Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-02-15
YEA DRINKING.
Variety of Ways in Which Different People
Indulge in This Habit

Variety of Ways in Which Different People
Indulge in This Habit.
The taste iu tea drinking seems to vary
with the latitude and Longitude of the
drInker, says Harper's Bear. We have
laughed Il good deal at those individuals
who. when tea was first introduced to
rris endom, had 1t boiled and served as
green" but to-day in the islands of
japan som of the finest teas are pu!ver-
lied, stirred il the boiling water, and
drank off at guIp, so that powder as
well as fluid may be taken. This however
is the nearest approach known TO our
ancestral error. The weli-tC-do Chinese
do not always make their tea and let it
$ ID, as we do, in the pot but pinch of
leaves be Il dropped into a cup, and Il
bit of pierced meal being dropped over
the leaves TO prevent their floating, the
hot water is added, and : he little top Eau-
Ger Is put III place till the tea is drawn
when 1t Is uncovered and slipped. We
and our gr8ndmOthers before Us did the
same-add either sugar or cream to our
tea, and sometimes both; bat in Russia
the drink Is given vlgOr aud pungency
by dash of lemon JUICE, and in France
it acquires plquancY b. trIde of brandy.
Indeed our own ancestTesses be it told
behind the hand-were not entirely I'M
acquainted with a similar way of increas
ing the spirit of their draught ano
thought no more of adding a drop or two
of rum to the mixture than a lumo of
sugar. The careful head of table among
ourselves il apt to prefer making her
tea at the table either by the aid of a
copper or silver Kettle over an alcohol
lamp or by wafer taken while boiling
from the kitchen range and usedi Instant.
ly. As i'm portant a factor of the brewing
as anything else is the quality of the
water, which should be fresh and should
be soft; and if hard spring water has to
be used it should be softeneG by a pinch
of soda; and always as much care should
be taken as if, instead of so cents or 81
pound, the article used cost, as it used to
do at first, $50 pound, or as if it were
the wondrous "Emperor's tea" brought
overland into Russia, and unattainable
by any but those who have experienced
the Emperor's favor, or as if it were the
famous flower tea.
This flower or fragrant tea is prepared
for market after different method from
! that used with other sorts, as, in the dry
ing flowers of strong, sweet perfume,
as the jasmine, for instance, are mixed
with the tea leaves, and after having
been pressed together. they are sifted out
and thrown away; and thus the tea has
acquired a fragrance beyond its own, al
though TO the genuine tea lover it will
seem like adding perfume to the violet.
Whenever tea is used, whether green or
black or scented and however made, one
thing must be remembered, it must be a
year old, in order to have allowed the
volatile oil time 20 escap e-oii which is
highly iu furious to tea and tea-drinkers
and another thing, moreover, should be
impressed on the maker, which is thai the
tea should never undergo boiling, as
boiling only serves to extract the taRnin,
which Is not only hurtful to the partaker,
hut which iugloriously clouds and con-
cesls the flavor of the tea itself