The Secret of Tests of Taste and Flavor.
The correct test of coffee or tea, is to make use of a thin china or delf-ware cup, by which the lips are brought close together, while a thicker cup would separate them widely apart. In testing the quality and flavor of wines, the thinnest quality of glass is for the same reason essentially requisite. Our grandmothers, who lived a hundred years ago, understood the philosophy of this when they expressed the opinion, that it was only possible to get the true taste, fine flavor, and delicate aroma of tea, by drinking it out of a china cup.