TO METHODS OF MAKING COFFEE. 



assembled ; presently a large wooden bowl full of dates, with a 

 cup of melted bntter in the midst of the heap, is presented ; the 

 host says, i Semmoo, literally, pronounce the name, of God 

 understood ; this means, Set to work at it. Every one picks 

 out a date or two from the juicy mass, dips them into the but 

 ter, and thus goes on eating till he has had enough. The slave 

 now begins his round, the coffee-pot in one hand, the tray and 

 cups on the other. The first pouring out he must drink him 

 self, by way of a practical assurance that there is no death in 

 the pot ; the guests are next served, beginning with those next 

 the honorable fireside ; the master of the house receives his 

 cup last of all. To refuse would be a positive and unpardon 

 able insult ; but one has not much to swallow at a time, for the 

 coffee-cups, or finjans, are about the size of a large egg-shell 

 at most, and are never more than half filled. This is considered 

 essential to good-breeding, and a brimmer would here imply 

 exactly the reverse of what it does in Europe. 



i% Be this as it may, Fill the cup for your enemy is an adage 

 common to all Arabs. The beverage itself is singularly aroma 

 tic and refreshing, a real tonic. When the slave presents you 

 with a cup, he never fails to accompany it with a f Semm, Say 

 the name of God, nor must you take it without answering 

 Bismillah. 



&quot; When all have been thus served, a second round is poured 

 out, but. in inverse order, for the host this time drinks first and 

 the guests last. On special occasions, a first reception for in 

 stance, the ruddy liquor is a third time handed round ; nay, a 

 fourth cup is sometimes added. But all these put together do 

 not come up to one-fourth of what a European imbibes in a 

 single draught at breakfast.&quot; * 



With regard to the making of coffee, there is no doubt that 

 the Turkish method of pounding the coffee in a mortar is 

 much superior to grinding it in a mill, as is usual with us. 



