TASTING TEA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 165, 14 July 1932, Page 10

TASTING TEA.

YGUNG ENGLISHMAN'S TASK. IMPORTANCE OF WATER. SEARCH FOR PERFECT BLEND. So greatly is tea influenced by the water with which it is "made" that a given blend will vary in flavour in different parts of New Zealand. A tea that seems perfect in Auckland may fail to reach the same standard when tested in Wellington. With the object of investigating this problem and solving the market difficulties involved, Mr. G. S. Chalk, of Messrs. A. P. Jones and Co., Ltd., Colombo, is at present touring New Zealand. He is a young Englishman who, early in his career, found he had a natural palate for tea. He cultivated it, and now, during sales in Colombo, tastes as many as 2000 teas in four days. "No, one does not actually drink the tea," he told a "Dominion" reporter in Wellington, as he arranged several little cups containing amber liquid opposite several little labelled canisters. "It is done this way." Swiftly he picked up a cup, sucked a small quantity of tea into his mouth and savoured it loudly. As swiftly he emptied his mouth into a convenient bowl. Then he tried a second brew, and a third. "That's the best, that's next, and this is the poorest," he said, pointing in turn to three cups. "In Auckland the order of suitability was almost completely reversed. Fertilisers Afiect Flavour. "The teas I have just tasted are different only because of the different fertilisers that have been used in growing them. In the past planters have used fertilisers to force growth and crop without a great deal of thought as to the characteristics imparted to the liquor of the tea. The result has been that the products of many estates have been unsuitable for New Zealand requirements."

This iu a nutshell is Mr. Chalk's task in New Zealand. He is discovering in each of the main centres the reactions of tea to the water available, and evolving as he goes a blend that will meet average New Zealand requirements to a nicety. For the last week he has tasted about 100 teas every day. 1 Mr. Chalk is co-operating with Mr. Krik Coward of the Canncrverella Est a Namunukula, Ceylon. Mr. Coward, whose brother is Mr. Noel Coward, has been experimenting with various fertilisers in relation to thei reflect on flavour when brewed with different waters. Mr. Chalk is confident that at least one of Mr. Coward's formulae will suit average New Zealand condition.-. New Zealand Tea-drinkers. "This is my first visit to New Zealand," said Mr. Chalk, "and I am finding it most interesting, particularly from the viewpoint of a tea expert. This ig one of the best and most discriminating tea drinkn<r countries i ' the world, a fact that is fully recognised in Ceylon." A believer iu the conventional manner of tea preparation, Mr. Chalk does not agree that good tea is spoiled by the addition of other flavouring. "It is all a matter of taste," he said, "but 1 prefer tea with milk and without sugar. There are certain grades of China tea that are perhaps better with lemon, but milk is correct with Ceylon tea, which, to my taste, is the finest in the world."

"Iced tea is becoming popular in the United States, but Americans as a whole do not understand the use of tea, nor do they make it properly. In Britain, Australia and New Zealand people do full justice to good tea." Turning again to his bench, Mr. Chalk demonstrated one simple wa;- of testing tea quality. Selecting three cups which had been allowed to stand for some time, he pointed to one sample which was opaque, as if a little milk had been added. "That milkiness is what we term "creaming down,' and is a sign of a good tea," he explained. "This sample"—and he pointed to a cup containing a clear amber liquid at the bottom of which a few leaves could be seen—-"is an inferior tea. You see, appearances arc sometimes deceptive."