Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-05-15
COFFEE FIT TO DRINK.
Africans Enjoyed the Beverage Before
David Was King of Israel and
Taught Its Beauties to
the ArabianS.
Now Grown Extensively-Where the
Most of 1t Comes From.

And how many men have been made mis-
cradle all day by the nasty liquid which
slandered the pure nectar for which it was
named. One of the star boarders in Puck
is represented standing off his landlady in
the following unique fashion:
Mr.. Springhall, your board bill is not
settled.
mo, and it will not be until your coffee
is settled" and host who have suffered
the same affection will endorse Mr.. Spring
hall as long as he needs friend.
Coffee has long been regarded rather
more than a luxury. While not in the
nature of an absolute necessity, since life
/ may be supported without its aid, yet let a
man who has been accustomed for years to
the beverage start down to his work with
out it and he will find a whole legion of
demons digging at his brain all day, never
deserving him until new day shall grant
him privilege to begin anew. Business
will drag, figures will lie, clerks will get
lazy or employers unreasonable, and all
the myriad ends of hard luck will tangle
themselves In his hair and tug at it till he
wishes the world and all its follies would
sink in the depths of Prophecies Wood
worth s general ruin. Next morning new
life comes back with the first sip of Mocha
or Java, or the milder Brazilian beam and
after a scant cupful has been swallowed,
10! body and brain are rendy and eager
for the trials of the day. Coffee or no
coffee means all the range from sanity to
madness; from solvency to 20 cents on the
dollar
Be it known, then. that coffee has been
made and drank in Ethiopia and Abyssin-
la from time immemorial, The tree
grows wild In those countries, and tombs
| old as the christian era contain abundant
evidence that coffee was favorite bever-
age with the dusky kings long before
Solomon sent his fleets across the sees and
his caravans across the desert. And in
that country, where they have known it
the longest and are presumably the best
acquainted with it, the natives do not
roast the berry, but make a decoction of
it green. In this custom they are initial
ed by the Arabians who have enjoyed its
cheering aroma for hundreds of years. In
these lands, a generous quantity of the
choisest plants are poured in the kettle
and kept just below the boiling point for
hours. The older the berry is before they
use it the better it is liked, but no prepara-
| ton beyond curing is required. Perhaps
half an hour before the beverage is served
the heat will be increased, and while the
coffee never boils suriously as with so
many heather cooks in christian kitchens
it is kept excessively hot They will make
about one forth the liquid from a pound of
berries, that christian cooks produce, but
the amber stream which runs from their
rude kettles is all coffee. The whole
grains have been stepped until they give
up the last touch of strength. and the
| 4 ,lo-. I. II
a gallon of water, but secures all the re-
suits of the most perfect cooking with half
gill of the fluid
| In 1873 Leonard Reawoll, a German
| physician who was content to travel before
the time of steamships and sleeping cars,
found the berry and its resultant beverage
in the east, and introduced both into Eu-
rope. But Frankish chiefs soon discover
ed that roasting made the product milder
and more fitting for weaker western
palate. The active principle in coffee, the
caffeine, was reduced, and the aroma was
heightened. And one other thing. the
bulk was greater. In short, the more deli
cate stomach and the more greedy eye of
the European were both served by the
oven process, and from that day to this
christians roast their coffee.
Coffee grows now in almost every tropi-
cal country under the sun. The Dutch in
troduced it into Java from Mocha in 1890,
and shoots from the green trees there
were taken to the botanical gardens in
Amsterdam. and have ever since been pro-
pagated as one of the chief objects of
pride in commercial Holland. From these
trees, which are raised simply to show the
form of the plant in its native state, other
| 1oo AL -
in Paris. Of course no product is gather
ed from them, but every one who drinks
coffee is interested in studying the curious
tree from which the berry is gather ed
From the island of Java the plant was
transferred to the West Indies, and at
once took root successfully, partially in
| Martinique, whence a goodly proportion
of the coffee used in the United States is
| drawn.
Still, in a commercial way, the importa-
lions to this country are chiefly from Bra
zil; Java sends US the second largest share
| and Ceylon is third. In point CT excel
lence the Mocha has always been consider
ed the best coffee, and easily commands
the highest price. 1t comes from Arabia
and the natives there, aside from the ma
bobs, can the more readily part with the
berry since they, like the natives of Sum-
atra, makes decoction of the leaves in
stead of the commonly chosen bean. If
they lived in this country people would try
and argue them out of this notion, hold
ing that they must drink nothing but
coffee, just as they now argue against
butterine instead of butter, no matter if it
does answer the same purpose. But the
people of Sumatra and some other hot
countries know that tho laavac of bo
coffee tree larger proportion of the caf-
What blessing it would be if in some
economical Chicago boarding houses,
where the hired girl unchains a coffee
mill right in the middle of a 5-o'clock
dream. this custom of using the leaves in
stead could be introduced
The tree in its wild state grows from
ten to twelve feet high, but under cultiva-
ton it is pruned down to six or eight feet.
with branches almost from the ground.
The flowers are small, white and fragrant,
clustered on the axilis or jointure of the
leaf with the branch. 1t bears a berry of
not unpleasant taste, which becomes dark
red when fully ripe. and which is much
liked by natives. Within this plum like
fruit are two cells lined with a tough
membrane. each containing a single seed,
IN shape and irregular hemisphere These
are the coffee grains, and they lie with
their fat sides together until the crushing
of rollers and the constant moving of
machines burst the skin and pulp and
further agitated till the last vestige of the |
ready for drying and sending to market |
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