Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-11-17

! tea, contains IL. Inc COCOd VI CAAOSSI'''N
contains theobromine, an identical OF
closely reduced article. It is very sing
uIar that three fourths of the human
family should have hit on the same ma
terial. existing, in nature, in very differ
/ ent conditions. as their daily beverage.
I We certainly might infer its fitness to
supply some important requirement OF
/ the human s-stem. That it does do SO
has been ablndantly proved by the
most accurate experiments in the hands
! Of the most expert philosophers.
But it is not raw coffee that We use
( It is roasted. It Is in the condition thai
/ It becomes Of interest to US. We have
no hesitation in saying that One-half Of
! the coffee is ruined by the process OF
roasting. Il is the first and most i'm
/ portant step in making good coffee
. The roasting should be conducted as
much as possible in a close vessel, with
+ as little exposure 10 the air as may be.
+ It should be roasted TO a light chestnut
brown, not darker, or till the grain be-
comes brittle, when cold. If the coffee
. is black, it Is ruined. The materials are
decomposed, and nothing is left but
charcoal and some approximate oil. a
little sugar and lard mixed with char
coal would make Just as good coffee,
when roasted. The peculiar, delicious
aroma is produced by roasting, and is q
volatile oil. The sugar and the fats are
more or less changed, but not decom-
posed. The coffee loses in weight about
fifteen per cent. by roasting, but in
/ creases much more in volume than it
/ loses in weight. Coffee deteriOrateS rap
idly after roasting, and still more rapidly
after grinding; hence it should beroast-
ed, ground and used with no long inter
val. Ground coffee absords gasesrap-
idly and in great amount. So much Of
. a gas has it been known to absorb as to
produce spontaneous combustion. Re
Gently roasted and ground coffee is
good deodorizer, absorbing the offensive
emanations and leaving its own aroma
behind.
Much care Is requisite in making cof-
fee. As remarked above, the aroma is
due TO a volatile oil, produced during the
roasting. If we place some roasted
ground coffee in a retort and distill it
with water, receiving the distillate in a
cold receiver, we obtain in the receiver
all the delicious flavor of the coffee.
and have in the retOrt what usually
comes 10 our tables, a black, bitter-sweet
in fusion, which may be disguised by
sugar and cream to be in a state possible
for degIution. The aroma has gone
So tits in all boiling coffee. Coffee, to
be perfect, should be made in q tight
vessel, and not be boiled, if the whole
! of its peculiar richness is to be preserv-
ed.
The effect of coffee, as beverage, is
variousIy estimated by different indvid-
uals. This we should expect from the
varying character of the material inbib-
ed. But the physiological effects of cof-
fee arc not in doubt. It operates in two
very distinct directions. First, by slim
ulatiug the LeTyous and vascular tis-
sues. This Is experienced by every one
after taking s cup of good coffee. The
system is inv:-orated and the sensibili-
tics are more acute. Second, it retards
the transformation of the muscular tis-
, sues into lower chemical compounds
This has been proved by Lehman by di-
rect experiment. By this operation the
coffee acts as an equivalent for meat
producing food, if it does not actually
produce IT,
It saves the powers of the body, if it
does not create them. It is, like the oil
on machinery, it is a preservator Of
force, although without force itself.
Coffee, if ground, is liable to be adul-
terated The adulteration is usually
some root, as the chickory, or dandeliOn,
or even potatoes, and beets. These adul-
terations are easily detected in various
ways. If the powder is slifted on cold
water, the coffee will sink to the bottom
and give no color; whereas the adulter-
alton will not sink so readily, and will
give dark color, even to cold water
If q concentrated ablution be made with
hot water, the coffee will give no addi-
tional consistency to the solution, while
the adulterations will make it thicker
and starchy. The soluble matter in
roasted coffee is about 20 percent; in
the roasted roots it is greater