Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 179, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1916 — REQUIRES CARE IN MAKING [ARTICLE]

REQUIRES CARE IN MAKING

Tea, to Be at Its Best, Must Be Prepared Under Exactly the Proper Conditions. There Is practically no nutriment in tea, though there are small amounts of mineral salts. The principal ingredients are caffeln, which stimulates the nerves; volatile oils, which give the flavor, and tannic acid, which retards the digestion! The Japanese have made a religious and aesthetic ceremonial of tea-drink-ing, and, like the mineral waters whose efficiency is found to depend largely on the change and rest accompanying their drinking, the afternoon tea has Its psychological as well as its physiological reasons for the pleasant results produced. Like all beverages which refresh b/ stimulating, tea should be used with great discretion. Less tea is used to the cup than in the case of coffee —one-half to one teaspoonful as compared to one tablespoonful. A mild cup of tea well made will not hurt a healthy person, and, although the stimulating principle is the same, tea does not seem to have so direct or so pronounced an effect on the central nervous system as does coffee. Children, people with gastric troubles or those who are nervous should not drink tea. Green tea contains much more tannic acid than black tea. Be sure it does not boil or stand on the leaves if you use it. Hard or stale water does not make good tea. It should be freshly drawn and freshly boiled. Boiling any tea Is a crime. The caffeln is readily soluble and is quickly obtained in solution. Boiling or long standing on the leaves only results in more of the injurious tannic acid being extracted and spoils the flavor as well as making the beverage more harmful.