Tea, its history and mystery

by Joseph M. Walsh

PREPARATION OF BLACK TEAS.

The leaves undergo the same process of evaporation and fermentation as with the green, but for a much longer period. They are spread out thinly on large mats and allowed to lie in this condition for at least twenty-four hours, after which they are gathered up and thrown in the air and allowed to fall back again in order to separate them. They are next turned and returned for a considerable time, being slightly beaten or patted with the hands meantime until they become soft and pliable, when they are again heaped and allowed to lay in this state for about an hour, and when examined, at the end of this time they are found to have undergone a slight change, becoming darker in color, moist and flaccid in texture and emitting a sweet, fragrant odor. At this stage they are placed in the Kuos and fired for about five minutes, rolled on bamboo tables and shaken out thinly on sieves placed outside the “hong” and exposed to the oxidizing action of the atmosphere for about three hours, during which the operatives are employed in going over the sieves, turning and separating the leaves from each other.

After the leaves have lost considerable sap and become correspondingly reduced in size they are next removed into the factory and placed a second time in the pans for three or four minutes, rolled as before and put into tubular bamboo baskets, narrow in the middle and wide at both ends, and suspended over charcoal fires for from five to six minutes, during which they are carefully stirred and watched until they begin to assume a dark color, the operations of heating and twisting being repeated from three to four times, the heat being gradually reduced at each operation, and during which the operators make holes with their hands through the centre of the leaves in order to equally diffuse the heat and give vent to any smoke or vapor from the charcoal. They are then covered up, placed aside until they become perfectly dry and their black color firmly established, improving in appearance as they cool. When there is no longer any danger of their becoming green, the final processes of sifting, sorting and grading is performed at the convenience of the workmen.

With four Kuos and six Saihoos only from 400 to 500 pounds of prepared tea can be cured in a single day, it requiring 400 pounds of raw leaves to produce 100 pounds of cured tea. The leaves of the earlier pickings being smaller, more tender and juicy, the yield is correspondingly less, the leaves containing the most sap curling quickest, tightest and retaining it longer.

It may here be observed in regard to the preparation of Green and Black teas that the leaves intended for conversion into the latter variety are allowed to lie exposed to the action of the sun and air for a considerably longer time than those of the former, that they are raked and tossed about until they become more soft and pliant, and that they are allowed to ferment longer before firing. And, again, that after firing and curling they are exposed to the oxydizing influence of the atmosphere in a moist state for hours previous to being fired a second time and finally dried in baskets over a slow fire. While the leaves intended for Green teas are immediately fired and curled after being picked, and dried as quickly as possible after the rolling process has been completed. The differences in the methods of preparation are therefore most marked, and satisfactorily accounts for the difference in their color, flavor and aroma, as well as for the effects—nervousness and wakefulness—produced in some constitutions by Green teas, due to the greater amount of sap contained in the leaves.

But, for the at one time commonly-received opinion that the distinctive color of Green teas was imparted by curing in copper pans, there is not the slightest foundation in fact, since copper is never used for the purpose, repeated experiments by unerring tests having failed to find a single trace of that metal in any Green teas.

Later investigations proving that the hue of Green teas is due as much to their manipulation as to the degree of heat at which they are fired. It has been found that at equal temperatures the leaves of both will turn black if allowed to lie as long before or during firing, the green color being retained only by the excessive motion, the latter tending to accelerate the power of evaporation of the juices, and which is further augmented by incessant fanning.

GRADING AND PACKING.

The final grading of Green teas also differs from that of Black, there being two distinct styles or “makes” of the tea—rolled and twisted. They are first separated and then sifted, in which operation four sieves are used, two to separate the small from the large round or rolled leaves, and two for the curled or twisted. After being sorted or separated they are again fired into deeper pans at a much higher temperature, and winnowed while hot in large circular bamboo trays, to free them from any remaining chaff or dust, the choicer grades being hand-picked previous to being sent to the Twa-tu-tia (Tea market), which is held in the nearest town or village to the district of production. The inferior grades are generally disposed of in an unassorted condition to the native factors or foreign merchants, who afterwards sort, grade and pack them for export.

The grading or classing of Black teas for their first market is performed differently in the different districts. The most common custom, however, is to sort the dried leaves at the hongs, according to their size, style and quality, by collecting them in heaps or large layers, and rake them down so as to mix them well together and make them uniform in grade and average cost; the leaves being more often the product of different plantations, and even districts. The product of each plantation is brought by coolies in cotton bags or bamboo baskets to the tea market, and when disposed of are removed to the “Go-downs,” or warehouses, situated in the adjacent villages, where the teas of a district are stored until they are disposed of to the native factors or foreign agents, who travel through the country in the interest of commission houses or merchants at the treaty ports, and by whom they are again fired, graded and winnowed to free them from any remaining impurities. When the orders are filled the teas are transported across the country on the shoulders of coolies, or sent down by river or canal in “junks” to the shipping ports, the time occupied in transit varying according to means, being usually from six to eight weeks.