The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-06-10
len J. In. sses c.aes.

p
- e its'H' f7ffi -- - etiiisfGsF-
ge Considering that coffee b d beverage
IN general uso among I'll civilized ma
tons a. well - with savage ones, e p
. wonder that . good emp Of fragrant
delicious coffee = 90 rarely to be met
with. Though making coffee may be
included among the fine arts, II Il new
ertheleN true that we should, under
stand something Of the science Of the
changes that take place In the berry
from the time It b taken from the tree,
till II comes to Us In the form Of O. de-
cOction on the breakfast table. In the
first place, we should know that the
berry requires age in which to, ripen
and mature its qualities. This Is one
of the reasons why coffee from the East
Indies Is Of finer flavor than that grown
nearer home. Then it should he known
that coffee Is very liable TO deteriOfa-
ton In consequence Of ITS absorbing
moisture and noxious gases. This y
frequently done on shipboard, especi-
ally when Il Il brought in vessels . part
of whose cargo is hides, pepper, spices
but a bad flavor is frequently impaired
to it by storing it in damp, foul ware
houses, or keeping 1t in groceries in the
vicinity Of bacon, salt fish or other sub
stances calculated to impart disagree
able odor or taste. = sa So
But these are injuries for which the
housewife Is not responsible; her re-
sp0nsibflity comes in q later period in
the history of the coffee-berry. The
next chance the berry has Of being In.
jured is in the parching, which Is an
operation liable to be carried too far
for the reason, we suppose, that women
are acknowledging in everything which
they undertake. Well-roasted coffee
should be cinnamon color, neither dark
er nor lighter. IF any grains are
charred, through accident or inatten-
ton, they should be rejected, as few
kernels Of these will impart q bad fla
yor to whole gallon of coffee, as Q few
bad grapes will spoil the excellence Of
q barrel of wine. But little heat should
be applied to the berries at the COM
mencement of the process, as the first
object is to dry the coffee, not to parch
it :. hence, the practice Of some of plac-
ing the coffee on plate in an open
oven Is q good one. If IL were practi-
cable, It would be better to complete
the process in tight vessel, as by this
means none Of the aroma would escape.
Indifferent varieties of coffee are to be
used, as will be recommended further
on, each sort should be parched sepa-
rately, as some require longer time to
be sufficiently parched than others.
After roasting, unless it is to be inn
mediately used, it should be put away
in tight, tin vessels, or earthen cans, as
roasted coffee, besides being volatile
and liable to lose its aroma, is a most
powerful abeorbent Of both water and
Of substances lfa6le to give it a bad taste
and smell. So much Is this the case,
that freshly-parchec coffee is some
times recommended as disinfectant
The parched coffee as sold in shops is
superior to that prepared at homo as
far as the parchihg is concerned, but is
open to this objection: it is one Of the
"tricks of the trade" to restore to the
parched berry an amount of watereq
or surprising that which the green Der
ry contains. Thus the shopman sells
q goOdly amount of water at the price
he demands for "fine old Government
Java" 1t is the custom of many to
add to the coffee, when nearly roasted,
or after the operation is completed, q
small smOunt of fat. By 30 doing the
appearance Of the berry is improved,
and some hold that the coffee Is made
richer thereby.
Nomore coffee should be pulverized
at once than is wanted for one meal,
as it is liable to very rapid deterioration.
Grinding is preferable to pounding, as
some of the coffee is liable to adhere at
the sides of the mortar and the oil will
penetrate into the wood Of which the
mortar is made. There is q difference
of opinion as to how fine the coffee
should be ground, and there are argu-
ments in favor of both coarse and fine
grinding. If It is coarse, the coffee
will be more likely to be clear; but If il
is fine it will require less time to extract
its virtue.
We now come to the most important
point of the operation, of coffee-mak-
ing, its treatment with water. This is
usually accomplished in one of two
ways. In the method known as the
French method, the water is simply
poured on the ground coffee, or Is al
lowed to flow through 1t, by placing the
ground berries in perforated vessel
by this means the aroma is retained,
and q fine favored but weak coffee i
obtained; while large amount 0fma-
terial is required. The other method
consists in boiling the ground coffee in
order to extricate those substances from
it that are not rendered soluble by sim.
pie contact with the water. In doing
this, the fragrance Of the coffee is dis
sipated through the house instead o
being retained In the beverage.
Now the true way to prepare this de.
licious beverage is to combine these
two methods; for instance, if a quart
of coffee is desired, pour into q suita
BILE amount of the ground berries, 9
pint of boiling water, letting it remain
only long enough to become settled, OF
the water may be poured through 6
strainer as stated above. Pour off thi.
dilute coffee into q closed vessel and SCI
| it in a warm place. Now take these
coffee grounds and pour on them TIN
other pint of water and boil as in tht
ordinary method. sr-.-
We can now put together our two
pints of liquor and we shall have com
bination OF all the volatile and soluble
principles that go to make that coveted
| Of all beverages coffee.
| In relation to the best kind of coffee
to buy, there seems to be little doub'
but that Java is preferable to any one
| variety-if we except Mocha which i
| very rare-on account of the richness
of its flavor and the dryness of the ker.
mel. 1t is also cheaper than Rio or La.
guayra, inasmueh Is its loss of weight
in drying is comparatively small. The
finest favored coffee however, is made
by using three varieties together, in the
| proportion OF one part Mocha, two parts
Rio or Laguayra. -
The best timing for coffee is an egg
| as part Of the yolk Is retained in the
liquor; in its absence however, we may
use isinglass. Most people prefer t.
season coffee with scalded milk il
cream cannot be obtained. To season
coffee exactly right, however, we would
prefer to first put the sugar in the cup
then the cream, then mix them witt
the spoon, and finally pour on the cof
fee. This is reversing the common or
der of things, but we believe our readers
| xu,1,<, trxy ~ mill ov,v,roua