The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-04-02
Yankee Tea Drinkers, Untut0red in Choosing
And Brewing, Are Fooled By Poor COnc0cti0ns
Unlike English and Canadians, 1
Ameri ans Enormously
Think 'Pekoe," a Mere
Trade Name, Is Always
Label of Choicest Grade.
Good Tea Often Is Spoiled
BY Improper Brewing.
Unlike English and Canadians. I
and bring me a cup O. tea"

and bring me cup O. tea
The average American thinks rs
little Of his general. all-round, pound
per-year tea drinking, as that
Like the wayside motorist who
pulls up at the next garage and or
ders "a quart of OIL" without re
gard for the type or particular lu-
IRRIGATION thirst Of his motor, the
good old a. A. fails likewise to do
his tea drinking by specification. He
falls for what Is given him-and gels
that very thing.
An American will boast of the
great care under which American
products are manufactured. He will
tell you of the research laboratories
constantly on guard to improve
American products-and then he will
turn around and forget to specify
the quality of the things he himself
purchases.
He gets stung and 1t is his own
fault.
Fooled BY Name 'Pekoe."
In his tea buying hotel men and
festaurateurs frankly admit they
sting him. They say What's the
difference" II they serve abom,n-
able connections. call 1t tea, and the
ignorant drink 1t for tea and do not
SoihPiuiii, WHY SIoW SiCh WIFI WHY
The Englishmen. Canadian or
Australian knows, and will invari-
ably sniff in establishment and hor-
ror, at the usual abomination served
to him rs tea In this country. They
have acquired the knowledge through
long years of tea drinking, and poor
quality tea. or Improperly brewed
good tea Is Immediately recognized.
The average tea drinker in this
country does not know that the So
called, and much eXtolled, Orange
Pekoe is nothing more than the name
of a leaf, and that 1t may be good.
bad or Indifferent tea, depending
wholly on the elevation at which 1t
Is grown. Nor is 1t common knowl-
edge that the quality Of the finished
beverage is dependent upon the skill
with which the leaves are blended.
Regardless Of prevalent indifference
to tea quality, the government In
being supplied with the best average
grade of teas in the world.
The government tea testing board.
headed by III. G.. Woodwork, u Bos-
ton man. is constantly on the Job
watching against the receipt Of i'm.
ported teas in any way adulterated
or artificially colored-as Is often
done in the case Of green teas.
Boston q Tea Center.
In England IL is the inevitable
thing for lie tester Oh blender to
taste the product. but in this coun-
try there Is a difference Of opinion
among experts on this matter. Some
claim to have so educated their
sense of smell as to equal the taste.
and allege they have no trouble
whatever In determining the flavor
and strength by means Of the smell
alone. Thee are experts here who
maintain that the smell in no wise
equalizes ths taste, and they cannot
comprehend how a man could get
as good re SIlts from smelling as
tasting tea.
AS Boston Is the second port in i'm
portance in this country and imports
about $4,000 900 pounds a year, 1t
will be SEN that 1t plays a very
important part In the tea consump-
ton of the western continent. The
largest impor tation. Of course. goes
to New York, and the third in i'm
portance goeo to San Francisco.
At the great building on Berkeley
street, where the whole output Of
Salada tea In the United States finds
its source aid center, you may see
at all hours Of the day the expert
tea testers at their task in one Sec
ton or corner of the office. Max
Tito, the head Of the department,
has had no LEES than twenty-five
years experience. and just as the
violinist car detect the slightest
graduation or flattening Of his in
strument, SO Is he able to detect the
fainteet shGae or difference in tea.
He can tel where the tea comes
from by its flavor and aroma and
can give its pedigree, telling at what
season Of the year 1t was grown and
at what altitude. Indeed he has
been known TO name the very gar
den from which 1t came.
Nose and Palate.
He will tell you that the success
Of his business depends almost en-
tirely upon his nose and his palate. |
There was a time, many years ago,
when 1t was the custom for the
public to test its own tea before buy.
ing it. Storekeepers had the chests
of tea spread out and blended to
suit the palate of the purchaser.
Richard Twining, a tea merchant,
back In 1885, did this very same
thing and tells about 1t, saying
among other things that lone
pound of tea might be mixed from
some twenty chests"
The way tea is tested at the Salada
warehouse is a simple process. First
the leaves are infused in a small
covered cup-size China pot and are
allowed to steep for exactly five
minutes. timed by a five-minute sand
glass. Then the brew Is stirred, the
liquor Is drained off into a cup and
the stepped leaves placed in the cover
OF the pot. In this way the color and
aroma OF the leaves are examined
separately. The tea is tested on a
stationary counter, whereas in many