Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1884-12-25
TEA-TAsTERS.
lxew Yor. Commerci.l Advsrts.,r.l

civ han. nearly $50 firms vhose sols busiue<u
i the importation and vholes.liny az tea.
Engaged in this immense tr,ds are 3 class of
man who ara known A. t,.-sasSerx and
who. in their way. control tn market make,
one kind OF tea popular, and in fact exercise
the same influences q wiu,-tasters do in the
wins trade. Each nrm employs at least one
ea-taster. and the salariss range from IS. 900
n wear TO even \ uartnership in the business
Of the great importing houses. But these
expere, nav the penalty of their proficiency.
in having their constitutions un ierminsd BY
continual tea-sipuinz After perhaps Owe
wears of exoer:ence they become nervous. and
inflicted with insornnM. and are halle e.
psc:ally 10 zymosic di,easex
Entering the cpunting-room OF any one Of
the whole ala dealers ia teas. ous will observe
big round table standing in the center of
the room. II has = revolving ton. and il
yery handsomely i,,laid This is practically
the counter upon which al the buying and
selling OF thu hon Q is done. On these
tables. placed within . short dis
lance Of the edge. arc ranged dainty
tea-cups A large silver kettle i simmer
::ay over a spirit lamp near BY and the steam
forces i.s.lf through the spout with q musical
Kissing that must be extremely pleasant to
hear amid the dreary round OF business On
a stand I'm the middle of the table Is
q tiny pair Of scales, ON one Of the
saucers OF which Is scent silver
piece. About this table the tea-tasters as
seuble Z, decide on the merits Of any partic-
ular growth or finally decide whether or not
the firms which they respectively repro sent
desire any OF tn, stock b.fore them A
sample of the tea is taken, and weighed ON
the scales. This small quantity OF tea is
then poured into a cup, and tbs boiling wa
ter is allowed to dow over it until the cup is
haIf-fulI of the infusion. The sea-taster stirs
the tea in and lifts the leaves on q
peculiarly shaped silver spoon to inhale the
aroma. Sometimes he takes a sip Of the in
fusion. AMI. after holding it in his mouth for
a few seconds, he relieves himself of it. Big
brass cuspidores are placed AROUND the table,
and into them 90 the tea which has been
.as.ed and the contents Of the cups.
IL is by this means that q sample of tea Is
decided upon. The tastsrs inhale the tea
aroma and pronounce upon the quality Of
the Importation, and gossip most learnedly
upon its finenesS, tastiuess, body, and similar
qualities which go TO make up tea par excel
ience. In CASES where there has been a heavy
importation, samples of each quality are
weighed and tried by the tasters, and then
the uuality and the price are decided upon
An expert tea faster who is not familiar with
the business transactions of the firm which
ms imported large quantity OF tea can de-
,ect not alone the age. the strength. flavor
and finenes,. but is able to tell almost with
ant error even the district In China where
the teas have been grown and whether thsy
have been cultivated By cooly labor The
DEVELOPMENT of the sense of smell is remark
able in thus detecting from an extremely
small quantity of tea the history OF its growth.
When large invoice is assorted the facts con-
corning the various samples are placed on
the bottom of the cups or sau ers. Then
they are changed about and the trade ad-
mittei to make its purchases. Tho missions
are tasted again by the buyers and selec-
tons are maj e by the flavor alone
The re ,ult of this system l. that great
quantities Of tea must be consumed in these
REGULAR transactions. In q comparatively
busy season a tea-taster sips 400 or SO cups
of t.a in q single day. 1t Is difficult to make
An average for the year, but it cannot be
far from 200 cups a day 1t is only the bet
ter aualitie, of the tea infusion that are
slipped and ejecteI The poorer teas are
simply testel by tho aroma from the leaves
after the infusion. The better classes OF the
black teas. such as the Canton, Foo-chow-
foo. Huny-nuey, Oopack, Kaison, and
CONAN. are almost always tested by sip
ping and sometimes even by swallowing the
Infusion of the Leaf The green teas, as the
Shanghai, Puig-suey. Moyune, Imperial
iMoyune, and Canton, are oftentimes testel
BIZ sppiuy. but most generally by their
srou.a alone.
The effect Of this constant drinking OF tea.
.-,bou,h in olmos. inappreciably small ouar,-
tit;ss. is extremely INJURIOUS Although
levi. il swnllowad each time n samp,e /,
ia ted the freoueut repetition OF the dose Is