The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1894-03-25
A COFFEE PLANTATION
BEAUTIFUL AS a rEAon ORCHARD
IN BLOOM.
Tho only Gpcd Boiled Conss- som sti,inE
About Partisan Coffee Essenoe-A
sure Test for Adulteratod
Coneo Other Points,

Nicaragua March 2l,-IIacienda Ia Es-
peransa.-The coffee plantations In the de-
partment Of Matagalpa. on the table lands
of Central Nicaragua, are year by year
nearing perfection and give great promise
OF profit. Any one visiting the hncicndas
OF the American colony VIII admit that
a well kept coflee plantation IN full Hover
Is as beautiful a sight az a peach orchard
In blossom.
The Gomez trees naturally grow twenty
or thirty feet high. but are generally kept
trimmed down to twelve feet so that the
crop may be conveniently gathered Inc
leaves are oblons ia shape. dark and
glossy and form a beautiful background
Tor the dainty white blossoms. The coitee
first resembles the cranberry, but when
fully ripe IL rs somewhat darker colored;
y is AZ the time OF picking juicy and
pleasantly acid.
The first step toward preparing coffee
for market is to remove the pulp OF the
fruit, generally by machinery, although
II can be done SIMPLY by soaing the
berries In water for several hours and
washing them until the seeds. the cof1ee
beans, are free.
Each berry contains two seeds, each
Enclosed IN n light papery shell. Under.
meath this ia another shell, gossnmer and
tissue like. This second shell has TO be
removed with great care for if the slight
est bit remains the coffee VIII have a
bitter, unpleasant liavOr.
The sorting and grading Is done by ma
chinery able to separate the berries accur-
ately into classes uniform In size and per-
lection. After a little experience At is
easy TO determine IN what locality coffee
Is grown simply by the appearance of the
bean, Coffee from Java n Of medium Size
rsther light in color. The Mocha Is de-
cidedly smaller and of a dark blush green.
Rio has o distinctive size and shape. The
coffee grown IN Central America rs Of a
higher grade than the Brazilian, and In
deed II has been pronounced by New YORK
importers TO be equal TO the best in the
world. Ii w somewhat smaller Than the
Java, but larger than the Mocha bean,
which IL ~ Ike In color.
Naive NicamguHns DO not make the
most of the possibilities within reach. for
there Is coffee. coffee eyerywhere. and not
q drfp 10 drinklf because Of ITO bad Wy
in M1lch II II prepared IL rs generally
roasted until . Is fairly black. AZ that
stage y has parted with all life and flavor.
II IL then ground into f1our and put on the
stoXf=lo 1>2il and stew indefinitely. In this.
however, the Nicarasnans dlHcr but nltle
fiom the natives IN other coffee growing
countries, Tine Turks ana ArabmnB think
i thick. muddy paste is the best form of
coffee. Whenever they have an opportu-
nifty TO try the clear nmbcr, nectar which
Europeans ana Americans delight IN chey
invariably declare for their bitter paste.
There Is point IN regard 10 coffee which
should be known land acted upon. II is
easily Injured IN favor by its tendency TO
absorb surrounding odors II is as suscep-
title as either butter or mix. Though this
effect may be partially counteraeted by
the process OF roasting. yet enough Of any
unpleasant odor absorbed generally re-
mains 10 destroy the natural flavor OF the
volatile oil or caffeine. For this reason
coffee when roasted should never be- put ~
a wooden box or chest. A tin canister Is
better, but best OF all is an alright glass
or earthen Jar. Nor should freshly roasted
coffee be left * posed TO the air while cool
ing, for the caffec acid, which affords the
greater portion Of the nayor and peculiar
properties OF eoffee, Is set free by the
neat, and II the coffee rs placed at once in