Water Valley progress., 1903-06-27
MUCH SPURIOUS TEA SOLD.
Herbs of Cheap Grade Are Put Upon
the Market and Sold for the
Pure Leaf.


Most women think they know ev-
erything about tea, or at least
enough" said Thomas A. Phelan, ''but
as a matter of fact l don't believe
there is any other single article that
appears on American tables about
which the consumers know so little"
All of this was apropos of the Ma
ttlonal Tea association, lately organ
lied for the purpose of upholding the
laws now in operation to protect this
beverage from adulteration and spu-
rious imitation, reports the New
York Tribune.
Mr.. Phelan is the president of the
organization, the members and other
officers representing nearly 200 large
nrms In all parts of the United
States. Before 1897" continued Mr..
Phelan, there was practically no
protective legislation for this import
and the United States was sort of
dumping ground for the refuse
brands which could find sale no.
where else in the world.
Throughout the south, where the
majority of the buyers and handlers
were not experts, whole sections and
states practically gave up the use of
tea because of it's inferior quality,
though they did not know where to
turn for remedy. So clever were
the limitations that only an expert
could detect them, but they were no
less spurious for that.
Many herbs, some of them harm
less, but having no relation whatever
to the tea plant, were shipped here
by the million pounds and sold as tea.
BY some chemical process they were
colored so that to the eye they were
identical with the genuine article.
While many of them were not injuri-
GUS to health, they had no more right
to be sold as tea than would, for in
stance, paper imitation of beef
steak painted red.
Now, the fact is that of the So
called black tea alone there are at
least 200 varieties, with as many
fiavors as are known to the most lux
urlous flower garden. The greens
and Japans might each be subdivided
into like number. One of the black
teas, the so-called English breakfast, t,
name unknown incidentally IN
either China or England. is really the
congou, of which alone there are at
least 200 different flavors and grades.
"Other varieties of black tea are
the colongs from FOochow and the
island of Formosa and the Ceylcns
and Indias. All these are sold as
black tea,' but there is as much diff
ference in taste between an oolong
and congou as between coffee and
chocolate or whisky and claret. The
congou, Ceylon and India are fer
mented in their preparation or al
lowed to stew in their own juice so
to speak, which gives them heavy,
malty flavor.
"The oolong is prepared like green
tea, without fermentation, and is
fired almost Immediately after pick
ing, giving it bright, toasty charac-
ter, which results in light-colored
infusion. They are equally good, de-
spite their differences.
''As rule the English, Irish and
their descendants drink the congous,
while the older residents of America,
and especially of New York and Bos-
ton, prefer the oolongs. The varia-
tions in soil and temperature under
which the different teas are grown
produce the radically different favors
so dear to the true tea lover and SO
inexplicable to the uninitiated.
"The north China congous, for in
stance, are subdiyided into so dis
tricts, the leaves from each having
a flavor differing as distinctly from
the others as does the Bartlett pear
from the Seckel, and of each variety
there are half dozen or more differ
ent grades. The spring, early and
late summer and the autumn gather
ings all have different flavors, which
the expert can distinguish blind
folded.
perhaps one woman in hundred
knows how to- make tea as it should
be made. Properly prepared, it can
be chemically demonstrated that tea
has no more injurious effect upon the
nerves than has cocoa or even water.