Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1888-07-28
AT A TEA AUCTION.
now THE EXPERTS VALUE THE
STOCK BEFORE IT is SOLD.
Scene In . salesroom-A Visit from Pro-
fessional Tea Tasters-A Preliminary
Test-The Aroma-Getting the Flavor.
Quiet purchASers.

given ,iay. Two hundred or more different !
grades of tea may be III the consignment. {
A sample chest, half chest, or package Of ,
each grade is sent to the auction room for !
inspection and sampling by prospective pur- ,
chaseIs. These are ranged in tiers about
the auction room that their distinctive
names and marks may be seen All these
marks, and queer lot of hieroglyphics they
are, are reproduced in the catalogue, always
large leaved, and with plenty Of room for
notes alongside the description OF each lot Of
particular grade of tea. The lots vary
from single package or half chest up to
perhaps hundred packages Of the fragrant
Oriental leaves. The small lots are usually
particularly choice brands of tea, the large
ones the cheaper and standard grades
The distinctive marks on these chests aside |
| from the Chinese figures are either figures or |
letters, sometimes standing alone, but oftener
! inclosed in a circle, square, a triangle, an
eipse, some other geometrical figure, and
occasionally accompanied by an anchor or
some similar figure that is symbol OF no
one knows what exactly. Once in their
| places in the auction room, the sample chests
are made ready for customers who wish to
try the teas. And here is where tea auction
sales differ from other auction sales A pur-
chaser may try before he buys. To enable
him to try, big holes an inch and n half or
so in diameter, are cut through the chest aud
its wicker cover that the tea can easily
he reached. The sample packages thus pre-
pared, everything is ready for the sale
PROFESSIONAL TEA TAsTERs.
For two days before the sale young men
with the big quarto catalogues and accom-
panied by a boy with small tin boxes visit
the auction rooms and take samples for test
| W. ,,.,1l.
sona tea tasters, and to the casual visitor to
an auction room their methods are peculiar,
to say the least. A wisp of the split bamboo,
such as the network OF mating that covers
the packages is made Of is the samplers
weapon for attack the tea chests about
' him. His catalogue is held in his left hand
i, With the right he thrusts his wisp of bamboo,
doubled as to make sort of hoe into the
. round hole in the tea chest and from the
:, hest haus a handful of the tea on to the
catalogue pages. The eye serves to tell him
il the tea has been colored or bleached. That
point settled, the necessary note is made III
= his catalogue. Then comes the preliminary
test The tea is dumped from the samplers
4 catalogue into his hand. Then, with the
hand partially closed, the sampler blews
a vigorously into the mass of leaves, and at
once applies the leaves to his nose Thus he
gets fair idea of the aroma. As he has no
= further use for that particular sample he
throws it into a trough which stands at the
foot of the rows of chests, and which is put
there for the express purpose of holding thest
discarded samples and the particles that dc
o. not fall on the catalogue pages when the wisl
= of bamboo pulls the sample from the chest
~ And so the sampler goes the round OF th'
long row of tea chests eyeing and smelling
u u. and once in great while tasting bit of TIN
=, =. tea, and always throwing away two or thre
~ pounds during the course of his afternoon in
!, spection.
All the observations Of this expert rs t.
= color, aroma and quality are noted in hi
~ catalogue. Some samples are quickly dis
~ posed Of and the sampler marksin his cata
:, losue the value of the particular brand o
~. " tea he has inspected. But there are som
:. brands, usually Of the finer grades, tina
puzzle him He is in doubt as to the actu,
value of the leaves he has looked at an
:. smeled of half dozen times perhaps
-. he instructs a youth who accompanies him
:. take a sample This youngster, using tl
=. - same means as his companion has before hin
=. hauls a liberal sample from the chest into
- tin box, which is duly marked and ls'.ele
with the same hieroglyphics that are il
scribed on the chest and in the catalogue.
dozen Samples may Do tuheu ia enta way ~
, the experts use outside OF the auction room
Il These collected, his work among the sanlp
II chests is ended.
II GETTING THE FULL FLAVOR.
II Accompanied by the boy and his s.nr
II tin boxes, the expert leaves the auction roo
u and goes to his office to finish his valuatit
! Of the samples his boy carries. Seated
a round table, which turns on its standal
!. at the slightest touch, he finishes his wol
with a speed which is little less than ma
velous A dozen French china cups and
II samovar, or urn, of hot water help him
do this Leaves from the sample tin box
are put in the china cups and treated TO
bath Of the boiling water from the urn
; the center of the table. There is preln
nary sniff at the aroma arising from ear
particular cup, and then taste-just sip
- to get the flavor fully, This test settles i
valuation of the tea in moment, and the Q
a., pert marks in his catalogue what he deer
- the samples thus treated to be worth.
~. one ever disputes that valuation, for the t
-, faster is in his line an antocrat, desl
}. whose decision no one dares question. !
catalogue now marked is sent to the buy
of the house the expert represents, and wi
the latter there remains only the pure
10 mechanical work of attending the sale n
ork - II ha con Mt or h.low the to,,,
x,
fixed by the expert at the maximum value
" the teas,
The auction sale itself is very like a
other trade sale A hundred men sit abo
~ n.s the auction room in front OF the glib tongu
''' cfier Catalogue and pencil III hand, I
crowd of buyers are a very quiet party, a
let tho auctioneer make all the noise
ave penc;l or catalogue raised in the air for
ou Instant goes for bid. Sometimes a nod
this the head suffices to settle the ownership OF
FER consignment Of tea. II is very rarely tha
word is spoken, except when the starting
gbt is made When other spoken bids follow tn
rid are usually made by some out of town buy
The auctioneer knows everybody IN
room except these same out of town III
ant chants, who are looking for bargains. So
quietly tells his clerks the name of the p
-iua chaser, and a stranger visiting the sale is !
n mystery most Of the time, not only as
that who the buyer is, but also as to which one
the men in that very quiet but very busin
like crowd made the bid. Five thousand
f, 900 packages of tea may be disposed OF
~. an hour or an hour and half, and then
80 crowd Of buyers melt away just as quic
as it had assembled itself for the sale.-N
York Times.