VENEZUELAN COFFEES. 1 65 



the liquor, while thin, gives out a pleasant odor^ resem- 

 bling that exhaled by cocoa or chocolate, said to be 

 acquired from being grown in close proximity to cocoa 

 plantations. 



' Costa Rica Is one of the most deceptive coffees 

 grown, the raw bean being large and bold in style, a rich 

 pea-green in color, uniform and shapely; but is invariably 

 what is termed " hidey," which is in reality due to the 

 soil in which it is grown, and, while it makes an almost 

 perfect roast, is *' grassy " and bitter in the infusion, par- 

 ticularly when roasted for any length of time, it becomes 

 sour and unpalatable, making its purchase at all times 

 risky. 



Comprise Venezuelan, Colombian, Equador, Bolivian, 

 Guiana, Peruvian, Paraguayan and Brazilian, small quanti- 

 ties being also produced in Chili and Argentina. 



The chief coffee-producing districts of Venezuela lie 

 in a central division, having Caracas and Valencia as a 

 base, with the ports of La Guayra and Puerto Cabello as 

 shipping points, the district surrounding the Lake of 

 Valencia being one of the most productive coffee coun- 

 tries in the world in the quantity and quality of its product. 

 They include La Guayra, Caracas, Maracaibo, Curagoa 

 and Angostura coffees. 



La Guayra Also known as " Coro " and " Port," 

 or Puerto Cabello, from the ports of shipment, varies in 

 size from small to medium, and from a pale to a dark- 

 green in color. It is usually graded on a parity with 

 Rio, to which coffee it most approximates in roast and 

 drink, it being frequently polished and sold as such, 



