The term Broken Souchong is commonly and appropriately applied to a Tea which, though broken, has some approach to a full leaf, and that of the even Souchong character. Its value may vary, say from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 2d.
Broken leaf is a term of great comprehensiveness, but generally is used to signify a Tea worth from 8d. to 1s. 1d. per lb. It may be of a brownish, brownish blackish, or blackish colour. Its strength is seldom great, but its flavour may be fair or good, but in the lower qualities it is generally poor, thin, or coarse. It would be better to employ this term only as a general name of Broken Tea, and not to use it to signify any particular class, as it is very indefinite.
Fannings is similar in colour and class of leaf to broken leaf as described above; in value also much the same, perhaps on the average a little lower. I suppose, in most cases, the mode of its separation from the other classes of Tea is, as its name implies, by fanning.
Dust is a very small broken Tea, so small, in fact, as to approach the minuteness of actual dust. It is often very coarse, or “earthy” in flavour, owing perhaps to sweepings and dust having become mixed with it. Its value is from 6d. to 1s. 6d. In any Tea of this class worth more than these quotations, a few Pekoe ends or tips will generally be found, which bring it under the name of Pekoe Dust.
We will now look at Black Teas in a body, and point out what is desirable and what is objectionable in them.
We have seen that all Teas which contain Pekoe fetch higher prices than others, consequently we infer that Pekoe is a desideratum. If we glance at the descriptions of the various classes of Tea which have been given above, we shall find that it is an element of strength and good flavour. I do not mean to say that any Pekoe is stronger or of better flavour than any Tea which does not contain Pekoe, as the soil, the climate, the cultivation, the manufacture, and various other causes, may influence the strength and flavour of different Teas; but, as a rule, in Teas that are produced under the same circumstances, the classes containing Pekoe are stronger and of better flavour than those without it.
There is another class of Tea which I have not yet described that possesses very great strength and very fine flavour. This is the class known as the “Namuna” kind. All readers of these pages who have been connected with India any time will recognise the word,[53] though they may not quite see how it comes to occupy the position in which we consider it. It is said that its first application in this manner arose from a planter having sent to England some sample boxes of Tea with the ticket “namuna” on them. These Teas happened to be of the peculiar description which now goes by that name, and which I proceed to describe. The London brokers have always since then applied the name “namuna” to this class of Tea. The leaf may have, perhaps, the ordinary greyish blackish aspect, with generally a greenish tinge. In the pot it produces a very pale liquor, but on tasting it its quality belies the poor thin appearance of the infusion. It is very strong, stronger by far than ordinary Pekoe; in flavour, say, about half-way between a Flowery Pekoe and a Green Tea, quite distinct from the Flowery Pekoe flavour, possessing somewhat of the rasping bitterness of the Green Tea class with the flavour a little refined. The out-turn is generally green, sometimes has some brownish leaves mixed. Any of the black leaf Teas may be of this Class, from the Pekoe to the lowest dust, and all throughout the scale, if the flavour be distinct and pure, may have their value enhanced from 4d. to 10d. per lb.
Similar in every respect, except one, is the Oolong kind. The one wanting quality is the strength, sometimes, by-the-bye, the flavour is a little different. It may have the greenish, greyish blackish leaf (though generally the green leaves are distinct from black ones, the Tea thus being composed of greyish blackish leaves with a few green ones intermixed), always has the pale liquor, generally the greenish infused leaf; but sometimes it is sadly intermingled with black leaves, as it is a Tea whose flavour is frequently burnt out, though its weakness and green appearance are no doubt often caused by deficient firing. Teas of this kind on the average sell below the ordinarily-flavoured Teas of the same class of leaf.
In Teas of ordinary flavour the following rules hold good:—The darker the liquor the stronger the Tea, and the nearer the approach of the colour of the infused leaf to a uniform salmony brown, the purer the flavour. Whenever we see any black leaves mixed with it (the out-turn) the Tea has been over-fired, and we may either expect to find the strength burnt out of it, or else to find it marred by having a burnt or smoky flavour incorporated with it. When you come across an altogether black or dirty brown out-turn, you may be certain of pale liquor containing little or no strength and no flavour to speak of, unless sometimes it be sour. This is a quality which I shall now touch upon, and regret that I cannot with any certainty give any reliable information whereby the planter may guard against this greatest of faults. It may have various grades,—slightly sourish, sourish, and sour, depreciating the value of the Tea, say, from 3d. to 1s. 6d. per lb. The flavour of a sour Tea is hardly capable of description. It is not so acid as sour milk, in fact, not acid at all, rather a sweet flavour than otherwise being blended with the sourness. It is extremely unpleasant in its more developed grades, and cannot be easily understood except by actual tasting. To the uninitiated this fault is only perceptible in the more strongly marked instances, but to one of the trade the least tendency to it not only condemns the parcel at once, but also causes him to suspect any other lots made at the same or any other time by the same grower, and it is a curious but unaccountable fact that some two or three gardens (or growers?) almost always produce Teas having this fault. I will not cite all the different explanations that have been offered on this subject; I will simply quote the one which seems to have gained most ground, and leave those more competent than myself to express any opinion on the subject. The cause assigned to which I refer is that the Tea leaf after being picked is allowed to remain too long in the raw state before being fired, during which time it undergoes a process of fermentation; some then say that this causes sourness, while others maintain that the fermentation is absolutely necessary for the production of a Black Tea. The fact that we never meet with sourness in a Green Tea, one feature in the preparation of which being that it is fired almost immediately on being gathered, goes to corroborate this view.
Burntness I have already referred to. As I said before, it may either destroy the strength and flavour altogether, or sometimes, without destroying the strength, add an unpleasant burnt flavour to it. When the Tea has the flavour of smoke about it, it is called smoky or smoky burnt. By being burnt, a Tea may be deteriorated in value, say from 2d. to 1s. per lb. The symptoms of burntness are a dead black leaf (as opposed to the greatly-desired greyish, blackish colour) having a burnt smell which often entirely neutralises the natural aroma of the Tea. In looking over a broker’s character of a parcel of Teas, you may occasionally meet with the terms “fresh burnt,” “brisk burnt,” or “malty burnt.” These phrases do not carry a condemnatory meaning with them. The meaning of the word burnt, as used here, would be better expressed by the term “fired.” The term “malty” means of full rich flavour, perhaps from the aroma of this class of Tea resembling somewhat that of malt. Teas of the three above descriptions, you may have noticed, often fetch very good prices. The meaning of the word “full,” applied to a liquor, is hardly appreciable except by tasting. It does not signify strength or flavour, but is opposed to thinness. A Green Tea may be strong or of good flavour, but its liquor is never full. Fulness is generally characterised by a dark liquor. The quality known as “body” in a wine is somewhat akin to fulness in a Tea. We speak of a “full” leaf Tea in contradistinction to a broken leaf. “Chaffy” is generally used in connection with Bohea and other brown leaf classes of Tea. A light (in weight) brown, open or flat leaf, in fact, one resembling chaff, would be called chaffy. The lower classes of Tea, especially the dusts, are often described as “earthy” in flavour. By this a coarse low flavour is understood, perhaps often caused by the admixture of real dust.