Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-12-30
THE ARr or TEA TASTING.
Methods Of an Expert I'm the Buslnesa
Chat with One Of the Crnfk.

Methods Of an Expert I'm the Buslnesa
Chat with One Of the Graft.
When the cargoes Of teas arrive on thie
Gde, millions on millions Of pounds, the to-
testers, or tasters', work begins. II is an
art, and remarkable skill is attained by
those who have tho natural faculty for #,
and have developed that faculty by long ex-
periencs and careful training. There are 20
many elements or factors entering into the
process and shaping the conclusion Of the
tea faster that it is impossible to describe
them, and perhaps the most proficient faster
of teas could not enumerate them-in face
Is not conscious Of them. Tho expert IN
wool cannot explain how he distinguishes be-
tween two grades of wool which to an ordf-
nary man are identical, but lis touch Is
uneIring and his Judgment accurate. 30
the tea faster works often as much by intui-
ton as by rule. He has equipped himself to.
operate in the realm Of nice distinctions, and
he is perfectly at home there. He cannot be.
cheated. How do tea tasters 60 to worll A
big round table of considerable solidity,
which whirls easily on a pivoted center,
Temptingly set about the edge Of this re-
volving table one observes an array Of tea
cups more or less aesthetic In mold and
adornment, according to the "style" OF the
establishment.
Generally, however, these important tea sets
are for service not for show. A generous
teakettle is stuck somewhere in a convenient
corner, and it keeps up a pleasant purring
over the patient gas jet When the tea faster
is in full armor the cups are manipulated
deftly; as much tea as will balance f1ve-cent
piece is put into each cup, and the same guam
tity of water is poured over each sample Of
tea. Then the acute sense of the tea faster
sweeps the field. 1t must not be supposed
that this continuous faster Of teas dl inke
hogsheads of the samples, or even that be
drinks at all. The tea Easter does not neces-
sarily put cup to his lips. Tea is tested to
some extent by the appearance of the leaf,
but chiefly by infusion, as just described II
is the sense Of smell that does the business.
Said tea faster:
Everything tastes as it snelIs have
heard it said that If mans nostrils could be
held perfectly tight, he could not determine
by his palate which of two substances, .
piece of raw potato or onion, was placed in
his mouth. At any rate, can determine
quality or grade Of tea as perfectly by smell
as by taste, and all the best tasters judge by
the smell.n
Without infusion the faster can often
determine just how sample Of tea will
draw by the peculiar twist of the leaf and it,
SMELL
"Can you carry in your memory the difArs
ent grades or kinds of tea so as to identify
them if the same comes up again, after TIN
lapse of some timer
'To considerable extent we can. II therv
is anything peculiar about kind or lot OF
tea, we remember it, and can pick it out at
once il it ever comes up again. OF course.
the standard classes of teas are always rec0G
nized at once by an expert
"Is tea tasting injuriousp
"No, not at all. There are some men VINO
are somewhat affected by it SO that they ars
restless at night, after having gone through
with cargo of tea, but it never affects me ct
all. In fact, tea tasting cannot be SO harmful
as the constant tasting Of sugars, etc. While
OH this point it is somewhat significant fact
to note that nearly all tea tasters drink Con-
gou tea. 1t is the finest tea and least injuri-
GUS. Another thing, the secret of giving
satisfaction in teas is the furnishing OF an
article that is Of good strength and body.
That is the kind of tea which suits our
people Boston Herald