COFFEE. 



COFFEE. 



analyzed roasted coffee comparatively with 

 raw coll're, and he found in the first 12$ per 

 cent, of an extract of coffee, soluble in water 

 and alcohol, which possesses nearly the pro- 

 perties of the extract of the raw coffee, although 

 it has a deeper brown colour, and softens more 

 readily in the air. He found also 10-4 of a 

 blackish-brown gum; 5-7 of an oxygenated 

 extract, or rather apotheme, soluble in alcohol, 

 insoluble in water; 2 of a fatty substance and 

 resin ; 69 of burnt vegetable fibre, insoluble. 

 On distilling roasted coffee with water, Schra- 

 der obtained a product which contained the 

 aromatic principle of coffee; it reddened litmus 

 paper, and exhaled a strong and agreeable 

 odour of roasted coffee. If we roast coffee in 

 a retort, the first portions of the aromatic prin- 

 ciple of coffee condense into a yellow liquid 

 in the receiver ; and these may be added to the 

 coffee roasted in the common way, from which 

 this matfer has been expelled and dissipated 

 in the air. 



Of late years much ingenuity has been ex- 

 pended in contriving various t'.inns of appa- 

 ratus 1'or making infusions of coffee tor tin- 

 table. I have tried most of them, and find, 

 after all, none so good as a caffetiere a lu /-'//.///. 

 the coffee biggin, with the perforated tinplate 

 strainer, especially when the filtered liquor is 

 kept .simmering in a close vessel, set over a 

 lamp or steam pan. The useful and agreeable 

 matter in coffee is very soluble : it comes off 

 with the first waters of infusion, and needs no 

 boiling. 



To roast coffee richly, we should keep in 

 view the proper objects of this process, which 

 are to develope its aroma, and destroy its tough- 

 ness, so that it may be readily ground to pow- 

 der. Too much heat destroys those principles 

 which we should wish to preserve, and substi- 

 tutes new ones which have nothing in common 

 with the first, hut add a disagreeable empyrvu- 

 matic taste and smell. If, on the other hand, 

 the rawness or greenness is not removed by 

 an adequate heat, it masks the flavour of the 

 bran, and injures the beverage made with it. 

 When well roasted in the sheet-iron cylinders 

 set to revolve over a*fire, it should have a uni- 

 form chocolate colour, a point readily hit by 

 experienced roasters, who now manage the 

 business very well for the principal coffee- 

 dealers both of London and Paris, so far as 

 my judgment can determine. The develope- 

 ment of the proper aroma is a criterion by 

 which coffee-roasters frequently regulate their 

 operations. When it loses more than 20 per 

 cent, of its weight, coffee is sure to be in- 

 jured. It should never be ground till immedi- 

 ately before infusion. (Ure't Diet, of Art* and 



Coffee may be cultivated in the peninsula 

 of Florida. A climate the temperature of which 

 seldom falls below 55, and where the soil is 

 on gentle declivities, afford the most favourable 

 circumstances. The trees may be set five or 

 six feet asunder; they begin to yield good crops 

 at three years of age, and the average produce 

 of a tree is two and a half pounds. 



The consumption of coffee is very great in 

 Mohammedan countries, and especially in Tur- 



key, where their religion forbids the use of 

 wine and spirituous liquors. In the United 

 States, its consumption is already very ^reat 

 and is rapidly increasing ; being not less than 

 15,000 tons annually. 



In Paris, the best coffee in the world is made 

 by the following process. This is the cele- 

 brated liquor there called cafe au hut. The 

 coffee is generally roasted in a rotary cylinder, 

 over a small furnace of charcoal, and usually 

 in the open air, until it becomes of a brown 

 cinnamon colour; it is then turned into a 

 wooden tray, and stirred till nearly cool. The 

 pot in which coffee is usually made, is com- 

 pound, and formed of two parts, of equal di- 

 mensions ; the lower pot being made of the 

 usual form ; the spout being kept covered and 

 closed during the process, by a small rap, 

 thimble formed. The upper pot is nicely fitted 

 to the top of the lower pot, of which it forms a 

 lid ; it is pierced at the bottom with very fine 

 holes, and thus forms a fine strainer; in the 

 bottom of this pot, and on this strainer, the 

 fresh and finely ground coffee is plae-d, and 

 the top of this pot is closed by the in 

 a shallow tin cup, full of larger holes, which 

 serves for a coars.T strainer; and through this, 

 either boiling water, or, most commonly, a 

 strong infusion of boiling coffee, is poured, 

 which has been formed by boiling the grounds 

 of the*former day, which had still retained a 

 large portion of their original strength ; thence 

 the whole fluid slowly and gradually descends 

 to the lower pot. Thus a very strong, clear, 

 and black infusion is prepared, which, on 

 being brought to the table, is reduced by the 

 addition of at least an equal quantity or more 

 of boiling milk ; sugar being added to suit the 

 taste. Nothing can be more fragrant and de- 

 licious than coffee thus made. 



In the Eastern countries of the old world and 

 in Europe generally, at present, coffee is always 

 taken in small cups as a cordial and restora- 

 tive, and not swilled in large vessels as a 

 beverage at meals, as is so frequently done in 

 the United States, especially by the interior 

 population. The French mode of preparing 

 coffee for use having been given, we will sub- 

 join a description of the process pursued in 

 Arabia, as related by Mr. Buckingham, who 

 had ample opportunities of learning it from 

 personal observation. 



" It is found that the only certain mode of 

 retaining the pure flavour of the coffee, is to 

 roast, pound, and boil it, all in quick succes- 

 sion, the roasted berries soon losing their fla- 

 vour if laid by for a day, and the pounded coffee 

 becoming insipid, even in a few hours. The 

 Arabs of the desert, who are from necessity 

 economical in the use of this article, follow the 

 same process, even if they require only two 

 cups of the liquid, roasting a handful of berries 

 on an iron plate, pounding them in a pestle 

 and mortar while warm, and the instant the 

 water boils, which it will generally do 'by the 

 time the other preparations are completed, so 

 that no time is lost, putting the pounded pow- 

 der into it, and suffering it to boil, stirring it at 

 the same time for about a minute or two, when 

 it is poured out to drink. As the beverage is 



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