The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1888-12-21
"FIXINGD THE COFFEE.
AN INFERIOR PRODUCT POLISHED
TO DECEIVE EVEN EXPERTS.


DcaIer-Tho Process of "sIiIlin." Coffee.
Mocha.
The adulteration of coffee is an evil of
so widespread and we'll recognized kind
that a leading grocer Of this city recently
had two column lad" in tho paper set
ting forth the peculiar methods employed
and the differences existing between vari-
Gus grovAhs of coffee This dealer was
seen tho other day by a reporter, to whom
no said: 1.-The adulteration of coffee Is q
business. and large one ut that. There
exist. under various names. In New York,
Philadelphia and Baltimore, firms who do
n fourishing business in this line.
1.-The work they do--and are paid for
handsomely-is the cleaning securing,
polishing and coloring of the natural
bean. 1t must not be supposed, however,
that this is oil done with the knowledge
and connivance of the retail or wholesale
grocers by whom the coffee is afterward
sold to tho consumer. Not at all. Prob
ably fully 30 per cent. of these grocers
ignorantly buy what they suppose to be
Java, Mocha. and other high priced
coffee, when in reality they get inferior
grades. You see. it is difficult thing to
determine exactly the quality of coffee in
the bean. There is, In point of fact. no
sure test to be employed in sampling cof-
fees but the one of taking the bean coffee,
roasting it, and making Il liquor Of it,
which is drunk. That is the only reliable
test. What can be learned about coffee
would in reality ill book, and it takes
years and good opportunities to become a
connoisseur.
"Now. what would you take this coffee
to be?" and the expert handed over two
small vessels of roasted coffee, showing
beans Of handsome shape, uniform in
size and pungent Of odor. THAT is Buca-
marango and the other Bogota. Now,
did you ever hear of such coffee or such
places before? And yet this Is very good
Central American coffee, apt to be mis-
taken for Java by even pretty good
judges. And what do you suppose this
is?" He showed another small vessel full
of unroasted coffee. The berries were of
all shapes, fiat and almost globular, some
four times as large as others. But this
coffee, though not roasted, exhaled pow
erful fragrance, reminding one little Of
vanilla. This is genuine Mocha, sam
pied and bought by myself ut Alden, Ara
bia. They say there is more so called
Mocha sold here in Chicago than the
whole crop of real Mocha coffee amounts
to. 1t may be SO"
"And how about the real process of
adulterationY"
ut isn't called so. It's termed fixing
or dressing in the trade. 1t gulls deal
ers as well as tho public. I'll give you a
few samples of how it works. Real Java
comes. for instance, in fattish woven
mats. On the trip across the ocean
moist beans generate damp heat 1t
gives the natural greenish tint of the
berry q tinge toward the yellow and
brown. 1t also swells the size of the
berry. To initiate Java, Macanibo,
Guatemala and Santos Is used-all Aneri-
can coffees. When subjected to sweat
ing process they begin to look MON or
less like Java, so much so as to deceive
even dealers who do not take the trouble
to test coffee by malSinga sample liquor
of it. Yet tho difference in price is eight
cents n pound, or 90 per cent. Take
kind, handsome to look ut and pleasant to
taste. But much of what is sold under
the name is nothing but Costa RIGA, or
Rio. A polishing machine will in a few
hours give those the blush tint and the
EiOocy Va BShtilhO
Soapstone and Prussian blue are usel in
coloring. OF Rio there is moro imported
than of all other kinds of coffee-protnbly
ten times as much. There are all kinds
of Rio coffee. Some is exquisite, as fine
in flavor rs almost any coffee. Some are
very poor. The small Brazilian farmers
will spread and cure their raw coffee right
on the pampas. In drying, the berry will
absorb the flavor Of the manure sodden
earth, and such coffee will be, of course,
bad in taste. But you can't tell it half
the time until you roast the berry and
boil your coffee"
A local firm which the dealer referred
to as fixing" the coffee has warehouse
that is crammed from cellar to roof with
sacks Of coffee and with machinery to
Elk" it. They evidently do very good
trade. The superintendent was watching
the loading of q cargo of several hundred
sacks Of coffee consigned to a popular mill
in town. He was not averse to giving q
few points Of information regarding the
business In which his house is engaged.
"Nine-tenths of our work, he said, econ
sists in milling coffee. That is another
name for polishing The machines used
in the business are plain, horizontal CYL
inders and centrifugals. II coffee is very
dry and husky we use little pure water,
about one gill to the bag, so as to give 1t
nice, clean and smooth appearance. The
polishing is dono to smooth the berry
that's all. Whether dealers afterward
sell this coffee, improved in looks, for
higher grade than 1t actually is, is mat
ter with which we have nothing to do.
We arc just paid by the mills and large
dealers for cleaning and polishing coffee.
that ends it as far as wo are concerned.
What we are doing here, however, is q
thing which has been done in Germany
for over hundred years. The polishing
Is done simply by attrition. No bluipg or
soapstone is used nowadays--at least not
much. No, sir, the bulk of the coffee
adulteration, properly speaking, is done,
not In this country, but before it reaches
here. Take Mocha as an example. The
dealers in Alden buy up other kinds of
coffee--Malabar and Ceylon and others
which resemble the genuine article in up.
pearance. These they mix with real
Mocha, and the product is then sent all
over the world as Mocha. Thus, you see,
rs matter Of fact. no genuine Mocha ex.
lists in the trade, not IL you were to send
your agent to Alden itself to buy it,
Chicago Herald