New-York tribune., 1906-08-05
TEAS REAL VALUE.
COMPLETE IN ITSELF.
Needs No Complement to Render 1t
PaIatabJe or E6fcacious.
VIII.

In the last number considerable stress was laid
on teas service the handmaiden OF appetite, it.
self the seryitor OF good Digestion but that division
OF the subject was by means exhausted. There's
one strong point for tea, in its character Of ap-
petfser which was not touched upon and yet de-
serves attention, and that is, that 1t needs abso-
lutely no more adventitous aids here than # does
in it's other roles. In fact, the standard ingredi-
ents-milk and sugar-which by many supposed
to be prerequisites of "a nice cup of tea" may be
said to detract from, rather than add to, the ap-
petizng qualities of really good teas just they
to an extent. render less potent their stimulating
effects. The sole thing they do add to the bever-
age Is nutrition. While both operate to change
the favor. the milk utterly robs the tea Of two of
the qualities which appeal to the appetite, the
pleasing color which invites the eye. and much of
the delicious fragrance that delights the ofactory
nerves This last it does by neutralizing the deli
cate and volatile empyreumatc oils And the
stituents which make of milk a food are those
which reduce its stimuative possibilities
When the expert describes a tea as one that will
take milk he simply means that its flavor is
pronounced to enable it to struggle through the
lacteal fluid, and to make itself recognized despite
the dsguse-he does not pretend that this quality
in any way fixes the degree of excellence Of the tea
And he seeks such a tea because his trade de-
mands it. not because he approves it. AS
pert he knows that tea needs no adventitiOus aids
but he's not trying to make the world over again."
and, as his customers habituated to the use OF
milk with their tea, he simply caters to their
tastes.
Now. most tastes are acquired. even that for
milk and sugar with tea. It's just as easy to edu-
cate the taste to tea without these hindrances TO
just discernrnent of its attractive qualities
and TO the fullest development Of its benefcent
effects and these foreign ingredients have not even
the excuse. for their use that they the bev
erage innOcuous. For, if the tea is properly pre-
pared. there can be harmful effects, because
there can be tannin in the misunderstanding
the leaves with fresh and furiously boiling water
IN earthen vessel and pouring off, after it has
stood for 1ve TO minutes, into another hot
vessel preclude the possibility Of that while if IL
should be improperly made, and the tannin is re-
leased, the milk, though 1t may retard, will not
prevent its injurious action the stomachS deli
cate tissues.
However, to promote the use Of tea without" is
not the prime purpose of this argument which is
designed to show that. unlike most beverages, tea
is utterly independent Of. and is it's best. with
clean, pure, fresh and furousy boiling water. The
Orientals have a proverb about coffee drinking
which runs something like this Send something
down first, If It's only a button off your gar
ments," which is only another way of saying that
as in the case Of most stimulants food must be
put into the stomach before the beverage is drunk
or that important member Of the human system
VIII suffer injury. That the experience of centuries
has-so far from leading to sententous warn
ings against introducing tea into the stomach
without a similar precaution-induced Eastern peo-
larry but as safe and reliable thirst quencher be-