An Improvement in the Preparation of Tea.
Year: 1895

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in the Preparation of Tea.
1
1, JOHN ROGER of 32 Montague Place Russell Square London W.C. late
Tea Planter in Ceylon do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to a process by which I improve the ordinary tea of
commerce as imported into England, by eliminating all such parts as are injurious
or objectionable.
i
I pass the ordinary tea through a machine, which breaks it all up into very
small particles. Those parts of the leaf which have been thoroughly cured, that is
to say withered, rolled, fermented, and fired in the tea factory, are reduced to a
fine powder, whilst those parts which have not been properly reached, or subjected
to these processes owing to their greater thickness & toughness are not reduced to
so fine a powder, and these I separate and discard as unfit for use in the pure
compressed tea, which I ultimately produce. These rejected parts undoubtedly
contain all the very harmful and dangerous principles, inherent in the tea plant in its
natural state, well known to the medical profession, as the cause of great injury to
tea drinkers both mentally and physically. Besides eliminating this highly
injurious part, contained in tea such as is now imported, I also by my process,
get rid of any other impurities, which may have got into the tea, in process of
manufacture in the tea factory, such as fibrous matter from the cloth or canvas
with which it has come in contact, or small portions of iron, which often scale off
the tea machinery, and other extraneous matter, or impurities of all kinds,
frequently met with in all teas more or less as imported, so that my tea is not
only absolutely pure tea, but the only absolutely pure tea yet offered to the
public.
Having thus obtained an absolutely pure tea of the finest quality in a powdered
form, I refire it in the ordinary way which obtains in tea manufacture in India or
Ceylon, by passing it through a heated chamber, or current of hot air, so as to
regain any freshness, flavour, or aroma which may have been lost in the process, to
which I have subjected it as above.
Finally, I compress my pure powdered tea in suitable moulds with or without
agglutinating matter, such as sugar of milk, and I thus produce the tea in small
solid blocks, tablets or lozenges, by which means, owing to the smallness of surface
exposed, and the total absense of any green or uncured part, I very materially
increase the keeping qualities of the tea.
In no other way is this injurious green or uncured part of the tea leaf eliminated,
nor has any attempt been made to eliminate it from ordinary tea as imported, and
this part must be, and is present to a greater or less extent in all ordinary tea,
naturally to a less extent in the finer teas, which are made from the smaller leaves,
and to a greater extent in the common and cheaper teas, which are made from the
larger leaves.
19th M
1002

page_text: An improvement in
the preparation
1374
1, JOHN ROGER of 32 Montague Place, Russell Square, London W.C. late
Tea Planter in Ceylon do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to a process by which 1 improve the ordinary tea of
commerce as imported into this country by eliminating all such parts as are
injurious or objectionable.
I first carefully sift the tea so as to remove any nails, pieces of wood or of lead,
or any other extraneous matters of that kind, which are often found in original
chests of tea. I then pass the tea through any suitable grinding, cutting, or
disintegrating apparatus, by which means I reduce it to very small particles, or to
a very fine powder.
Those parts of the leaf which have been thoroughly cured, that is to say
withered, rolled, fermented and fired in the tea factory, on the tea estate or garden,
readily yield to this process, and are reduced to a very fine powder, whilst those
other parts, such as the mid-rib of the leaf, and the thicker portions of the leaf
adjacent to the mid-rib which, owing to their greater thickness or toughness have
not been properly reached, or subjected to these processes, that is to say, have
not been properly withered, rolled, fermented or fired in the tea factory, do not
so readily yield to the disintegrating process, and are not reduced to so fine a
powder.
These coarser particles I separate from the fine powder and discard as unfit
for use in the absolutely pure tea in a powdered form which I ultimately
produce.
These rejected parts undoubtedly contain all the very harmful and dangerous
principles inherent in the tea plant in its natural state, well known to the
medical profession as the cause of great injury to tea drinkers both mentally and
physically.
Besides eliminating these highly injurious parts of the tea leaf which are to be
found present in all teas more or less as imported, I also by my pulverising and
sifting processes, am able to get rid of, and do get rid of any other impurities,
which may have got into the tea in process of manufacture in the tea factory on
the tea garden, such as fibrous matter from the cloth or canvas with which it bas
come in contact, or small portions or particles of iron, which often scale off the tea
machinery, and other extraneous matter or impurities, frequently met with in all
teas more or less as imported, so that my tea in a powdered form, whether
compressed or not, is not only absolutely pure tea, but the only tea yet offered
to the public which can really be guaranteed to be absolutely pure and non-
injurious.
Having thus obtained an absolutely pure tea of the finest quality in a powdered
form, I refire it in the ordinary way which obtains in tea manufacture in India or
Ceylon by passing it through a heated chamber, or current of hot air, and by this
means I regain any freshness, flavour or aroma which may have been lost in the
processes to which I have subjected it, as above described.
By these several processes I also secure very superior keeping qualities for my
tea, owing to the absence of any green, raw, or uncured parts of leaf, which parts
are the actual cause of the non-keeping qualities or character of so much of the tea
now imported.
Finally I compress my pure powdered tea in suitable moulds, with or without
agglutinating matter such as sugar of milk, and I thus produce the tea in small
solid blocks, cakes, tablets or lozenges, by which means I render it more convenient

page_text: for packing, for handling and transport, and for use especially by travellers by sea
or land, and by armies in the field, with whom the smallness of bulk and the very
superior keeping qualities must be highly appreciated.
In no other way are these injurious green, raw, or uncured parts of the tea leaf
eliminated, nor has any attempt ever been made to eliminate them from ordinary
prepared tea as imported, and these parts must be and are present in all ordinary
teas, to a more or less extent, naturally to a less extent in the finer teas which are
made from the smaller leaves, and to a greater extent in the commoner and cheaper
teas which are made from the larger leaves, and the idea of getting rid of these
injurious parts of tea and the process by which I do so, I claim to be an entirely
new idea and new process of my own invention, and most valuable in the interests
of the public who drink tea.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The hereindescribed process for improving tea, by reducing it to a fine powder
and eliminating those coarser and woody parts of the leaf, which are not properly
cured, and any other objectionable matter which may be found in it.
Deted this 90th dow of November 1895
JOHN ROGER.