Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1854-02-16
CoFFEE LEAVES AS A BEyERAGE.


The January number of Scott's reprin
of Blackwood's Magazine contain
among its interesting articles one o
great value entitled "The Beverage
we Infuse." The entire article is O
great interest, and all tea-drinkers ow,
it the tribute of perusal, but the fol
lowing letter upon one of 'the bevera
ges infused" in Sumatra conveys infor
nation at once novel and useful. w,
remember that DR.. Gardner, the ac
complished English chemist, stated a
the great exhibition that roasted coffee
leaves should make a valuable drink OF
account of the amount of thine con.
tanned in the preparation, and we learr
from Blackwood's Magazine that the
doctor has taken out patent for the
preparation. The patent can be of nc
value, however, because it is now notori.
Gus that the use of beverage made o.
roasted coffee leaves is quite an ancient
habit.
We feel confident that our reader:
will peruse the following extact of a
letter on the subject with interest. The
letter was written by an English planter
who resides in the island of Sumatra
Among the items of interest in this let
ter, we pray the readers attention to
the italicised portion. If, as Black
woods Magazine says, the coffee plant
can be cultivated for its leaves where ii
cannot be for its fruit it may become
an important article of culture in this
country. There are many portions ol
Florida in which it could be cultured to
perfection, the soil being fertile and the
climate moist. But, if this should not
be the case, we can easily steal suita-
pie climate and soil for the purpose
from Mexico, and President Pierce can
postpone his proclamation until the rob-
berry is perpetrated as in the Lower
California case. But to the letter OF
Mr.. Ward:-Lou. Journal.
Although long aware Of the coffee
leaf as an article of diet among the
natives here, it never occurred to me
that it might be introduced successfully
as such at home, until l learnt that a
patent had been taken out by DR.. Gard
ner. 1t then struck me that, as its
adoption in Europe would unquestiona-
bly, be attended with important advanta-
ges to the laboring classes, knowledge
of the fact of its general use here might
be of service, by giving that confidence
in it which must necessarily be wanting
to new and untried article. The fact
of it being the only beverage of whole
population, and of its having, from its
nutritive qualities, become an important
necessary of life, will be sufficient guar
antee of its safety as an article of diet,
and of its freedom from deleterious ef-
fects.
The natives have prejudice against
the use of water as a beverage, assert
ing that it does not quench thirst, or af-
ford the strength and support the coffee
leaf does. With little boiled rice and
infusion of the coffee leaf, a man will
support the labors of the field in rice
planting for days and weeks successive
ly, up to the knees in mud, under a
burning sun or drenching rains, which
he could not do by the use of simple
water, or by the aid of spirituous or
fermented liquors. have had an op-
portunity of observing for twenty years
the comparative use of the coffee leaf
in one class of natives, and of spirituous
liquors in another, the native Sumatrans
using the former, and the natives of
British India, settled here, the latter;
and l find that while the former expose
themselves with impunity for any period
to every degree of heat, cold, and wet,
the latter can endure neither wet nor
cold, not even short period, without
danger to their health.
Engaged myself in agriculture, and
being in consequence much exposed to
the weather, was induced several
years ago, from an occasional use of the
coffee leaf, to adopt it as daily bever-
age, and my constant practice has been
to take couple of cups of strong infu-
sion, with milk, in the evening, as re-
storative after the business of the day.
1 find from it Immediate relief from
hunger and fatigue, the bodily strength
increased, and the mind left for the
evening clear and in full possession of
all its faculties. On its first use, and
when the leaf has not been sufficiently
roasted, it is said to produce vigilance,
but | am inclined to think that, where
this is the case, it is rather by adding
strength and activity to the mental
faculties than by inducing nervous ex-
citement. do not recollect this effect
on myself, except once. and that was
when the leaf was insufficiently roasted.
As a beverage, the natives universal
ly prefer the leaf to the berry, giving as
a reason that it contains more of the bit
ter principle and is more nutritious
They are not unacquainted with the
extract in half solid form, obtained
by decoction, but in the lowlands l am
not aware that they apply it to any par
ticular purpose. The roasted leaf used
to form an article of trade betwixt the
coffee districts of the interior and the
lowlards of the coast, but since the gov
eminent monopolised the produce this
trade has in a great measure ceased, the
natives believing the. sale of the leaf as
well as that of the berry forbidden. In
Al of i r.