TO METHODS OF MAKING COFFEE. 



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

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

 host says, ( 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 ( Semm,' i Say 

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

 'Bismillah.' 



" 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." 



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. 



