112 Of Coffee, and the Art of preparing it. 



the roasted grain. I found that coffee infnsed with boiling wa. 

 ter was always higher flavoured, and belter tasted, than when 

 the water used in that process was at a lower leniperature." — 



" As all kinds of agitation must he very delriinental to 

 coffee, not onlv when made, but also while it is making, it 

 is evident that the method formerly practised, that of put- 

 ting the ground coftee into a coffee-pol with water, and 

 boiling them together, must be very defective, and must 

 occasion a very great loss. But that is not all ; for the 

 coffee which is prepared in thai manner can never be good, 

 whatever may be the quantity of ground coffee that is em- 

 ploved. The liquor may no doubt be very hitter, and it 

 commonly is so ; and it may possibly contain something 

 that may irritate the nerves, — but the exquisite flavour and 

 exhilarating qualities of good coffee will be wanting." 



" Coffee may easily be too bitter, but it is impossible 

 that it should ever be too fragrant. The very smell of it 

 is reviving, and has often been found to be useful to sick 

 persons, and especially to those who are afflicted witii vio- 

 lent head-achs. In short, every thing proves that the vo- 

 latile, aromatic matter, whatever it may be, that gives 

 flavour to coffee, is what is most valuable in it, and should 

 be preserved with the greatest care ; and that, in estimating 

 the strength or richness of that beverage, its fragrance 

 should be much more attended to, than either its bitterness 

 or its astringency." 



" One pound averdupois, of good Mocha coffee, which, 

 when properly roasted and ground, weighs only fourteen 

 ounces, serves for making fifty-six fu'l caps of the very best 

 coffee, in my opinion, that can be made. 



" The quantity of ground coffee which I use for one 

 full cup, is 108 grains troy, which is rather less than a 

 quarter of an ounce. This coffee, when made, would fill 

 a coffee-cup of the common si^e, quite full ; but I use a 

 larger cup, into which the coffee being poured boiling hot, 

 on a sufficient quantity of sugar (half an ounce), I pour 

 into it about one-third of its volume of good sweet cream$ 

 (juite cold. On stirring these liquids together, the coffee is 

 yiiddenlji cooled, and in such a manner as not to be exposed 

 to the loss of any considerable portion of its aromatic par- 

 ticles in that process. 



" In making coffee, several circumstances must be care- 

 fully attended to : in the first place, the cofl'ee must be 

 ground fine, otherwise the hot water will not have time to 

 penetrate to the centres of the particles; it will merely 

 soften them at thjiir siu'faceS; and, passipg rapidly between 



them. 



