The Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea

by Edward Money

They judge from three things, first, the Tea; secondly, the liquor; thirdly, the out-turn.

The Tea.—The colour should be black, but not a dead black, rather a greyish black with a gloss on it. No red leaf should be mixed with it, it should be all one colour. The Tea should be regular: that is, each leaf should be about the same length, and should have a uniform close twist, in all but “broken Teas.” (These latter are called “broken” because the leaf is more or less open and broken.) The Tea should also be regular of its kind, that is, if Pekoe all Pekoe, if Congou all Congou; for any stray leaves in a Tea of another kind, if even of a better kind or class, will reduce its value. In the higher class of Teas, viz., Pekoes and broken Pekoes, the more Pekoe tips that are present the higher, in consequence, will its price be.

The Liquor.—In taste this should be strong, rasping, and pungent, with, in the case of Pekoes, a “Pekoe flavour.” There are other words used in the trade to particularise certain tastes, but the words themselves would teach nothing. Tea tasting cannot be learnt from books. If the liquor is well flavoured, as a rule, the darker it is in the cup the better. But to judge of Teas by the colour of the liquor alone is impossible, for some high-class Teas have naturally a very pale liquor.

The Out-turn.—A good out-turn is generally indicative of a good Tea. It should be all, or nearly all, one colour. No black (burnt) leaves should appear in it. A greenish tinge in some of the leaves is not objectionable, and is generally indicative of pungent liquor, but the prevailing colour should be that of a bright new penny.

Every planter should be more or less of a Tea-taster, and should taste his Teas daily. After a time (particularly if he gets other Teas to taste against his own) he will learn to recognise, at all events, a good as against a bad Tea, a strong as against a weak Tea, &c. No Tea should be put away with the rest until it has been tasted. It may be burnt or have other defects, not apparent till infused, and one day’s bad Tea will bring down considerably the value of a whole bin of good Tea.

The fancy, amongst brokers and dealers, for “Pekoe tips,” in all Pekoe Teas, constitutes the one great difficulty in Tea manufacture. If the leaves which give “Pekoe tips” (see page [106]) are separated from the other leaves, and manufactured separately and differently, that is rolled very little and very lightly, not allowed to ferment at all, but sunned at once after rolling, and, if there is sun enough, finished in the sun, otherwise by a very light and gradual heat—best placed above the drawers in the Dhole-house; if this is done, I say, these will come out perfect “Pekoe tips” of a white colour, which is the best.

If not separated from the other leaf, but manufactured with it, the sap from the other leaves, expressed in the rolling, stains these said leaves, which are covered with a fine white silk down, and makes them black like all the rest of the Tea; the whole of which is then valued lower because there are no “Pekoe tips.”

Now, in the latter case the “Pekoe tips” are there all the same, only they don’t show. The Tea is really just as good, in fact a shade better, with black than with white or orange tips,[40] but it does not sell so well, and as we cannot argue the brokers or dealers into a rational view of the case, we must humour their fancy (they are virtually our masters) and give them the Pekoe tips—if we can.

How are we to do it? The plan of picking these small leaves separately, in order to manufacture them separately, does not answer; it is too expensive; it diminishes the yield of a garden, and labour for it fails. All this is shown at pages [107] and [130]. Is there any other way?

It may be done during some periods of the season when there is not leaf enough on the garden to employ all the leaf-pickers, by setting a number of them to separate the said two leaves from the others after the whole leaf is brought to the factory. This is expensive, but it pays when there is labour to do it, for then the Teas can be made very showy and rich with white Pekoe tips.