224 BLENDING AND PREPARING. 



experimenting with it until he has discovered a com- 

 bination that will suit or please a majority of his cus- 

 tomers which, having once found, he should adhere to 

 strictly, by being always careful to select, as nearly as 

 possible, the same grades of coffee, and keeping them up 

 to the same high and uniform standard. 



Though not generally admitted, the testing of coffee 

 is much more difficult and requires more experience 

 than that of tea, inasmuch as the sample of tea is all 

 ready to have the water applied to it, while the sample 

 of coffee is presented in the raw or natural state and 

 must not only be roasted properly and ground before 

 being tested, but must also be roasted as precisely as the 

 other samples with which it is to be compared, in order 

 to determine its exact value. To smell or taste cor- 

 rectly requires a knowledge of all the properties and 

 characteristics of the article under consideration, as 

 these senses convey to the mind their impressions, so 

 that if the mind can analyze the cause and effect, the 

 senses of smell and taste act in consonance with the sense 

 of reason. It is thus obvious that to be an expert 

 judge of either tea or coffee requires a thorough knowl- 

 edge of the different varieties and grades of both, and 

 what the most desirable qualities of each are. It is 

 also further necessary that the dealer should be well 

 aware of what characteristics and blending of flavors 

 his customers prefer. Having carefully selected, tested, 

 and purchased his coffee, the next important thing 

 is to so roast or have it roasted as to best develop the 

 drinking qualities, which, as stated before, is a more 

 important and essential process than the hulling and 

 curing of it, though frequently underestimated by the 

 average dealer, as many otherwise good coffees are injured 

 irreparably by improper roasting. 



