416 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



not by any means be made from it, .and in 

 many cases dangerous decoctions have been 

 made from adulterated coffee. In buying raw 

 coffee, choose that which is dry and light ; the 

 coffee which feels dense and weighty is green. 

 Coffee which is from eight to ten months old is 

 the best selection. 



The roasting of coffee in a proper manner 

 requires great nicety, and cannot be done suc- 

 cessfully without the aid of some such appa- 

 ratus as those to be had for that purpose in 

 the better class of furnishing stores. They 

 are inexpensive, and the supply of charcoal 

 needed for them is very trifling indeed ; not 

 sufficient to justify their disuse. The cylinder 

 which contains the coffee should be only half 

 filled, and it should be turned rather slowly 

 over the fire, which should never be very 

 fierce, until a strong aromatic smell is emit- 

 ted ; the movement should then be quick- 

 ened, as the bean is in that case quite heated 

 and it will scorch before it is roasted through 

 if slowly finished. When the coffee is of a 

 light, chestnut brown color, which can be as- 

 certained by sliding back the door of the 

 cylinder and looking at it occasionally towards 

 the end of the process, spread it quickly over 

 a large dish, beat up the white of an egg with 

 a tablespoonful of melted butter, and stir up 

 well with it, and then cover it over with a 

 thickly folded cloth. Let it remain thus until 

 it is quite cold ; then put it into canisters or 

 bottles where the air cannot get at it. 



For grinding coffee there are two kinds of 

 coffee mills, those which are portable and 

 others for fixing against the walls. It should 

 be ground to a moderately fine powder ; if it 

 is too coarse the essence will be only partially 

 extracted from it in making, while if it is too 

 fine the water will not percolate through it 

 and it will not be clear. No more should be 

 ground at a time than will suffice for a single 

 making. 



Coffee (boiled). Allow a tablespoonful of 

 ground coffee to each person ; and for each 

 tablespoonful a coffeecupful of water. Let the 

 water boil, and while it is boiling stir in 

 the coffee ; allow it to boil hard five minutes, 

 then set it where it will simmer for ten min- 

 utes ; pour out a large cupful, hold it high 

 over the coffeepot, and pour it in again ; re- 

 peat this, and then set it on the stove where 

 it will keep hot without simmering for five or 

 ten minutes longer. Coffee made thus will 

 be perfectly clear unless it is mismanaged. 

 Should fining be necessary, however, use a 

 pinch of isinglass, or a small piece of the skin 

 of salt codfish, or, better still, the shell of a 

 raw egg with a little of the white adhering to it. 



(/offee (filtered). There are a great num- , 



ber of patent coffeepots designed to make 

 coffee after the Continental method without 

 boiling, and as minute directions for using ac- 

 company each one we will only mention that 

 the principle involved in each is very simple, 

 and consists in allowing hot water to percolate 

 slowly through ground coffee into a receptacle 

 below. Some of them are good, though need- 

 lessly expensive ; but a simple filter or per- 

 colator, as it is called, will answer perfectly well, 

 and it can be obtained to fit any coffeepot. 



In making coffee by this method allow rather 

 more coffee than when it is to be boiled ; 

 spread the grounds over the percolator ; and 

 pour on the boiling water, slowly till the coffee 

 is saturated and then more rapidly. Should 

 the coffee not be strong enough, run it through 

 the filters again. Coffee made thus is thought 

 to have a more delicate and aromatic flavor 

 than when boiled ; but on the other hand, Mr. 

 Donovan, a prominent English chemist, who 

 has made a special study of the matter, thinks 

 that it requires boiling for a little time to ex- 

 tract the bitter principle in which much of the 

 exhilarating quality of coffee resides. 



ALLSPICE. 



So called because it is thought to combine 

 the flavor of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. 

 It is the berry of a handsome tree that grows 

 to the height of twenty feet in the West Indies 

 and South America. The fruit is not allowed 

 to ripen, but is gathered while yet green ; 

 when dried in the sun it becomes black. 

 It is less expensive than the Oriental spices, is 

 agreeably aromatic, and is considered the most 

 mild and harmless of the common spices ; 

 hence it is much used in cookery. The best 

 comes from Jamaica. The essential oil of all- 

 spice is of a deep reddish brown color, and ex- 

 tremely pungent ; and a few drops is sufficient 

 to give a flavor to gravy or to mulled wine. 



TO MAKE TEA. 



Allow two teaspoonftils of tea to one large 

 cupful of boiling water. Scald the teapot, put 

 in the tea, pour on about a cupful of boiling 

 water, set it on the fire in a warm place where 

 it will not boil, but keep very hot, to almost 

 boiling ; let it steep or " draw " ten or twelve 

 minutes. Now fill up with as much boiling 

 water as is required. Send hot to the table. 

 It is better to use a china or porcelain teapot, 

 but if you do use metal let it be tin, new, 

 bright, and clean ; never use it when the tin is 

 worn off and the iron exposed. If you do you 

 are drinking tea-ate of iron. 



To make tea to perfection, boiling water 

 must be poured on the leaves directly it boils. 

 Water which has been boiling more than five 



