m COFFEE. 



age. The tare allowed varies somewhat — from two and a half to 

 three and a half pounds on eighths, and from four to four and a 

 half pounds on quarter bales. The infusion made from the roasted 

 beans possesses a heavier body than that from Java, and has a some- 

 what pungent or acrid flavor. When fresh roasted, Mocha gives 

 forth a rich aroma, regarded .by many as superior to that of other 

 sorts ; but some connoisseurs regard Mocha as inferior to the finest 

 Java and the choice kinds produced in other countries. The high 

 repute in which it is held is undoubtedly due more to its scarcity, 

 its former reputation, and the fact that Arabia was the starting- 

 point from which the nations using coffee obtained their supply, 

 than to its being superior to choice selections of other varieties. 

 As in all other kinds of coffee, however, we find good and poor 

 qualities. At Aden and Alexandria the coffee is carefully picked 

 over and assorted in compliance with the singular fashion in trade, 

 which creates a demand in Europe for the larger beans, while the 

 United States will have none but the smaller ones. In point of 

 fact, the larger beans are the best, being fuUy developed and more 

 perfect, both in appearance and flavor ; but fashion in food is all- 

 powerful in this as in other branches of trade. A striking illustra- 

 tion, of this is found in the item of pepper: in public estimation 

 white pepper is superior to black, and I had always supposed that 

 they were two distinct varieties, but when visiting a pepper-plan- 

 tation at Singapore, a few years since, I found that white pepper 

 was simply black pepper which had been soaked in water during 

 the process of preparation until the black outside skin could be 

 rubbed off, leaving the white inside kernel. The most desirable 

 aromatic properties are contained in the skin and a thin layer of 

 matter next it, and both of these are sacrificed to a mistaken no- 

 tion of consumers that white pepper is more pleasing to the eye. 

 When to this fact is added another, that the process of preparing 

 white pepper is long, tedious, and costly, making it necessary to 

 charge, perhaps, fifty per cent, more for the white than for the 

 black article ; and further, that chemicals are sometimes used to 

 bleach the white kernels still whiter, injuring the flavor stiU more, 

 and making it positively bitter — the absurdity of this fashion is 

 evident. But to resume the consideration of Arabian coffee : up the 

 Red Sea, about one hundred and twenty miles from Aden, is the 



