St. Landry democrat., 1890-03-22
How 70 Make Tea.

GLOW very few persons there are in this
country, who know the right way to make
tea," said an Englishman the other day:
ssIt seems simple thing enough, and
| yet of the many millions who use this re-
| freshing and agreeable beverage, invalua-
BILE alike to toilers and to idlers, very
small proportions perhaps not one person
| in ten Observation-Disclosures how to pre-
pare it. If, however, Improperly made,
tea is not only deprived of its finest prop
|, critics, but is rendered absolutely injuri-
GUS to the health.
ga great many people seem to think
| that ali that is necessary in order to MAKE
| tea is to pour boiling water upon few
spoonfuls of the leaf and let it draw for
about five or even ten minutes. This kind
of .stewing'-for it is impossible to des-
cribe it as anything else-has the effect of
extracting from the tea all the tannic acid
which it contains and renders the decoc-
ton intensely bitter. Indeed, it is almost
impossible to drink tea thus made without
the addition of sugar and cream-both of
which destroy any fragrance or aroma
which the infusion may have retained
Tea thus made is hurtful to the nerves
and to the digestion and the process is abb
solutely barbarous. 1t is process which
we have acquired from the English, who,
especially among the middle ana lower
classes, decline to regard tea as tea, unless
the infusion is almost black and excrucia-
tingly bitter. The orthodox English-and
also, in consequence, the American-allow
ance of the leaf, is at the enormous ratio
of one teaspoonful per cup. Hence there
is frequently as much as one fifth of the
leaf to four fifths water. Of course the
grocers find it to their interest to encour-
age the above method of making the bev-
erage, since it leads not only to an in
creased consumption of sugar but also of tea.
'.lf the grocers were more honest they
would inform their customer that couple
of teaspoonfuls of the leaf are sufficient to
make ten quarts of the most excellent
strong and fragrant tea pound suffices
for several hundred cups.
ssThe proper manner in which to make
tea is as follows First warm the teapot
which by preference should be of earthen
ware, or failing that, of porcelain-but
| never OF metal-and see that it ia immac.
| ulately clean. Then put two teaspoonfuls
of the leaf-but not more-into the pot,
and pour over it water that is within few
degrees of the boiling stage. Under no
circumstances must boiling water be used
| as that would tend to bring out the tannic
acid from the leaf After allowing the
tea to draw from sixty to eighty seconds
| by the clock, it should be poured off
| through cambria strainer into glass de-
canter or bottle. A fresh supply of hot
water should then at once be poured on
the leaves, and the pot allowed to draw
| from two to three minutes, but no longer,
after which the infusion should be
| strained off into second decanter or glass
4 nd ciI he 1r,ov
be repeated with the same original tea
leaves eight OF ten times in succession,
each infusion being allowed to draw one
minute longer than its predecessor. The
decanters or bottles of tea thus made
which are not required for immediate
| drinking should be corked up, after being
allowed to cool, and should then be placed
on ice ready for use week or e-en fort
night later if necessary. ALI that 1t re-
| quires in order to prepare it for drinking
/ will be to warm it, but not to a boiling
| degree in porcelaine lined saucepan.
| s.The tea made by the above process
when an ordinary good leaf is used-is of
color resembling that of sherry, and is
entirely devoid of all bitterness or tannic
acid. Moreover it retains all its true frag.
rance and aroma, and possesses flavor SO
| exquisite that any person who has once
| tasted it would never dream of adding
sugar or milk thereto. Although SO rela-
| lively small quantity Of the leaf has
been used, yet the infusion is more than
sufficiently strong to invigorate and refresh
| the most exacting of tea fiends
'sThe tea leaf, it must be borne in mind,
| is an extremely delicate article. It's sus-
| ceptibility to the odors Of commodities
near it is source of danger and deteriora-
| ton, as it readily takes the smell of coffee,
spices, cheese, bacon, and other articles of
pronounced odor Tea must be stored in
q warm, dry place. and unnecessary ex-
posure should be avoided at all costs"