The Cultivation and Manufacture of TeaMoney, Edward
Science
The Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea
Money, Edward
Tea
I do not say that the manufacture here detailed may not be improved
upon later, but I do say that in the results of economy, strong liquor,
and well twisted leaf, its results are very satisfactory, and not
surpassed by any other mode at present in vogue. I do not pretend that
it will give Teas rich in Pekoe tips. To attain this, light rolling as
shown must be resorted to, but just as far as Pekoe tips are procured
so far must strength be sacrificed. Until the small Pekoe leaves can be
detached and manufactured separately, this must always be the case.
From the Tea made as described by sifting and sorting, all the ordinary
black Teas of commerce, as detailed at page 137, can be produced,
excepting “Flowery Pekoe.”
To make Flowery Pekoe the closed bud and the one open leaf of the shoot
are alone taken, and these are manufactured alone. It does not, as a
rule, pay to make this Tea at all, though it fetches a long price. It
does not pay for the following reasons:--
1. After the head of the flush is taken the pickers that follow do not
readily recognise the remainder of the shoot, and consequently omit to
pick many of them. A heavy loss in the yield is thus entailed.
2. The after Teas, made without these small leaves, are very inferior,
as they are much weaker, and totally devoid of Pekoe tips.
3. The labour, and _ergo_ the expense of picking the flush, is double.
The manufacture of Flowery Pekoe is simple enough. When the two leaves
from each shoot of which it is made are collected they are exposed to
the sun, spread out very thin, until they have well shrivelled. They
are then placed over small and slow charcoal fires, and so roasted very
slowly. If the above is well done, the Pekoe tips (and there is little
else) come out a whitish orange colour. The whiter they are the better.
If the leaf is rolled _very lightly_ by the hand _before_ sunning, the
liquor will be darker and stronger, but the colour of the tips will not
be so good.
Flowery Pekoe is quite a fancy Tea, and for the reasons given above it
can never pay to make it.
_Green Tea._
The pans for this should be 2ft. 9in. diameter and 11in. in depth. They
should be thick pans, which will not, therefore, cool quickly. Many
are required for this manufacture, four or five for every maund of Tea
to be made daily. They should be set up in a sloping position, and the
arrangement of the fireplaces such that the wood to burn under them
can be put in through apertures leading into the verandah. One chimney
will do for every two pans, and it should be built high so as to give
a good draught, for hot fires are necessary.
Flat-bladed sticks are used to stir both the leaf and the Tea in the
pans, for the hand cannot bear the heat.
The men when working the Tea in the pans should have high stools to sit
on, for it is a nine hours’ job.
The bags in which “the roll” is placed at night should be made of No.
3 canvas, 2 feet long and 1 foot broad.
I will now detail the manufacture.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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