The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1906-08-21
MAKING A CUP OF TEA
THE WAY 70 G5r THE THEME ANo
AVOID THE TANNlN.

Perhaps / may bo allowed TO make
some comments on subject that IS Of
interest 10 400 homes namely. q cup
of tea and th' makiug Of it The frs
proposition , that the dark color Of
tea does not moHn excellence the see
ond that The darker the liquid IS the
more evil are .ts effects and the third
that the best tea Is Chinese These
are the opinions " nm importer. II H.
worth NOTING. | think. that they are
also the scientific opinions and. FUR
ther. that this is "a ease where doctors
agree. What must properly be de.
scribcl as the pharmacolo-y of ten Is
simple and we'll understood, and as II
concerns every one it may be briefly
discussed here
For practical purposes tea consists
OF two thIu-s, the first being fannie
acid. also known as tannln. aud the
second being thcluc, also known as
caffeine Let us consider each OF
| these. The tHun'n. or tahnic acid. oc
ours IN the tea leaf. as IN so many
| other plants II iB less readily sol
ublc than the theme and Is much
/ less readily obtained from the Chinese
Leaf than from the Indian. The latter.
together with the Ciugalcso. contain
Ing much moro of this Substance.
Tanuic 20 has up attractions for
| the palate .rcpt iu the case Of people
who like little bitterness. aud IL has
no action p. the nervous system. none
| Of H. indeed being absorbed by the
| body. Its action upon the tissues wiz
which Il comes Into Immediate coutar,
IL wholly dciniorious do not say that
Il Is necessarily serious, l1t what ne.
ton there is is wholly bad. Notably
does II Interfere wi,h the digcstibility
Of foodsturs Plainly. therefore, chief
concern in the production Of the bcsi
beverage from tea should hc reduction
| OF the tannic acid 10 minimum. This
Is TO be- accomplished. first. by using
the leaf which contains least Of IT, AMI
secondly by sharply limiting the lcngll
OF the Infusion. II has been clearly
proved that practically all the theme
that can be obtained from the leaf Is
obtained In the FIRST three minutes
| whereas the amount Of tnnnin iu
creascs markedly even between The
twentieth and fortleth minutes
| In the opinion Of not a few. the sale
tnnnln Is largely responsible for the de.
etcrlous effects frequently attributed
10 the thcnc This last X an invalt
able ingredient OF tea; Il Is the same
substance as that which gives lis value
TO coffee, BIT Is present In less ahwn.
dance In the tea leaf than IN the c2gcc
bean; lt Is nervous stimulant Of IN,
purcst kind and belongs 10 nm entire
ly dincrcrt class from the pseudo.
, stimulants, such MS alcohol. In som
ways this is one Of the most rc
! markablc OF all known drugs. n
| appears % be unique In that
! II stimulates the functions Of the
ccrebrum. the highest portion Of tho
brain, without inducing any subsc-
/ qucut reaction that can be detected
II has no second stage OF action com
parable To that Of alcohol and opium.
! ana IN cases OF emergency II Is capable
OF postponlng sleep for hours, nnd.
more than that. OF maintaining the
! mental activity as IN the daytime.
! may confess that IN past years have
Systematically used caffeine for weeks
on end for this purpose without any
dcctcrlous results; but this Is quote
for illustration. not initiation.
Now. Il IL plain that. so far as the
, remote consequences OF q cup OF tea
are considered. II o. the theme or caf
/ feline that we desire. and the tannln
that we do not desire Tho relative
soubillty OF the two substances cy-
actly suits our convenience. II It were
necessary 10 extract all the tannin IN
order 10 get any theinc there might be
some excuse for the Indy who likes her
tea 70 have a little "body" TO IT, or for
the servant girl who keeps her teapot
on the hob all day. But the fact Is
| that II Is possible 10 obtain all the
theme desired, while reducing the
amount Of tannin 70 a minimum. Al
present the public taste ls thoroughly
vitiated. No one who has given the
matter fair con7 1eratlon. or who
cares to permit any palata! dellcacy NJ
NIL, VIII question that the fine aroma
OF cup Of properly made Chinese tea
Is In different category altogether
from the sensations aroused by the
concentrated solution of tannln. which
IS usually offered under the pscudonym
"a cup OF tea" which thilgs are writ.
ten without prejudice.
In order 20 make reasonably COM
plete this brief account Of the cup that
cheers, ! must add that II contains
small proportion Of volatile oil, which
+ Of small phy siolog.cal Importance,
but which contributes largely TO the
gustatory character Of tea. The chief
P""u, uuiusion m this connection Is
that the sense OF taste may be i'm
plicltly trusted. You thirk you are not
getting your moneys worth unless your
senses ara violently assailed. II Is as