AN IMPROVED MIXTURE AND PREPARATION OF TEAS
Year: 1861

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LETTERS PATENT to James Franks, of 14, Little Tower Street, City of
London, Wholesale Tea and Coffee Dealer, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED MIXTURE AND PREPARATION OF TEAS."
Sealed the 4th June 1861, and dated the 21st March 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Franks at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
March 1861.
I, JAMES FRANKS, óf 14, Little Tower Street, City of London, Wholesale
Tea and Coffee Dealer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED MIXTURE AND PREPARATION OF TEAS," to be as follows:-
The improvements consist, first, in mixing a selection of the finest and
youngest growths of certain kinds of teas in suitable proportions, according to
the kind of mixture required; and then 'in submitting the same to the processes
herein-after described, whereby they are made to possess properties and
qualities not to be found in any other description of tea. The kinds of teas used
for this purpose are the souchong, flowery pekoe, strong black .leaf. congou,
and Assam for the "black tea;" and the finest gunpowder and the early buds
of the cowslip. byson for the "green tea." After the aforesaid kinds of tea
have been well and properly mixed in the proportions necessary for use, they

page_text: are put into a bulk and placed between two smooth and highly polished sur-
faces of metal or stone, and subjected to as much pressure as can possibly be
applied without injury to the leaf; the apartment in which this preliminary
process takes place being kept at a temperature of 60°. This pressure is
continued for seven days, when the mixture is removed to a dry room, of 80°
of temperature, and spread upon a flat surface, the whole being turned about
from time to time at regularly recurring periods, so as to expose the entire
bulk to the surrounding heat. This process is continued for twelve hours, and
the tea is then passed through an ordinary tea mill, and all the unripe or
inferior leaves carefully removed. The tea is now gathered up and placed in
hermetically sealed tins and packed in a perfectly dry store room, heated to a
temperature of 90°, where it is left for from four to six months, according to
the age and quality of the tea. It is now removed, put into large canisters,
and sealed up, and in ten days is ready for use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Franks in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
FRANKS, of 14, Little Tower Street, City of London, Wholesale Tea and
Coffee Dealer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her, heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Franks,, Her special licence that I, the said James Franks,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Franks, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and. no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use;
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and, Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MIXTURE AND PREPARATION OF TEAS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Franks, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months .next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Franks, do hereby declare the
nature of my said. Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The improvements consist, first, in mixing a selection of the finest and
youngest growths of certain kinds of teas in suitable proportions, according to
the kind of mixture required; and then in submitting the same to the pro-
cesses, herein-after described, whereby they are made to possess properties and
qualities not to be found in any other description of tea. The kinds of teas
used for this purpose are the souchong, flowery pekoe, strong black leaf
congou, and Assam for the "black tea;" and the finest gunpowder and the
early buds of the cowslip hyson for the "green tea." After the aforesaid kinds
of tea have been well and properly mixed in the proportions necessary for use,
they are put into a bulk, and placed between two smooth and highly polished
surfaces of metal or stone, and subjected to as much pressure as can possibly
be applied without injury to the leaf; the apartment in which this preliminary
process takes place being kept at a temperature of 60 degrees. This process
is continued for seven days, when the mixture is removed to a dry room of
80 degrees of temperature, and spread upon a flat surface, the whole being
turned about from time to time at regular recurring periods, so as to expose
the entire bulk to the surrounding heat. This process is continued for twelve
hours, and the tea is then passed through an ordinary tea mill; and all the
unripe and inferior leaves carefully removed. The tea is now gathered up and
placed in hermetically sealed tius, and packed in a perfectly dry store room,
heated to a temperature of 90 degrees, where it is left for from four to six
months, according to the age and quality of the tea. It is then removed, put
into large canisters, and sealed up, and in ten days is ready for use.
The proportions which I employ for the mixtures are as follows:--For the
"black tea," I take seven-sixteenths of souchong, one-sixteenth of flowery
pekoe, seven-sixteenths of strong black leaf congou, and one-sixteenth of
Assam; and for the "green tea," two-thirds of the finest picked gunpowder
tea, and one-third of the buds of cowslip hyson.
Having now fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I
do not confine myself to the precise details herein described, as the same

page_text: may be varied without departing from the general principles of my said Inven-
tion; but that which I do claim as new and of my said Invention is, the
general combination and preparation of teas in the manner and for the
purposes herein-before set forth and described:
In witness whereof, I, the said James Franks, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.