The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-10-17

The adulteratiOn Of coffee IS an owl OF
50 widespread and we'll recognized Kind
that n leading grocer of this city recently
had two column lad IN the paper set
ting forth the peculiar methods employed
and the differences existing between vari-
ous growths Of coffee This dealer was
seen the other day by reporter. - " hon
Le said. THE adulieratioa Of coffee IS q
business. aud large one at that. There
exiss under various names IN New YORK,
PHILADELPHIA and Baltimore, firms who DO
f. gonrishing business IN this line.
The work they do-and arc paid for
handsomcly-is the cleaning securing.
polishing aud coloring Of tho natural
| bean Il must not b. supposed, however
.hat this is all done with the knowledge
and connivance Of the retail or wholesale
grocers by whom the coffee IS aiterward
/ sold to tie consumer Not at ALL Prob
ably fully 80 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 a difficult thing 10
determine exactly the quality Of coffee in
the bean There is, in point OF fact. no
sure test TO be employed in sampling cot.
fees but the one of taking the bean coffee
roasting it, and making q liquor OF It,
which IS drunk That Is the only reliable
test What can be learned about coffee
would In reality oil q book, and It takes
years and good opportunities to become a
connoisseur
Now, what would you take this coffee
to be2'' 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 tho other Bogota. Now,
did you ever hear of such coffee or such
places beforcy 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 lie showed another small vessel full
of unroasted coffee The berries were Of
all shapes. lat and almost glObular, some
four times as large as others. But this
coffee. though not roasted, cxhalcd pow.
erful fragrance, reminding ono httlo OF
vanilla. This is genuine Mocha. sam
pied and bought by myself at Alden, Ara.
bia They say thsxe is more so called
Mocha sold here Hbicago than the
whole crop Of real Mocha coffee amounts
/ to 1t ulay be SO.
and bow about the real process OF
adutcrafiOnf'
4 1T isa't called so. It's termed fixing
or dressing in the trade. 1t gulls deal
ers as well az the public. III give you a
few samples Of how it works. Real java
comes. for instance, IN ilsttish woven
mats On the trip across tho ocean
moist beans generate damp heat. II
gives the natural greeuish tint OF the
berry a tingo toward tho yellow and
brown It also swells the size OF the
berry To initiate Java, Macaraibo,
Guatemala and Santos is used-all Ameri-
can coffees When subjected to a sweat
ing process they begin to look more or
les hke Java. SO much 80 as 30 deceive
even dealers who 90 not fake the trouble
to testsroifce by making q sample liquor
of it. Yet tho difference in price is eight
cents pound, or 33 per cent. Take
Guatemala coffee. That Is an excellent
kind, handsome to look at and pleasant 70
taste. But much Of what is sold under
tho name is nothing bit Costa Rica, or
Rio a polishing machiue will IN few
hours give those tho Oluish tint and the
glossy appearance of genuine Guatemala.
Soapstone and prusslan blue are used IN
coloriug OF Rio there is more imported
than OF all other kinds Of coiiee-prObably
ten times as much. There are all kinds
of Rio coffee. Some Is exquisite, as fine
in flavor IS 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 sill
absorb the flavor Of the manure sOdden
earth. and such coffee Will be. OF course,
bad ia taste But you cant tell It half
the time until you roast tho berry and
boil your coffee.
A local firm which the dealer referred
10 as "hxing the coffee has warehouse
that is crammed from cellar % roof with
sacks Of coffee and with machinery TO
FIX IL They evidently do a very good
trade The superintendent was watching
the loading of cargo OF several hundred
sacks of coffee consigned % a popular mill
in town lie was not ayerse 10 giving a
few points Of information regarding the
business in which his house IS engaged
"Nine-teuths Of our work, he said, con
sists in milling coffee That is another
name for polishing The machines used
in the business are plaia, horizontal cyl
inders and centrifugals. II coffee is very
dry and husky we use a little pure water.
about one gill 20 the bag. 50 as to give it
a nice, clean and smooth appearance The
polishing is done TO smooth the berry
that's all. Whether dealers afterward
sell this coffee, improved in looks, for
higher grade than il actually is, is a mat
ter with which we have nothing TO do.
We are just paid by the mills and large
dealers for cleaning and polishing coffee
that ends il as far as we are concerned.
What we are doing here however. is a
thing which has been done In Germany
for overa hundred years. The polishing
is done simply by attrition. No bluing or
soapstone IS used nowadays-at least not
much. No. sir. the bulk Of the coffee
aduteration, properly speaking, is done.
not in this country. but before It reaches
here Take Mocha as al example. The
dealers i1 Alden by up other kinds Of
coffee-Nalabar and Cey.on aud others
which resemble the genuine article in Up
pearance These they mix with real
Mocha and the product Is then sent al
over the world as Mocha TIM you see,
a. q matter az fact. no genuine Mocha OK
ISIS in tho TRADE not il you were TO send
your agent a. Alden itself TO buy IL. -