The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-23
Preparing Tea for Market.
From Chambers Journal.


Each picking If a garden is in India
called a 'break," and in China ''chop-"
But an Indian break" is rarely above 100
chests, and is often only twenty, and it is
absolutely even in gu lily throTg lout,
wine cas- Chine q Chop may be run up
to several hundred chests or half chests,
purporting to be of eve quail Y. but made
up Of ma y pickings from differen gar
dens, producing a mixture which Is not
uniform, al the expense of the deteii)ratioa
of the better lea IS. In India eacl davis
picking is Immediately "withered," and
when perfectly and evenly withered
Is rolled lightly by a machine. In CIina
the wIthered leaves are put into small cot
{ N bags, loosely tied and placed in open
wooden boxes, the sides of which are
pierced with numerous holes. A man then
gets into the box and presses and kneads
the bags with his feet, with the object Of
tn rolling the leaves and expressi g the
moisture. Next comes ''fermenta ion"
In India this is done in the open air, with
out any extraneOus aid, and il is part
OF the skill of the planter to know the
exact moment when to arrest the pro-
cess, for immediately the proper point
Is reached the tea must be fired.
In China, after the jumping pro
cess above desert ed, the tea is placed in
baskets I'd overed up with cotton or felt
mat, as to retain the heat and hasten
the fermen alton. After it has stood thus
covered up for a certain time it is taken out
and IF ed" This firing is one of the most
important of all the processes, and requires
great skill I'd care. The Indian planter Is
most particular 20 see that only the very
best ha dwood charcoal is used, and that
the tea is SO constantly turned over tina
there is no chance of any of it getting
burned. A 81 gle baskes of buried leaf
will spoil whole "break" In China they Of
ten make the tea "smokYn by ing ill-ma lie
charcoal, and sometimes ''tarrv" by firing
With soft woods like fir and pine. The
larry" flavor, it is said, will not develop
until | zig after the tea has left & INA, and
some waters bring it out more disagreeably
than Others The following is or should be
he process of "firl lg" by the charcoal sys-
TEN. After the fire is ready, a tubular bas-
ket, narrow at the middle and wide at bot
IDS, is placed owe it. and into this tube a
sieve is dropped, covered with tea leaves,
shaken on it to about an iuch in thickness.
the leaves have to be carefullywatched while
he sieve is over the fire, aud after about
five or six minutes they are removed and
rolled. AS the ball, of leaves me out of
tle hands of the roller they are placed in a
heap on the floor, and when all have beel
thus manipulate they are shaken on to the
sieve again aud set over the fire for few
minutes longer. They may even sometimes
be rolled and fired t iri time until the
leaves have assumed the right dark color.
When the whole batch has been thus treated
it is placed thickly in the basAets and again
put over the fire. The attendant makes
hole with his hand through the cent9r of the
mass so as to allow vent to the heat as wei
as to any smoke or vapor from the charc lal
and he then covers it over with a fla
basket. The heat of the fire is now reduced,
and the tea is allowed to remain over i,
until perfectly dry. 1t has to be CONSTANT
watched and frequently stirred to insure
equal heating. When the firing is done the
bl ok color of black tea should be well es-
tabished, alt .ough it afIerward improves
in appearance. The tea is then wi moved
and sifted through various sleeves to divide
it into the different kinds. In India, how
ever, anothe process for firing tea has been
introduc d of late years. 1t is called a
''sirocco." and is a machine f r APP
plying hot air, which is superseding the
charcoal process. 1t is rapid III its work,
and is said to be superior in many ways.
The leaf is laid out on wire-gauze trays,
which are passed through the hot air
| MACH o at a temperature of 500, and III
| from fifteen to twenty minut S the tea il
| thoroughly fired. 1t is then placed in the
''sifters," which are worked by machinery
| with cit, er a lateral or rotary mott IN, am
| the different grades are sifted out, such
dust, broken Pekoe, aud Pekoe. The largeI
| aud coarser leaves which do not pas
through he sleeves are cut to an even size
and classed as Pekoe Souch)ng.