This section is from the book "A Manual Of Home-Making", by Martha Van Rensselaer. Also available from Amazon: A Manual of Home-Making.
Teas may be classified as follows: 1. Black tea: tea that has been fermented in the process of drying; it is supposed to contain less active tannin than green tea. 2. Oolong: tea that has been partly fermented in drying and is midway in color and quality between black and green tea. 3. Green tea: tea that has been promptly dried with care taken to preserve the natural green color. This tea is supposed to contain more active tannin than do the other varieties. Formerly it was sometimes colored with copper.
The best known kinds of tea are given in the following classification:
1. Green a. Gunpowder b. Imperial c. Young hyson d. Hyson
2. Black a. Congou b. Souchong c. Scented
3. Oolong
1. Black a. Assam b. Darjiling
2. Green From Ceylon
1. Black
2. Green
Green a. Pan-fired b. Basket-fired
Oolong
There are six grades of tea, standardized as follows:
1. Flowery pekoe: tip of the stem and buds. This grade seldom reaches this country. 2. Orange pekoe: first open leaf.
3. Pekoe: second leaf. 4. First souchong: third leaf. 5. Second
Souchong: fourth leaf. 6. Congou: fifth leaf.
 
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