Morning journal and courier., 1888-01-17

ana, aS Eule, Dy tn6 WEXFORD mlQQle classes. The poor in England also consume vast quantities of tea, and it must be only the miserably poor old couple who would be content without their cup of tea morning and evening, or who would not be very sorry if they were unable to offer cup to neigh Dor or companion.
 The southern American is essentially a coffee thinker, and very seldom drinks ''the cup which cheers and not inebriates." The States between Mexico and Colombia, Saliva dor, Chili and Peru drink comparatively lit tie tea, but are great consumers of chocolate,
 as are also the Spaniards. And it may not be out of our way to mention that in ne
 country in the world is chocolate made to
 such perfection as in Spain. But tea is our
 theme and not chocolate.
 The Englishman and the British colonist
 will drink no other tea than Congou, and this
 brings us to the question of the qualities of
 the several kinds of tea. have frequently
 heard elderly ladies declare that 'grsen tsa'' is very bad for the nerves, and that deelara-
 tion is not altogether unfounded, as I will endeavor to explain.
 4Congou tea and green tea are both made of
 the self same leaves, but the manner in which the leaves are manipulated is, in eff
 feet, the difference between "green tea" and
 "Cengou tea" If when the leaves are first
 taken from the bushes for the manufacture of Congou tea, the leaves are not allowed to
 become dry; if there be danger of their dry
 ing quickly, and, indeed, if there be any ap-
 pearance of dryness the leaves are sprinkled with fresh water for the purpose of pro-
 duoing certain degree of decomposition of the leaves-a process which makes the
 Congou tea the least hurtful of all tea to the nerves of the consumer. The leaves thus moistened and ready for manufacture are rolled between the palms of hesshands, or, according to the degree of moisture or dryness of the leaves, are rolled by the An~. xl1n oI. k1a S,.3I cess for shaping the leaf A handful of the leaves so rolled are placed in the palm of the operative, who again rolls the mass into kind of round ball of leaves, preparatory to being thrown into the lower part of iron
 pan shaped something like this U, known as a Fychow pan, under which gentle fire of charcoal is lighted.
 The sides of the pan being thus gradually heated, the operative throws the ball of leaves down into the pan, creating a little cloud of steam, proceeding from the mois- ture of the leaves, when the manipulator, knowing exactly and by long experience where and in what part of the pan the ball of leaves is, seizes it, shakes it for short time to prevent too quick or close cohesion, grasps the leaves, again rolls the mass into a ball and repeats the performance over and over again until the moisture from the leaves is all or nearly all taken away, when the leaves being of themselves rolled into shape,
 
 rolling to bring the tea into a shapely and handsome appearance. This is the simple process for making Congou tea, which is so largely consumed by the British and the Russian people. The processes above ex- plained are common to f'green" and to Con gou" tea. with this exception, namely, that the tea of commerce for the better classes is more carefully handled in order to produce ! uniform shape and what is called handsome leaf" meaning leaves that are handsomely made.
 l The mere making of cup or pot of tea l may appear to some persons matter of muoh indifference, but this is painful er- TOT. Nothing in the household requires so much gentle treatment as does the making of 8 cup or a pot of tea. In the first place, and as a matter of prime necessity, the kettle I must be strictly clean. Secondly, the water | should be fresh and perfectly clear. Third ly. the fire under the kettle should never be fierce one. On the contrary, the heat | should come very gradually to the boiling point, when, as the Chinese say, the water | so boiled should exhibit on the surface { | million of pearls, and it is only at this stag'
 of the process that the water should b' poured upon the leaf in the cup or pot.
 A weight of tea equal to the weight of { | ten cent piece should be enough for everJ | cup intended to be drunk at the table, and l the leaf should never be allowed to remain
 in the liquor longer than five and certainly \ not longer than six minutes. l never have | been more angry than when have seen (ai I I have frequently seen in the small towns O \ the interior of the country) women ruthless ' ly throwing a lot of tea into tea kettle al
 most filled with water and left for hours tC boil, and have often wished that Congress would enact law to be severely applied tt ! such Goths would wantonly boil tea ! hope that heaven may in mercy forgive con, | duct so horrible and abominable. I never can forgive such persons.
 | The tea of Foo Chow and Annoy is growr | in the Bohea districts and is not subjected \ to the panfriDg process. In these cases th' | leaf is placed in lattice-framed baskets, hun1 over gentle charcoal fires, and the tea i shaken and turned over frequently in orde \ to obtain equal heat in all parts of the bull l of tea to be cured. The Foo Chow leaf ii
 more delicate than any other kind of Chinese tea, yielding, as it does, the lightest possible | tinge of c1eal green liquor, and the flavor o ! the liquor, which is thin, or say not at ali 1 full bodied, is extremely delicate. Int Annoy leaf is much coarser, and by no meant | of as fine flavor as that grown in the Mil I river country in Foo Chow.
 The manipulation of Japan tea does no vary from that of green tea, Congou tea ol ! fired Gas previously described in the Fychov pans) than in bssketfred tea.
 Time was when money was easily made in the tea business; but by reason of over production of the leaf of all kinds, the loss ! es on tea have during the past five to ter years caused heavy losses to the importers and, indeed, it is not to be wondered at tha | if the Japanese manufacturers of tea send tc ! the American and Canadian markets from forty-fv to nearly fifty million pounds weight of Japan tea for the supply of only thirty five to thirty-eight million pounds, losses must ensue, for the stoutest capacity of the beverage in question is limited. TI,a oG oTo 1,l rNr, 41,Ie matter very severely during thirty seven years of constant experience, and has found but one remedy for the unhealthy condition of the trade in Japan tea that has yet been attempted, namely: With the exception of the province of Ugl, where the best and choicest tea is produced, the Yezo country does not grow the leaf at all, and the sup plies in other parts of Japan are net only abundant, but are over abundant, and the manufacturers of tea in all the other proVin- ces could supply an almost unlimited quantt- 1, Iy of the leaf. The remedy, therefore, against the crowding of Japan tea into Amer lea is simple and would be attended with very great advantage to the trade if such a ! remedy as this could be honestly accepted and practiced, namely: that no tea below the grade of ttine" Git must be understood that the grades are known as Choicest, 1" etchoice, ' sfnest, 1" fine :" "good medium, :" medium, '' ssgood common, "common" and How com | mon'0 should be exported to America. At present the Japanese overload the American markets with ''muck"-signifying poor leaf, yielding reddish colored liquor of rank or bitter flavor. Let the manufacturers l honestly combine to refuse to overload the 1 American markets with the aforesaid "muck, , which should be left to the Japanese fol l their own consumption. good trade 1T Japan tea would be made paying business
 wholly on the grades from fine to choicest Unfortunately it happens in those eastern markets that guilds or combinations fol healthy trade are liable to be affected bJ some dishonest member of such guild break ! ing the contract for his own personal sadvan' tage.