both in Ensland and China since
The opening Of the trade. has led the
Hong mere hants 10 initiate this peculiar
color end this they do SO successfully
% {, deceive tho ordinary judges Of the
article. Black tea is openly colored in
the neighborhood Of Canton in the most
Wholesale manner.
Mr.. Robert Fortune. in his very inter.
esting work, "The Tea Districts Of Chi.
ma snd lndis," gives Us good desert p
lion Of the manner in which this color
ing process is performed, as witnessed by
himself.
Having procured portion Of Prussian
blue, he threw it into a porcelain bowl,
not unlike chemists mortar, and crush
ed il into q ve,y fine powder. At the
same time q quantity Of gypsum was
procured and burned in the charcoal
fires which were then roasting the teas.
The object Of this was TO soften II, in
order that it might be readily pounded
into very fine powder, in the same man.
ner ss the Pruss,sn blue had been.-
The gypsum, having been taken out Of
the FIRE after certain time had elapsed,
readily crunbled down, and was reduced
10 powder in the mortar. These two sub.
stances, having been thus prepared,
were then mixed together in the proper.
,ion Of four parts Of Prussian blue, and
formed q lish, blue powder, which was
then ready for use.
This colorins matter was applied to
the teas during the process of roasting.
About Eve minutes before the tea was
removed from the pans--the time being
regulated by the burning Of joss.stick,
the superintendent took a small porce.
lain spoon, and with it he scattered a
portion OF The coloring matter over the
leaves in each pan. The workmen then
turned the leaves round rapidly with both
hands IN order that the color might be
equally difiused, During this part of
the operation the hands Of the workmen
were quite blue. could not hel p think.
ing il any green tea drinkers had been
present during the operation their taste
would have been corrected and believe
improved.
took some trouble to ascertain pre-.
cisely the quantity Of coloring matter
in the process Of dyeing green teas, not
certainly with the view Of assisting 9th
ers, either at home or abroad, in the art
of coloring, but simply to show green
tea drinkers in England. and more par.
ticulsrly in the United Stale Of Ameri.
ca, what quantity Of Prussian blue and
gypsum they imbbe in the course Of one
year. To l4a lbs. were applied mace
% caudersens Of colorng matter, or
rather more than an ounce. To every
hundred pounds Of colored green tea
consumed in England or America. the
consumer actually drinks more than hall
pound Of Prussian blue and gypsum.
And yet, tell the drinkers OF this color
ed tea that the Chinese eat cats and
dogs and they will hold up their hands in
smazement and pity the poor Celes,ials.
II the Chinese use it in these guam.
titles to tinge the genuine leaf, how
much more must the English employ in
making up afresh exhausted leaves =
That every spoonful Of hyson or gun.
powder contains considerable quaint.
~ ot this deleterious dye will be seen
6y any one who places pinch upon a
hne sieve, and pours upon it gentle
stream OF water, when the tinging Of the
liquid will show at once the extent OF
the aduleraiion, and the folly Of drink.
ing painted tea. Assam tea, though not
SO inviting in color. is free from sdul.
teraton. A word 10 ,he wise is said TO
be enough.
or fifty samples OF green tea anal.
yzed by Dr.. Hassall. all were adulter.
ated. There is one particular kind
which is almost entirely manufacture.
ed afllcle-gunPowder, both black and
green-the former being called scented
caPer. Both have largo admixture OF
what is termed "dye tea," or com.
pound of sand, dirt, lea dust, and bro.
ken down portions Of other leaves wor.
ked together with gum into small nod.
ules. This detestable compound which,
according to Mr.. Warrington who has
analyzed it. contains forty five per cent,
oil earthly matter is manufactured both
in China and England, for the express
purpose of adulteraling tea. When
mixed with Scented caper" it is "faced'
with black lead, when with gunpowder,
Prussian blue; tumeric and French
chalk give it the required bloom. Mr..
Warrington states that about $780, 900
lbs. Of this spurious tea have been i'm.
ported into Great Britain within eighteen
months Singularly enough, the low
priced teas are the only genuine ones.-
Every sample of this class which was
ans!yzed by DR.. Hassall proved to be
perfectly pure. However, the poor have
the advantage Of the better classes, who
pay higher price to be injured in
their health by painted beverage.