Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1885-08-06
TeA.rAsTERs.
den who sip tho Cup That Cheers NJ a
nualnesa Profession.


Zen who sip tho Cup THAT Cheers a. a
business Profession
A large. somewhat bare-looking apart
nett; a number Of shelves along the
walls, like those in druggists shop,
upon which are ranged row after row
Of small tin canisters cont ling sam.
pies Of tea; here and there a print OF a
scene in the Flowery Land look ng dim
and feeble, as IL exhausted in the effort
to shed an Oriental glow over anything
in the hopelessly matter of fact locality
OF Wall street; in a corner large Office
desk; in the center OF tho room CIR
cular table upon which stands a bir-
nished urn, ilanked by q dimnutive
copper scales and surrounded by
number Of tiny china cups su is the
orthodox tea-broker's oiice in this city.
OF Offices of this kind there are about
two dozen in New York, that being the
number Of tea-brokers, large and small,
engaged in the trade in this city. These
Offices are chiefly situated in Wall,
Water and Front streets.
One Of the most important iigu -es in
the tea brokers' Office is the profession
nj tea-taster. To HIM is intrustcd the
work Of testing the various samples and
fixing their respective grades and val
ues. The manner in which this work
of testing the samples Is conducted is
as follows: A silver halt-dime is thrown
into tho scale on the one side and
enough tea to balance the coin is dropped
in on the other side. The tea thus meas
ured is thrown into one of the little cups,
which are capable Of holding ha,f a GIL.
The samples TO be tasted having thus
been disposed Of in the various cups.
boiling water Is poured upon them from
the urn.
The tea-tas,or then holds each Of the
cups in turn beneath his nostrils to
catch the aroma, which is of great as
sistance TO him in determining the
quality. When the tea has sufficiently
cooled to be not much more than luke
warm the expert proceeds TO test il by
tasting t. This operation is conducted
with much deliberation and even SOL
emnity, the tea-taster closing his eyes
a If 10 shut himself away flom the outer
world, and sometimes even insisting
upon the most absolute silence be.
ing maintained by those about him as
long as the test is in progress. He
only takes few dainty sips from each
cup. but sometimes he applies himself
a second, third and even fourth time
to the same sample. The tests having
been made he renders n decision as to
the quality of the different teas he has
sampled and the values at which they
should be rated In the market
Rv MANI ~ mae b., fkn,,s,kt - L..
decision as TO the quality of different
kinds of tea must depend largely upon
individual ideas and tastes. As far as
the professional tea-taster is concerned
this is a mistake. Tea-tasting is very
decidedly profession in itself, and has
to be learned by dint of application and
experience. That it is not merely
question of individual taste Il demon
strated by the fact that when, as is oft.
Ell the case, a certain set of samples Is
submitted to several tea-tasters acting
Independent OF each other, the various
opinions rendered as to quality and
value are almost invariably identical.
SO delicate are the perceptions OF the
professional tea-taster that he not only
quickly and accurately grades the diff
ferent samples submitted to him, rec
oguizing the most minute gradations,
but he is aiso in many Instances able to
determine the part OF the country in
which certain tea was grown. In the
same way the Judgment of the tea
faster purchasing the tea in China for
the importers here, m general rule,
comedies with that of the tea-tasters
here.
The tea trade in this city is divided
into four distinct branches-the import
or, the broker, the iobber and the re-
taller. The wholesale price OF tea
ranges from ten to seventy cents per
pound. The importers profit is a mod
crate but remunerative one. The
largest percentage Of profit forty
TO sixty per cent goes 20 the retailer
When a cargo of tea is received by the
importer samples of the cons gnment-.
often consisting of various kinds of tea
arc sent TO the broker. He disposes
OF II 10 the large retailers or 10 the Job
bers, who in turn eel in lesser quanti-
ties 20 the smaller retailers. The broker
receives one per cent. commission on
all sales effected by him. The tea-tayter
acts in the interests Of the broker, TO
who e advantage il is TO have a correct
estimate as TO the qualities and values
OF the different teas he is handling, in
order to meet the requirements OF his
customers. J. Herald.