The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-08-05
TASTING TEA FOR MONEY.
MEN WHO SIP THE CUP THAT
CHEERS AS A BUSINESS.
Professional Tea Tn~tcrs in New York
How they WOrl-1helrD DeItcacY
and AC Vrary Of TaSic.

anu AC Nrary OF lasics
A large, somewhat bare looking apart
mcnt; a number of shelves along tht
walls, like those in Il druggists shop,
upon which arc ranged Tow after row oi
small tin canistcrs containing samples ol
tea; here and there print Of q scene in
the Flowcry land looking dim aad fee.
bic, as if exhausted in the effort to shed
an Oriental glow over ANYTHING in tho
hopelcssly matter-of-fact locality of Wal
street; in q corner larpe office desk; in
the center of the room circular table
upon which stands a FURNISHED urn,
fankcd by a diminutivc copper scales
and surrounded by 4 number of tiny
china cups--such is the orthodox tea
brokers Office in this city Of offices OF
this kind there arc about two dozen in
New York, 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 figures in
the tea brokers' Office is tho professional
tea faster. To him is entrusted the work
of testing the various samples and fixing
their respective grades and values. The
manner in which this work Of testing the
samples is conducted is rs follows: A
silver half dine is thrown into the scale
on the one side and enough tea to bal
lance the coin Is dropped in on the other
side. The tea thus measured is thrown
into one Of the little cups, which arc ca
pablo of holding half a gil. The samples
to be tested having thus been disposed
of in the various cups, boiling water is
poured upon them from the urn.
The tea faster then holds each of the
cups in turn beneath his nostrils to catch
the aroma, which is of great assistance
to him in determining the quality. When
the tea has sufficiently cooled to be not
much more than lukewarm the expert
proceeds to test it by tasting it. This
operation is conducted with much delib'
Grafton and even solemnitv, the tea faster
closing his eyes as if TO shut himself
away from the outer world and some
times even insisting upon the most abso-
lutte silence beng maintained by those
about him as long rs the test is III prog
rcss. He only takes few dainty sips
from each cup, but sometimes ne applies
himself a second, third and even a
fourth time to the same sample. The
tests having been made, he renders
decision as to the quality of the different
teas he has sampled and the values at
which they should be rated in the mar
ket.
By many it may be thought that the
decision as to the quality Of different
kinds of tea must depend largely upon
individual ideas and tastes. AS far as
the professional tea faster is concerned
this is mistake. Tea tasting is very
decidedly profession in itsc,f, and has
to be learned by dint of application and
experience. That it is not merely a
question of individual taste is demon.
stratcd by the fact that when, as is often
the case, certain set of samples is sub
mittcd to several tea tastcrs acting inde-
pendent of each other, the various opin-
ions rendered as to quality and value arc
almost invariably identical. So delicate
are the perceptions Of the professional
tea faster that he not only quickly and
accurately grades the different samples
submitted to him, recognizing the most
minute gradations, but he is also in
many instances able to determine the
part of the country in which q cert lin
tea was grown. In the same way the
Judgment of the toa faster purchasing
the tea in China for the importers here,
as general rule, comedies with that OF
the tea tasters here.
The tea trade in this city is divided
into four distinct branches-the i'm
porter, the broker, the jobber and the
retailer. The wholesale price of tea
ranges from ten to seventy cents per
pound. The importers profit is mod
crate but remuncrative one. The largest
percentage of proft-from forty to sixty
per cent.-goes to the retailer. When
a cargo of tea is received by the importer
samples of the consignment often con.
sisting of various kinds of tca-arc sent
to the broker. lie disposes of it to the
large retailers or to the jobSers, who in
turn sell in lesser quantities to the smaller
retailers. The broker receives one per
cent. commission on all sales effected by
him. The tea faster acts in the interests
of the broker, to whose advantage it is
to have q correct estimate as to the quail
ties and values of the different teas he is
in order to meet the require.
ments of his customers.-Ne,o lort
Ne,uld