Similar iu all respects but one, is Oolong. The wanting quality is strength. Sometimes the flavour is a little different. It is generally composed of greyish-black leaves with a few green ones intermixed ; it always has a pale liquor, generally a greenish infused leaf ; but its flavour is frequently burnt out, though its weakness and green appearance are often caused by deficient firing. Teas of this kind on the average sell below the ordinary-flavoured teas of the same class of leaf.
In teas of ordinary flavour, the following rules hold good :—The darker the liquor, tbe stronger the tea ; and the nearer the infused leaf approaches a uniform salmon-brown, the purer the flavour. Whenever black leaves are mixed with the out-turn, the tea has been over-fired, and tbe strength is either burut out of it, or a burnt or smoky flavour is given. An altogether black or dirty-brown out-turn is oertain to give pale liquor of little or no strength, and no flavour unless it be sour, This sourness is of various grades,—slightly sourish, sourish, and sour, depreciating the value 3d. 18. 6d. a lb. The flavour is hardly capable of description. The least tendency to it condemns the paroel at once. The cause assigned for it is that the leaf after being picked is allowed to remain too long in the raw state before beiug fired, undergoing fermentation.
Burntness may either destroy the strength and flavour altogether, or, without destroying the strength, add an unpleasant burnt flavour, when the tea is called " smoky " or " smoky burnt," and deteriorated in value 2d.-1s. a lb. Symptoms of burntness area dead-black leaf, having a burnt smell which often entirely neutralizes the natural aroma. The terms " fresh burnt," " brisk burnt," " malty burnt," are not condemnatory, and the word burnt, as used here, would be better expressed by fired. "Malty " means of full rich flavour. " Full," applied to a liquor, does not sig,nify 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, and is akin to " body " in a wine. "Chaffy " is generally used for Bohea and other brown-leaf classes. A light, open, brown leaf would be called chaffy. The lower classes, especially dusts, are often describe,d as "earthy " in flavour, perhaps caused by the admixture of real dirt.
When a tea is spoken of as " well made," " fairly made," Stc., the manipulation is referred to.
There are " straight " and " curled," or, El8 the latter is generally expressed when applied to large leaf, " twisted" leaves. It may be " flattish made," indicating that though the leaf is not open, it wears a flattish aspect, or it may be open, which betrays a want of sufficient or skilful manipulation.
A " wiry " leaf is small, perfectly rolled, and very thin (in diameter) generally ratber curled, so as to resemble small pieces of bent wire. Only the finer teas ean have a wiry leaf, principally tlae Orange Pekoes and Pekoes. Sometimes a fine Souebong may be thus described.
Of green teas, Gunpowder is the most valuable description, its price ranging from 2s. 8d. to 3s. 8d. a lb. Instead of possessing the long and thin finished leaf, which is the desideratum of black teits, it is rolled into little balls 4-+ in. diam. Sometimes it has some long leaf mixed.
Tea of the shape of Gunpowder, but larger, is called Imperial. Prices are 10d.-2s. 6d. a lb.
Hyson may be taken as the parallel of Souetiong in black-leaf descriptions. There is often much young Pekoe leaf in it, but all chance of discovering it in the finisbed leaf is precluded by tbe change in colour. Hysons sell at ls. 2d.-3s. 6d. a lb.
Young Hyson is smaller than Hyson, occasionally slightly broken. It fetches 7d.-2s. 6d. a lb.
Hyson skin consists of bold broken Hyson and young Hyson. A small broken green tea is seldom sent on tbe home market. The reason is obvious : when Hyson skin only fetebes 7d.-1s., anything approaching dust would give very little chance of profit. It would be well Hall planters would take a lesson from the Chinese, and not send home their very low teas, black or green, as they are very difficult of sale in London, and in many eases cannot pay the cost of packing and shipping. The Chinese make much of their broken teas into brick tea, and send it into Central Asia, where it rneets with a ready sale. In the N.-W. Provinces, the natives are beginning to consume largely, and will pay 8 annas to 1 rupee for tea that would not fetch more than ls.-1s. 6d. in England. Whether the natives of India, as a whole, do or do not take to drinking tea, will have a material effect on the future prospects of the industry. The manufacture of green teas is probably less remunerative than that of blacks, and there is far less demand for them in England, though considerable in America.