Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 January 1912 — ART OF MAKING GOOD TEA [ARTICLE]

ART OF MAKING GOOD TEA

American Hostess Has Much to Loam -From Her Little Japanese Sister. f The American hostess might learn from her Japanese sister the most important secret of good tea making, which is none other than good tea. Enormous prices are paid for tea by the well-to-do^women of the Flowery Kingdom. Too often the American woman selects this afternoon delicacy haphazard, of a quality and brand she scarcely knows. . Cheap tea is colored; because people will not buy the pale, rough leaves that repel by reason of their unhealthful appearance. What adds to the looks, and hence the market value of the tea detracts from its taste, though a small amdunt of Coloring is not considered harmful. The reason tea is so often designated as a menace to health is because so few women understand how to draw it properly. Tea, rightly drawn, is a benefit, not a barrier, to health. Select your favorite brand of tea, having made certain that it is of good. quality. Allow a teaspoonful to a cup, place all the leaves in an earthen or china bowl and pour over it freshly boiled water.. Cover it and allow it to steep from five to eight minutes, according to its strength—never longer. Straining is the important point, if allowed to stand on the grounds the poisonous tannin collects, and this is where the harm in the beverage rests. Strain the tea from the bowls into the teapot or cups and it will be delicate of flavor and deliciously fragrant. Real tea drinkers do not modify the aroma of their cups with creanf, though they may indulge in a lump of sugar. A slice of lemon in thb bottom of the cup, or a clove, leaves a faint trace of its pungency agree'able to many.