Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-09-10
A cup OF COFFEE.

There are about one hundred million,
Of people on the face Of the globe who
would regard tho loss 6f their daily cur
Of coffee as one Of the greatest privstioas
they could endure. although il is only
for the last tvo hundred years that coffee
has been generally knows to the civilized
world.
Coffee i popularity supposed 10 have
been frat used By the Arshians. bot
fnl research leads as to the knowiedg GO
that the E,hiopians and Abysiuians knew
Of its strengthening and invigorsting quail.
tiles for E,any years before the nations Of
Arabia used it. II 10 said that the sava.
ges Of higher Ethiopia pounded the parch-
ed bean. as they would grain. making q
coarse -four from it, which they mixed
with grease. aud separated into little balls.
Two or three of these balls would support
a man whole day, and were. therefore. as
they took up so little room. in high favor
with the warriors while out on maraud-
ing expeditions.
Arabia. however, had the honor Of first
introducing it to the civilized world. It
was introduced then by the Persians. who
procured it from the Philippians The
city of Aden was the 6rst place where it
become popular as beverage. From
there it spread rapidly oil over Arabia
and Turkey, and led to the establishment
of the coffee houses which are to be found
in almost every part Of the world.
The coffee plant is an evergreen. and
if allowed would grow to height Of six
teen or seventeen feet. but in extensive
plantations it is topped aud s,uuted to
about five, so that the berries can be
picked with greater convenience. The
stem of the tree or shrub is from ten to
fifteen inches in circumference, and the
bark whitish and somewhat rough. while
the leaf is long aud graceful, covered with
silvcry furxe on the under side, and re-
scmbling in general appearance that of
the ci,ron tree When full grown it looks
like small! apple tree. When the tree
begins to grow the lower branches bend
and extend themselves in round form
somewhat like an umbrella. As on the
nutmeg tree. blossoms and green and ripe
fruit may be seen on each shrub at any
season Of the year.
When the blossoms fall of there springs
from under it small fruit, FIRST green.
but becoming red as it ripens. This is
very like cherry and quite pleasant to
eat. The pit of this cherry is the coffee
of commerce. We are wrong in calling
it pit, it is rather bean enclosed in a
fine thin skin which holds the two halves
together. When the bean is perfectly
ripe, the cherry or feshy outside. which
was before good to eat, dries and forms a
deep brown pod for the berry, which is
then ready to pick.
The coffee berry when ripe. is. in the
West.Indies, Java, Ceylon and South
America, prepared for market by a ma
chine process called pulping and washing.
which greatly expcdites matters. and turns
ont a quality Of coffee much preferred by
the dealers, as it makes clearer and
brighter bean. 1t is fact not generally
known to consumers. however, rs it is
done in Persia and Arabia, is much su-
perior. and the same quantity Of coffee
that is cured in the pulp BY the action Of
the sun will produce much stronger de-
coc.ion than that which has been pulped
and washed. for the mucilaginous SUBJ
stance which is washed of BY the pulping
process is absorbed by the bean when
cured the other way. This gives strength
to the product, and enhances its aromatic
favor.
Another fact not generally known abou.
coffee here. is that the leaves contain the
same essential principle as the berry. and
that beverage made from them is equal
If not superior to the infusion Of the Der.
ry itself During visit TO Sumatra,
some wears since. we made a hunting ex-
pedition into the interior of the island -
While stopping at village We observed a
native making m infusion Of some dried
leaves. and curious to see what beverage
he was connecting. we tasted it. and found
to our surprise that it was most excellent
coffee. For n small piece Of tobacco We
bought several pounds Of the dried leaves.
and used them entirely during the remain
der of the expedition, as We found they
made much superior coffee to the beans We
had brought with US. besides being muet
less trouble to prepare.
The consumption of coffee in the Uni
ted States is nearly double that Of any
country in the world. aud the increasing
consumption throughout the world threat.
ems to m axe the demand more than the pre-
sent sources Of production can supply. For
some years past, Mexico has exported I
snail quantity Of very superior article
and ali through our wonderful State o
California wild coffee shrubs are plen;i
ful. and pronounced By experts to be ca
rablc of producing under cultivation
very superior grade Of coHce.-7Ae Amer
| ir,,a Grocer.