Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1862-03-29
NUMBER 33.
ADULTERATIONS OF TEA.

According to most writer's there are but
one spices of tea plant, from which all
the different varieties are derived the
difference depending upon the richness Of
the soil, climate age and mode Of prepar-
ton.
The principle varieties of teas are Con.
gou, Souchong, Caper, and Padre Sou
chong, and Pekoe, which are of the high
est qualities, and Bohea, coarse and in
ferior article, taking its name from
range of hills on which it grows. The
principal varieties of green teas are Twan.
kay, Hyson Skin, Young Hyson, Imperial
and Gunpowder. There are numerous
other teas which are named from the diff
ferent processes of curing and preparing,
and given any name, such as the interest
or caprice of the manufacturer may dic-
tate.
Green tea is prepared by roasting in
shallow iron dish, while black tea is roast-
ed and manipulated in an iron dish, then
in a sieve, over very hot charcoal fire,
and afterwards undergoes species Of fer
mentation and curing which renders them
Of darker color.
Iure lea is as common beverage in
China as cider or beer in this country, and
the Chinese when expostulated with fer
adutering tea, say that the outside barba-
rians do not like and will not purchase
pure tea, but prefer that which is arif.
cally made bright, colored and high
scented. The principal aduteration Of
tea is the work of the Chinese themselves,
who use Prnssian blue and other deleter-
Gus cooring and favoring substances, but
other adulteratons and mixings occur
nearer home.
The varieties Of green teas imported
into this country, are principally Tyson
Skin, Young Hyson, Hyson, Imperial. and
Gunpowder, the color of which, without
an exception, is artificial Quite NUM-
Der Of other teas are sold under different
names, but the above are the lea ding teas
The usual coloring matters are ferrocyan.
ide of iron, Or Prussian blue, tumerie, in.
diso, lime, and China clay, mixed in va
rious proportions to produce the different
shades of blue aud green.
The black teas are colored with graphite,
the carbure. Of iron known as plumbaso
or black lead. These teas are also mixed
with an article called Lie tea, consisting
of the sweepirgs of the warehouses and
the admixture Of foreign leaves, among
which are birch, horse chestnut, oak, will
low, and poplar Rose pink, Dutch pink.
cateehu, ctromate of lead, snlphate Of
lead sulphate Of iron. Venetian red soap
stone, or French chalk, carbonate Of lime,
carbonate of masnesia, carbonate of cop.
per, arsenite Of copper, Prussian blue and
indigo, have been developed ip different
samples of tea. The above ingredients
are used for coloring, facing, or glazing,
and to give flavor or strength to the spur
ious article The tests for the presence
Of these ingredients are unerring. Very
little pure tea is found in this country
Ninetenths of that which is purchased at
the shops is more or less adulterated.-
Pure tea, with the old invalid, acts medi.
cinaIly. checking the sinking of the body.
restoring the lost tone of the stomach, in
creasing the formation of bile, and repair,
ing the wear and tear of the tissues. The
tat.nin in pure tea is believed to be one Of
its best ingredients.
leave it to my readers to infer what
the effect would be, even in Homeopathic
doses, of such a mixture of posons as
the above on the stomach Of a well person.
much more the feeble invalid. - Hartford
Times