The Newtown bee., 1879-01-28
WHAT WE DRINK.
Triclxery in the feapSt-EIow the Tea Leaf Is Prepared in China, and C0lored to Crafty Ignorant Prejudice.


 whose consumption is more general than that of tea l; hence it's purity is matter of deep interest to millions of people
 There is scarcely 6 household, however humble, that does not use tea once day. and 1t may feelingly be asked What is home without teapot
 The difference in the taste and bou- quet of the teas usually sold in this country is almost wholly due to the diff ferent methods used in preparing leaves for the consumer. For instance, it is common to speak of black and green tea < as almost distinct species of the tea plant, yet green tea and black tea can be made from the same plant, the product of the two processes being apparently absolutely distinct from each other in appearance, taste and smell. Indeed, there are two kinds of black tea (sos called), one of which retains it's black color when steeped in hot water, while the other becomes green again. A brief sketch of the methods of tea-making will show how this is done.
 I Black tea proper, that is souchong, l pekoe, congou, etc., or what we call English breakfast tea, is generally pick ed from plants in the mountainous re- l gions of China, where the shrub, grow l ing among rocks and lodges, has a struggle for existence and acquires s mon hardy character than it does on the well-fertilized level lands and cultivated I valleys. These teas are made black by l the process of fermentation that they are put through before being cured. As before stated, the same leaves could be made into green -colored tea if differently treated, though their flavor would not resemble the ordinary green teas. When the leaves have been allowed to ferment in heaps for about twelve hours, they are tossed about by hand, undergoing a constant rolling and winnowing, and are then roasted over slow fire. They are again tossed about and rolled, exposed to the air for time, and finally dried over a charcoal fire. The different grades are then obtained by sitting and careful hand picking. Almost the same process is used for oolong teas, which, though apparently black, are really l green teas the important difference in the preparation of oolong is that there is no fermentation of the leaves. Hence there is no chemical action to change I their color permanently, and, though black when bought, it quickly resumes it's green shade when steeped.
 l Green tea-the gunpowder, imperial, I young hyson, hyson and twonkay tea is an imposition from the start. Honest l ly 1t could never reach 8 higher claim to l be called green than oolopg itself, but l such demand exists for artifcially- colored tea that the coioring process is l applied while curing the leaf in China, and the practice has now become so general that 1t is probable that nothing will ever cause it's discontinuance. Yet this coloring matter not only adds noth- ing intrinsically to the tea except weight, but it contains one of the deadliest poi sons known. For the sake of pretty ! outside, therefore, the world contentedly consents to drink annually thousands of pounds of Prussan blue, of which prus- sic acid is one of the constituents.
 Green tea is thus made At the usual picking times, of which there are three and sometimes four q year, the dealers go into the tea country from the coast, taking all the necessary utensils for in district he buys the tea from the producers for several miles around and proceeds to make what Is called are treated alike. They are heated in copper pans, and from this practice arises the old woman's story that the green color is imparted by the copper. This green IS given by a mixture of Prussian blue, China clay and some yell low organic coloring matter, sometimes turmeric, or yellow extract of willow bark. The asserting, like the curing process, is done by hand. Each leaf, which has been carefully rolled into a 11f fn4 <,f o.r in the curing, is picked out by the long l nails of the Chinese laborers. This Is then graded as extra gunpowder. The | same sized leaves which have not rolled into so shapely balls as the highest grade of gunpowder are picked out for second and third grades. Imperial con- tains three grades also, varying from 8 large but perfectly whole leaf l to the broken and half rolled leaves. l Then comes young hyson, which is not 1 large, but is about midway between gun powder and imperial. There are four grades, beginning with extra No. l. | Tyson follows young hyson, and has four grades and last of all comes twonkay, which is the remainder of the "chop ? after the other kinds have been picked | out. The tea is then packed for ship ment. There are from fourteen to six teen grades in every chop"
 The first picking takes place in the early spring, when the young leaves get the freshest sap, and therefore the first "chop Is the best. This is more par | ticularly the case with black than with l green teas. Tea that has never been colored is very rare in this country, ex- l cept variety known as Japan "basket- fired tea. In China the natives always used the uncolored natural leaf. It has 1 8 dark olive tint and looks fur less at- tractive to the eye than the colored tea.
 The principal adulterants that have been used in tea have been leaves of the willow and similar shrubs, spent tea leaves, lie tea Ca truly appropriate name from the Chinese), mineral matter, starch and coloring matter. Lie tea is com. posed of tea-dust, foreign leaves, quartz and magnetic oxide of iron made up with starch. It was not an u-common im- portation during the times when tea sold at very high prices, but as 1t is now sell. ing lower than ever before, there is nothing to be made by bringing such stuff here. If there was any profit in making adulterated tea, there is little doubt that the adulteration could be done in New York quite as successfully as in China, but the price of the real article is so low that adulteration would be losing speculation.
 There are, however, establishments which do a fair business in re-colorine old tea. When tea has been opened fol some time. 1t loses it's strength and also it's bright, fresh look. The strength cannot, of course. be restored, but il may be made to assume that virtue thongh it has it not. A mixture of eight quarts of terra~alba and one quart ol I Dntch pink with one teaspoonful ol Prussian slue is used to every twt I hundred 1arts of tea The tea is re. Ilheated. md this mixture is sprinkled on