204 ROASTED COFFEES. 



disposed of to roasters and unscrupulous dealers as sound 

 coffee. The beans of such coffee look quite natural, but 

 on close inspection are found to be tough and light, 

 yielding a watery and flavorless liquid on infusion. A 

 patent has also been recently obtained the purpose of 

 which is to impart to coffee beans by a summary opera- 

 tion the properties and characteristics possessed by coffee 

 which has been stored and kept under favorable condi- 

 tions for a comparatively long period of time. The pro- 

 cess of maturing or " aging " the coffee consisting in 

 spreading out the raw beans in a thin layer between 

 alternate layers of damp bags or other textile material 

 first by sprinkling a number of bags with water, and 

 piling them one on top of the other until they have all 

 become uniformly moistened, then spreading out one of 

 the bags and laying on it a dry bag upon which is placed 

 a layer of green coffee, another dry bag being placed 

 over it and a damp bag on that again, and so on to any 

 desired height. The pile of bags and coffee thus formed 

 is then compressed in order that the dry bags may absorb 

 the moisture from the damp bags and also become damp, 

 thus maintaining the coffee beans in their confined space 

 until the desired maturing or aging effect has been pro- 

 duced. 



Are chiefly sophisticated by mixing or substituting 

 lower with high-grade coffees, and by coating or glazing 

 the beans with some obnoxious compounds as previously 

 described. Many of the so-called Javas and other 

 high-sounding-name coffees now in the market so much 

 vaunted and extolled being nothing more than combina- 

 tions of Santos, Maracaibo and other medium grades, 

 some of the most reputable consisting merely of Santos 

 and Java in the proportions of 40 per cent, of the former 



