The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1894-05-31
COFFEE.
Interesting Facts About the Berry
and Beverage,
Growers Of Coffee Drink
Frightful Decoction.

The coffee plantations in the depart
ment of Matagalpa, on the table lands
OF Central Nicaragua, are year by year
nearing perfection and give great prom
Use of profit. Anyone visiting the ha-
ciendas of the American colony will
admit that well-kept coffee planta-
ton in full flower is as beautiful
sight as peach orchard in blossom.
The coffee trees naturally grow twen-
ty or thirty feet high, but are gene
rally kept trimmed down to twelve
feet, SO that the crop may be conven-
iently gathered. The leaves are OBJ
long in shape, dark and glossy and
form a beautiful background for the
dainty white blossoms. The coffee
first resembles the cranberry, but when
fully ripe it is somewhat darker col
ored. 1t is at the time of picking
juicy and pleasantly acid.
The first step toward preparing cof-
fee for market is to remove the pulp
of the fruit, generally by machinery,
although it can be done simply by
soaking the berries in water for seve-
raj hours and washing them until the
seeds, the coffee beans are free.
Each berry contains two seeds, each
inclosed in light papery shell. I'm
derneath this is another shell, gossa-
mer and tissue like. This second
shell has to be removed with great
care, for if the slightest bit remains
the coffee will have bitter, unpleas-
ant flavor.
The sorting and grading is done by
machinery able to separate the berries
accurately into classes uniform in size
and perfection. After little expert
ence it is easy to determine in what
locality coffee is grown simply by the
appearance of the bean. Coffee from
Java is of medium size, rather light in
color. The Mocha is decidedly smaller
and of dark blush green. Rio has
a distinctive size and shape. The
coffee grown in Central America is of
higher grade than the Brazilian, and
indeed it has been pronounced by
New York importers to be equal to
the best in the world. 1t is somewhat
smaller than the Java, but larger than
the Mocha bean, which it is like in
color.
Native Nicaraguans do not make
the most of the possibilities within
reach, for there, is "coffee, coffee
everywhere, and not a drop to drink j.
because of the bad way in which it is
prepared. 1t is generally roasted un-
til it is fairly black. At that stage it
has parted with all life and flavor. 1t
is then ground into -four and put on
the stove to boil and stew indefinitely.
In this, however, the Nicaraguans differ
but little from the natives on other
coffee-growing countries. The Turks
and Arabians think thick, muddy
paste is the best form of coffee.
Whenever they have an opportunity
to try the clear amber nectar which
Europeans and Americans delight In,
they invariably declare for their bitter
taste.
There is point i'll regard to coffee
which should be known and acted
upon. 1t is easily injured in flavor by
its tendency to absorb surrounding
odors. 1t Is as susceptible as either
butter or milk. Though this effect
may be partially counteracted by the
process of roasting, yet enough OF any
unpleasant odor generally remains to
destroy the natural odor of the vola-
tile oil or caffeine. For this reason
coffee when roasted should never be
put in a wooden box or chest. TIN
canister is better, but best of all is
an alright glass or earthen jar. Nor
should the freshly roasted coffee be
left exposed to the air while cooling,
for the caffeic acid, which affords the
greater portion of the flavor and pc
culiar properties of coffee, is set free
by the heat, and if the coffee is placed
at once in a closed jar much of the
aromatic odor will be reabsorbed. =
Detroit Free Press.