High tea

“ The first article of her faith is, that the water must not merely be hot, not merely have boiled a few moments since, but be actually boiling at the moment it touches the tea. Hence, though servants in England are vastly better trained than with us, this delicate mystery is seldom left to their hands. Tea-making belongs to the drawing-room, and high-born ladies preside at "the bubbling and loud hissing urn," and see that all due rites and solemnities are properly performed—that the cups are hot, and that the infused tea waits the exact time before the libations commence. ”

“ The Flavor is, indeed, the one thing to be considered in raising high-class tea; also, in preparing it. The art of brewing a good cup of tea consists in making it in such a way as to secure a maximum of fragrance and a minimum of the tannin, which is bad for the digestion, and the theine, which is a nerve poison. ”

“ The tea-masters held that real appreciation of art is only possible to those who make of it a living influence. Thus they sought to regulate their daily life by the high standard of refinement which obtained in the tea-room. In all circumstances serenity of mind should be maintained, and conversation should be so conducted as never to mar the harmony of the surroundings. The cut and colour of the dress, the poise of the body, and the manner of walking could all be made expressions of artistic personality. ”

“ A natural taste for hot liquid foods and drinks is common to all races of men, and they may be traced in the soups of meat and fish, and in their decoctions or infusions of vegetable leaves, seeds, barks, etc.
Hot "teas" were in habitual use as beverages among civilized nations long before they ever heard of Chinese tea, of coffee, or of cocoa. The English people, for instance, freely indulged in infusions of Sage leaves, of leaves of the Wild Marjoram, the Sloe, or blackthorn, the currant, the Speedwell, and of Sassafras bark. ”

“ Never were there such potatoes, never beans that seemed to have more of the bean in them, never such curly pork, never trout with more Indian-meal on them, never mutton more distinctly sheepy; and the tea, drunk out of a tin cup, with a lump of maple-sugar dissolved in it,—it is the sort of tea that takes hold, lifts the hair, and disposes the drinker to anecdote and hilariousness. There is no deception about it: it tastes of tannin and spruce and creosote. Everything, in short, has the flavor of the wilderness and a free life. ”

“ From the mountains the road drops to a rich tea country, where every hill-side is green with the thick-set little bushes. At harvest-time cart-loads of basket-fired, or country-dried, tea fill the road to the ports, to be toasted finally in iron pans, and coated with indigo and gypsum to satisfy the taste of American tea-drinkers. In every town farmers may be seen dickering with the merchants over the tough paper sacks of tea that they bring in, and within the houses groups sitting at low tables sort the leaves into grades with swift fingers. ”

“ I know people of both sexes, who are constantly seized with great uneasiness, anxiety, and oppression, as often as they take a single cup of Tea, who nevertheless, for the sake of company, drink several cups of warm water, mixed with sugar and milk, without the same inconvenience.
A physician, whose acquaintance I have long been favoured with, and who, with some others, was present when the preceding experiments were made at the college of Edinburgh, has a remarkable delicacy in feeling the effects of a small quantity of fine Tea. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Not only the Japonese, but also the Chinese, are delighted with Draughts of almost boiling Water, in which the Powder of Tea is sprinkled. The Herb Tea is not only Green itself, but also tinges any Liquor with the same Colour. It grows only in some, and not in all Countries, and the finer Kind of its Leaves is thought to be very valuable. These Leaves are, by the richer Sort, kept in large Vessels, close stopped, in order to prevent the Access of the Air. ”

“ It must be admitted that inexperienced judges of the pure leaf, upon their first purchase are surprised at the colour of the leaf. They pronounce the black Tea to be dark brown, and the green Tea, a dark olive. The exquisite flavour of the “supreme59 beverage” at once opens their eyes to the truth. No doubt it is reassuring to be aware that a Firm which, by common consent of their customers, consistently and persistently act up to their business formula, “Always good alike,” find meet reward in a yearly augmentation of their business ”

“ Again, as to how much liquor an equal quantity of the former will yield in comparison with a similar weight of the latter, is another mooted question. As far as quantity, color and body are concerned, it must be admitted that India and Ceylon teas are once and a half greater. But in flavor and aroma, the essential qualities that constitute and are most appreciated in tea, China and Japan teas far excel them. ”

“ The faults of tea, as too commonly found at our hotels and boarding-houses, are that it is made in every way the reverse of what it should be. The water is hot, perhaps, but not boiling; the tea has a general flat, stale, smoky taste, devoid of life or spirit; and it is served, usually, with thin milk, instead of cream. Cream is as essential to the richness of tea as of coffee. We could wish that the English fashion might generally prevail, of giving the traveller his own kettle of boiling water and his own tea-chest, and letting him make tea for himself. ”

“ And the nature of man's treatment and manipulation determines in large measure not only the desired flavor, but the distinguishing character of the tea, its rank as a green, a black, or an "English Breakfast Tea," all three of which may be evolved by skilful manipulation from the same tea bush, at the same time. ”

“ The only gleam of truth latent in so manifestly absurd an assertion being that the Celestials invariably drink the pure Tea, not that which has undergone artificial preparation for those outer barbarians, the English consumers, it being an admitted fact that they prepare Tea “to order,” and can by the aid of mineral facing-powder transform black Tea into green, or green Tea into black at pleasure. ”

“ The scenting greatly modifies and improves the flavor, however, without adding any pernicious or deleterious substance to the tea.
Consumers not accustomed to using these varieties erroneously imagine, from the dark color of the leaf and liquor, that they are much stronger and more exciting than that of the Oolong or Green tea sorts. While the contrary is the case, it requiring one-third more leaf of corresponding quality to yield an infusion of equal strength than of Oolong or Green tea sorts. ”

“ Tea is the beverage--the masterpiece--of every meal, even if it be nothing but boiled rice. Every artisan and laborer, going to work, carries with him his rice-box of lacquered wood, a kettle, a tea-caddy, a tea-pot, a cup, and his chop-sticks. Milk and sugar are generally eschewed. The Japs and the Chinese never indulge in either of these ingredients in tea; the use of which, they claim, spoils the delicate aroma.
From the highest court circles down to the lowliest and poorest of the Emperor's subjects, it is the custom in both Japan and China to offer tea to every visitor upon his arrival. ”

“ Then pour in the quantity of water required, boiling from the kettle, and it is ready for use." Miss Nightingale offers a word of advice to nurses upon the amount of tea which should be given. "A great deal too much against tea is," she remarks, "said by wise people, and a great deal too much of it is given to the sick by foolish people. When you see the natural and almost universal craving in English sick for their tea, you cannot but feel that Nature knows what she is about. But a little tea or coffee restores them quite as much as a great deal ”

“ Strangely enough humanity has so far met in the tea-cup. It is the only Asiatic ceremonial which commands universal esteem. The white man has scoffed at our religion and our morals, but has accepted the brown beverage without hesitation. The afternoon tea is now an important function in Western society. In the delicate clatter of trays and saucers, in the soft rustle of feminine hospitality, in the common catechism about cream and sugar, we know that the Worship of Tea is established beyond question. ”

“ Once on a time no confectioner, railway-station, or refreshment-house could rival the home-made brew, made under the eye of the mistress of the household, with the kettle on the hob and the ingredients at hand; but now that the good old custom of tea-making is considered unladylike, and the manufacture has been handed over to the servants, the great charm of the beverage has virtually departed. No one can conscientiously say that they like English tea as at present administered, for the very good reason that it is no longer prepared scientifically. ”

“ It may be of some use in our inquiries to consider its effects where it has been long and universally used. Of Japan we know little at present: of China we have more recent accounts; from these it appears, that Tea of some kind, coarser or finer, is drank plentifully by all degrees of people; the general provision of the lower ranks especially is rice, their beverage Tea. The superior classes of people drink Tea; but they likewise partake of animal food, and live freely.
Of their diseases we know but little, nor what effects Tea may have in this respect. They seldom or never bleed. ”

“ It is either a pale, half-chilled, unsatisfactory beverage, or it contains a dark black-brown settlement from over-boiled tea-leaves. The consumption of tea, no doubt, in England is enormous, and we boast to foreigners that we are fond of our tea; the fashion of tea-drinking, owing mainly to our example, has extended to France, once extremely heretical on the point ”

“ William Howitt found great refreshment in both tea and coffee, but he wrote that on his great pedestrian journeys, "Tea would always in a manner almost miraculous banish all my fatigue, and diffuse through my whole frame comfort and exhilaration without any subsequent evil effect. Tea is a wonderful refresher and reviver." ”

“ His followers, therefore, are tea-drinkers, if you can call by the same name the delicate, aromatic, pale fluid that graces the tea-tables of Europe and America and the murky, bitter liquid which sustains the Bedouin on his marches and revives him at the day’s end. The second reason is that tea is a stimulant to work on, while coffee is not. Tea is the thing with which to finish off each meal of the desert day and to refresh the weary traveler at the end of a hard day’s trek, leaving coffee for the less strenuous life of the oasis and the home. ”

“ The tea set, undoubtedly of porcelain, includes cups and saucers, a cream or milk container, and a sugar container with tongs. (Photo courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.)
At first the scarcity and expense of the tea, the costly paraphernalia used to serve it, and the leisure considered necessary to consume it, limited the use of this commodity to the upper classes. For these reasons, social tea drinking was, understandably, a prestige custom. ”

“ The side-lights of history, customs, manners, and modes of living which tea plays in the life of all nations will be found entertaining and instructive. Linked with the fine feminine atmosphere which pervades the drinking of the beverage everywhere, a leaf which can combine so much deserves, at least, a little human hearing for its long list of virtues; for its peaceful walks, talks, tales, tattle, frills, and fancies which go to make up this tribute to "the cup that cheers but not inebriates." ”

“ Firing and Colouring.—When the teas are half roasted, powdered Prussian blue, plumbago, gypsum, and turmeric are added, except to that tea ordered pure and free from all mineral facing powder.
That all classes of the community in this country have derived much benefit from the persistent use of Tea, is placed beyond dispute. It has proved, and still proves, a highly prized boon to millions. ”

“ A heavy drawing, thick-liquored full-flavored tea can be prepared from a combination of equal parts of a cheap but clean, sweet-drawing Moyune Hyson or Twankay and Japan Nibs, when a cheap all-Green tea is required, as both these teas drink much better in conjunction than when either is used alone, the Japan mellowing and otherwise enriching the China tea. ”

“ By putting a small sample of the Tea leaves in a wine-glass or thin goblet and pouring in clear cold water on them, and then stirring up or shaking well for a few minutes so that the Tea, if pure, will only slightly color the water, but if adulterated in any form a dark, muddy-looking liquor is quickly yielded, which, if next boiled and allowed to stand until cold, will, if spurious leaves are contained, become very bitter to the taste and almost transparent as it cools, while if the sample is composed of pure Tea only, it will be dark in color and pleasing in flavor under the same conditions. ”