Condensed Milk is made by evaporating the water until the milk is reduced to about one fourth its volume. It is then sterilized and hermetically sealed. It is convenient for use, wherever fresh milk cannot be obtained, but the process of evaporation changes its flavor so that few care for it as a drink. It makes a good substitute for cream in coffee, and diluted with three times its volume in water, it is again of the same constituency as before the water was evaporated.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] Charles D. Woods Dr. Sc. in “Cereal Breakfast Foods.”
BEVERAGES
Tea
Tea is made by steeping the leaves of a shrub, which grows in the tropical regions of Asia and adjacent islands. The green tea comes from China and Japan and the darker varieties from India and Ceylon.
It should never be boiled nor allowed to stand longer than a few minutes, as standing in water causes tannin to be extracted from the leaves, and this tannin disturbs digestion. It is the tannin extracted from the bark of trees which toughens animal skins into leather. The best way to make tea is to pour on boiling water and serve almost immediately, or at least within five to ten minutes.
Because of the uncertainty as to the length of time tea may be allowed to steep in hotel kitchens or restaurants, it is a wise custom to have a ball of tea and a pot of hot water served that the guest may make the tea at the table.
Tea, as well as coffee, is diuretic—stimulating the action of the kidneys. It is not a food; it is a stimulant.
Thein, which is the ingredient for which tea is drunk, is chemically identical with caffein in coffee.