West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-08-21
TEA-TASTERS.
Mes Who Sip th" Cup rhat Cheers ~
business rrofCSSiuu.


business Profession.
a Alargc. somewhat bare looking apart
mcut; number of shelves along the
walls. like those in druggists shop.
upon which arr ranged row after row
of small tin Cauistcrs containing SAM
pies of tea; here and there print of "a
scene in tho Uowcry Land looking dim
and feeble, rs if exhausted i'm the effort
TO she'd an Oriental glow over anything
in the hopclcSsly matter of fact locality
of Wall street; in corner a large Office
desk; In the Ccutcr uf the room cir
Cular table upon which stands "a bur
niShcd urn, iiaukcd by diminutiVc
copper scales and surrounded bV "A
number of tiny china cups such Is tho
orthodox tca-brokCr'S Office i'm this city.
or Offices of this kind there are about
two dozen in New York, that bong the
number of tea brokers. largo and small.
engaged in the trade in this city These
offices are chiefly situated i'm Wall,
Water and Front streets.
One of the most important iigurrs i'm
the tea broker Office is the profession
al tva-taSlCr To HIM H. intrtstcd the
work of testing the various samples and
liking their respective grades and vat
ues. The manner i'm which this work
of testing the samples is conducted is
n follows: A silver half-dimc is thrown
into the scale on the one sdo and
enough tea to balance the coin is dropp al
i'm ON the other side Tho tea thus meas
urcd is thrown into one of the ittlc cups.
which are capable of holding half a gil.
Tho samples TO bo tasted having thus
been disposed of n the various cups,
boiling water is poured upon them from
the urn.
The tca-tastcr then holds each of the
cups i'm turn beneath his nostrils Ia
catch tho aroma, which is of great as
sistuncc to him i'm determining the
quality When the tCu has sufficiently
cooled TO hc not much moro than luke.
warm the expert proceeds to test il toy
tasting It. This operation is conducted
with much dcliberatiOn and even sol
cmnlty tho toa-taStor closing his eve.
a II To shut himself away from the outer
world, and sometimes oven insisting
upon the most absolute silence be-.
ing maintained by those about him "a,
long as the test is in progress. III,
only takes few dainty sips from each
cup, but sometimes he applies himself
IA second, third and even u fourth tim,
TO the same sample. The tcsts hayng
been made ho renders decision as to
the quality of the different teas lac la,
sampled and the values at which they
should be rated i'm tho market
l}y many il 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 n
the professional tca-tastcr is concerned
| this is - mistake. Tca-tastng is very
/ decidedly a profession i'm itself, and has
! to bc learned by dint Of application ano
experience That IL is not merely ,
| question OF individual taste is demon.
stratcd by the fact that when. aS is oft
| en- the case "A certain set of samples is
| submitted TO several tca-tastcrs ACTING
| independent of each other, the various
| opinions rendered as TO quality and
value are almost invariably identical
| 30 delicate are the perceptions Of tn,
professional tca-tastCr that he not only
| quickly and accurately grades the diff
| tcrent samples submitted to him, rec
| ognizing the most minute gradatOns,
J but he i5 also in many Instances able "a
| determine the part OF the country ir
| which certain tea was grown. In the
same way the Judgment Of the tea.
faster purchasing the tea in China for
the importers here, as general rule,
comedies with that of the tea-tastcr-
| here.
The tea trade in this city is divided
into four distinct branches the import
er, the broker, the iobbcr and the re-.
taller Tho wholesale price of tea
ranges from ten 90 seventy cents PEI
| pound. The importer profit is mod
crate but rcmunerativc one. The
largest percentage Of profit from forty
| 10 sixty per cent. goes ~ the retailer
| When cargo OF toa is received by On,
| importer samples OF the cons gnment
! often consisting OF various kinds Of tea
are sent 10 the broker He dispose.
! of IL 10 the large retailers or 20 the Job
bcrs. who in turn sell in lesser quaint
! tics 10 the smaller retailers The brokei
! receives one per cent commission on
| all sales effected by him The tcn-ta .tcl
| acts in the interests Of the broker. to
| whose advantage 10 Is 30 have q correct
| estimate as 10 the qualities and value.
! OF the different teas he s handling. ir
/ order to meet tho requirements Of hH
! customers. ~ T. Heruid