ladies’ department. 
67 
Casks' Department. 
HOW TO MAKE GOOD COFFEE. 
In order to prepare the beverage called coffee, in 
perfection, it is necessary to employ the best mate¬ 
rials in its manufacture. The finest kind of coffee 
is that from Mokha, and should he used when a 
very fine flavor is desired; but for ordinary purpo¬ 
ses, the better classes of Java, Brazilian, or West 
Indian, may be employed. It is a common prac- 
in some parts of Europe, as well as in the United 
States, to burn large quantities of coffee at a time 
adulterated either with an inferior article or with 
some foreign substance, and ground to a powder in 
a mill. This mixture is usually put up inboxes, casks, 
or papers, and offered for sale at the shops. The 
most common adulteration, in Europe, is the root 
of chickory, which is added not only to cheapen 
the article, but to improve the flavor of damaged, or 
inferior berries. In the United States, the principal 
articles of adulteration, are roasted barley, rye or 
other grains. 
In making good coffee, the berries should be care¬ 
fully roasted by a gradual application of the heat, 
until the aroma be well developed, and the tough¬ 
ness destroyed. If too much heat be used, the vol¬ 
atile and aromatic properties of the coffee will be 
injured and the flavor impaired ; while on the 
other hand, if the berries be too little roasted, they 
will produce a beverage with a raw, green taste, 
very liable to induce sickness, if not vomiting. 
Coffee, when properly roasted, should be of a lively 
chocolate-brown color, and should not have lost 
much more than one sixth of its weight by the pro¬ 
cess. If the loss exceed one fifth, the flavor will 
be materially injured. 
As soon as roasted the coffee should be placed 
in a very dry situation, the drier the better ; and the 
sooner it is consumed, the finer will be the flavor, 
as it will quickly absorb an appreciable amount of 
moisture from the atmosphere by reason of its hy- 
grometric power. Therefore, the berries should 
not be ground until a few minutes before being 
made; and should more be reduced to powder than 
is wanted for immediate use, the remainder should be 
shut up in a glass bottle, or a tight tin canister or 
box. 
The shape, or description of the coffee pot, ap¬ 
pears to be of but little consequence ; though, one 
furnished with a percolator, or strainer, that will 
permit a moderately rapid filtration, is perhaps pre¬ 
ferable. At least one ounce of coffee should be used 
to make four common-sized cupfuls , and if wanted 
strong, this quantity should be doubled. The 
coffee pot should be heated previously to putting in 
the coffee, which may be done by pourirfg in a little 
boiling water. The common practice of boiling the 
liquid, after the coffee is put in, is quite unneces¬ 
sary, as all its flavor and aroma are extracted by 
water at a temperature of 195°F. Should it be 
placed, however, over a moderate fire, it should be 
just simmered only for a minute , for long or violent 
boiling injures its quality. 
When coffee is prepared in a common pot, the lat¬ 
ter being previously heated, the boiling water should 
be poured over the powder, and not, as is often the 
«ase, put in first. It should then be stirred 4 or 5 
minutes, when a cupful should be poured out and 
returned again into the pot, repeating the operation 
three or four times, after which, if allowed to repose 
for a few minutes, the beverage will usually be 
fine. 
Coffee is sometimes clarified by adding a shred of 
isinglass, a small piece of clean codfish skin, or a 
spoonful of the white of an egg. An excellent plan 
of clarifying or settling coffee, common in France, 
is, to place the vessel containing the made coffee on 
the hearth, and sprinkle over the surface of the 
liquid, a cupful of cold water, which, from its 
greater gravity, descends to the bottom of the pot, 
carrying the foulness with it. Another plan, which 
is sometimes adopted, is, to wrap a cloth previously 
dipped in cold water, around the coffee pot. This 
method is commonly practiced by the Arabians in 
the vicinity of Yemen and Mokha, and is said to 
rapidly clarify the liquor. 
The Parisians, when they use a common coffee 
pot, generally divide the water into two equal parts. 
The first portion is poured on the coffee boiling hot, 
and after infusing 4 or 5 minutes, it is poured off as 
clear as possible, and the grounds are boiled for 2 
or 3 minutes with the remaining half of the water. 
After the latter has deposited its sediment, it is 
poured off and mixed with the infusion. The ob¬ 
ject of this process, is, to obtain the whole of the 
strength, as well as the flavor. The infusion is 
considered to contain the flavor, and the decoction 
the strength. A. J. C. 
PHILOSOPHY OF BREAD MAKING. 
In the process of making bread, one of the prin¬ 
cipal objects is to break or burst all the grains 
of starch, which are contained in the flour, associat¬ 
ed with a very fermentable substance, called gluten. 
The finest and best baked bread is made of flour 
abounding in an elastic gluten, which, in rising in 
large blisters by the expansion of the gases impris¬ 
oned within it, allows each grain of starch to par¬ 
ticipate in the communication of the heat, and to 
burst, as it would by boiling. Hence, after baking, 
if the paste has been well kneaded, we do not find 
a single grain of starch entire. 
The less gluten there is contained in the flour, 
the duller will be the bread, and the less perfectly 
it will bake. This is the reason why, other cir¬ 
cumstances being alike, the bread made of rye or 
barley is less nourishing than that of wheat. 
Wheaten bread will likewise be heaver and less 
perfect according as the flour has been more or less 
mixed with other kinds of grain, or with potato 
starch. R- 
Starching Linen. —In starching linen, the ef¬ 
fect will be the same, whether the starch be hot or 
cold, provided the irons used be properly heated. 
It is sufficient to mix the starch with a little water, 
to dip the linen in it, clapping it with the hands, 
and then apply the hot iron while the linen is still 
moist. By this means, the grains of starch will 
burst from the action of the heat of the iron, its 
membranes will expand as they combine with a por¬ 
tion of the water that is present, its soluble mat¬ 
ter will be partly dissolved in the rest of the water, 
and the linen will be starched and dried by one 
process. 
