TEA, (Encycl.) Tea, in the Chinese language, is called tia, in Fokien it is called te; and as the Europeans landed first in that province, that dialect has been preserved.
The Europeans learned to drink this infusion in the 15th century; and since that time have vied with each other in giving the Chinese the most money for this and other goods which are become fashionable: it grows both in China and in Japan. It likewise grows in Tonkin; but the best tea, according to Du Halde, comes from Fokien.
It was universally believed that all teas come from the same shrub, and are only distinguished by the different age, gathering, and preparation, till Doctor Hill lately supposed that he had discovered that the brown tea comes from the tea-shrub with six petals or flower-leaves which Kempfer has described and represented, but that the green tea is taken from the tea-shrub with nine-leaved flowers. Linnaeus distin-
guishes it, besides the flowers, by the longer and narrower leaves.
The difference of petals may, however, be considered as dubious, at least as not invariable. See Plate CCCCXIII. where a figure of each is given; that of the bohea being taken from the Amœn. Acad. vol. 7: that of the viridis from a print by Miller after a drawing of a plant, in the duke of Northumberland's garden at Sion, which was the first that flowered in England, and the flower consisted of only six petals, like the bohea. [This last figure is rather upon too small a scale comparatively with the other.]
After all, there are many sorts and varieties of tea differing one from another in the shape and quality of the leaves; and differently denominated, from these circumstances, from the places where they grow, or from the various ways of preparing.
The general distinction of these, however, is into brown and green, according as they tinge the water.
Brown tea is bonam té, or kuli-té, which grows in some places about Canton, and is drunk by the Chinese, but not by the Europeans: its taste being the least agreeable of any. The dried leaves are either yellow or brownish. The tea-shrubs, which are sold in flower-pots here, scarce grow to the height of an ell. The flower consists of six white petals, of which the three lowest are the smallest.
An-kay is a coarse sort of tea, from a place of this name.
Té-bohé, which we usually call bohea-tea, is called moji by the Chinese. This sort is brought to Europe in greater quantities than any of the others. The best sort smells agreeably, and in a short time gives a brown colour to the water, and consists of leaves of one colour; if any black ones are among them, it is a bad sort.
Tao-kyon is the name of the best sort of bohea tea. Kongé, or as the Chinese call it kong-so, has an agreeable scent: its leaves are finer than those of té-bohé; though it is scarce distinguishable from the best bohea, except in price; for cong is somewhat dearer.
Sutchong, or sootchuen, which the Chinese call saatyang, or fu-tyann, is the dearest of all brown teas. It gives a fine yellow green colour to the water, and has an agreeable taste, unless you put too much into the pot, which spoils both taste and colour.
Padre sutchong is the best tea that can be drunk. The leaves of this tea are large, yellowish, not rolled up, but expanded; and packed up in papers of half a pound each, like tobacco. If it is not taken great care of at tea, it is much altered for the worse.
Lin-kifam is a sort of tea which hath narrow rough leaves and footstalks. It is seldom used by itself, but mixed with other sorts.
Back-bo, or pack bo, is that which we call pecko, which has leaves with dots. It is a mild tea, has a good taste, and is said to be the least heating of any.
Hyson, called by tiann, or hi-kiong by the Chinese. Singlo, or fanglo, is so called from the place whence it comes. The Chinese likewise call it sing-tia.
Bing, or imperial tea.
Tio té is rolled up like pease. This sort is rolled up
up between the hands in a rounder shape than the others. A smaller kind is called gunpowder-tea.
Hyson-utchin, is distinguishable from the hyson skin by its narrow and short leaves.
Go-bé hath long narrow leaves.
The Chinese likewise make tea-cakes, which they sell very dear.
It is almost incredible what quantities of tea are annually exported into Europe and other parts; and what innumerable hands are employed in so unnecessary an article. The countryman must with great care plant and nurse the tea-shrubs: pluck every leaf in due time; separate the new leaves from the old, and dry them with extreme accuracy. When the merchant has got the baskets of tea, at a low rate, from the country people, he must often take care of it for years together; and is always uncertain when, or at what price, he shall sell it. When the Europeans have fixed upon a place where they will make their bargains, they empty the baskets (but let it be noted we are now speaking of hohea tea, for the finer sorts are sold in chests); and if any bad tea is found in these baskets, it is separated from the rest. The good tea is then packed up in new chests, the weight of which is deducted; and these chests are marked, and lined with lead in the inside. A Chinese gets into these chests, and treads down the tea as it is emptied out of the baskets: this is very hard labour, and throws the treader, who is almost naked, into a profuse perspiration. Though great care is taken to prevent any thing from coming into the tea, yet it is hardly to be avoided: and sometimes their feet are wounded and bleed. But the tea has already passed thro' so many dirty hands, that those who use that drug have no reason to be disgusted with this last mark of indelicacy in the package. As soon as some of the chests are packed by a number of kuleers, or Chinese servants, they are passed over with paper, and carried out of the warehouse to the factories, where they are weighed by the Chinese custom-house officers, in the presence of the interpreter, and marked red with a stiff brush, or with a wooden stamp.
Some poor people are satisfied with the leaves of Rhamnus thea, which they put into their clayey water, instead of tea, to make it more palatable. In the account of the Dutch embassy to China, it is related that the Chinese make use of a species of moss instead of tea.
The high price of tea, at its first introduction, induced many physicians to think of a substitute; and it is well known that Simon Pauli thought the myrica gale to be the shrub itself. Other succedanea are mentioned by authors; such as the leaves of the
Prunus spinosa, hawthorn-tree.
Origanum vulgare, wild marjoram.
Rubus arcticus, arctic bramble.
Veronica officinalis, male speedwell.
Veronica chamaedrys, wild germander.
Chenopodium ambrosioides, Mexican sweet blite.
Capraria bifora, sweet-weed or goat-weed.
The sophistication of tea practised by the smugglers in some of the southern parts of this kingdom is well known. In particular, they have reduced to a regular process the management of the leaves of the ash and elder; which, when prepared, is called smouch, and mixed, as is said, in the proportion of one-third,
with the ordinary tea. To what an extent the trade in this sophisticated tea had been carried, to the detriment of the trees, may be imagined, when the reader is informed, that an act of parliament has lately been obtained to prohibit it, under very severe penalties.