The Portland daily press., 1894-10-24
ADuLTERATIoN OF COFFEE.
How the 'Fake'' Bean is Manufactured
for Use.

The adulteration of food in these days of
keen competition and cheap production mas
given rise to a peculiar industry, which, In
spite of its claim of legitimacy, is enshroud-
ed with nearly much mystery as the
work of the alchemist in the dark ages, says
the Philadelhia inquirer.
The new industry is the manufacture OF
coffee compound or artificial coffee. Ihe
compound is manufactured IN the shape OF
Gomez, beans, made ito initiate as CLOSELY
as possible the natural article. IL is sou
wholesale dealers and is mixed wltn the
commoner grades of coffee. Inc bogus
coffee is sold at about one-thlrd the price OF
the natural product, and this allows dig
margin of profit when the compound Is
mixed with the genuine article. Molasses
rye flour. chickory and other ingredients
enter into the composition of the bogus
ccffse. and it is claimed that it contains
nothing injurious to health. the secret of
t., preparation, however, is jealousy
Guarded. The manufacture of the bogus
coffee berry is commenced on the third floor
of the factory, otherwise known as the
examining room. At one end OF big room
huge tub is located where the different
ingredients are thoroughly beaten up-the
mixture, looking very much like chill
ren's mud Die batter. 1t is next placed in
a sort of grinding machine. over which a
Young girl presides. Her work is to see
that the preparation is thoroughly ground,
and to look after the long, brick-shaped
cakes as they come from the machine.
The putty-like substance is now ready
for the next.machine, which merely rolls it
out in tLin sheets, similar to pie-crust- A
third continuance cuts these sheets into
long, narrow strips about an inch in width.
Up to this point the composition has
not the slightest resemblance to coffee. 1t
tastes very strongly Of molasses, and is
slightly bitter. The next process is the
stamping Of the long strips into beans.
The machinery that does this work is very
intricate. There are a number of wheels,
about six inches in diameter, and encircled
by brass band. At even intervals there
are indentations just the size and shape of
the convex side OF the coffee bean. The
fiat, grooved side of the bean is formed by
another brass banded wheel, stamped in a
similar fashion.
The long, thin strips are run into this
machine and are divided by knives into two
or three strips, the exact width of the bean.
In running luIOuSu euO NhOoio ehS "ee%1AS
are stamped out with bewildering rapidity,
falling into square sleeves placed directly
beneath the ma chine.
The beans are carried ito the floor be-
meath, where the drying room is located.
A long double tier of closets extends from
one end of this room to the other. Inside
of these closets are steam pipes. The
sleeves containing the stamped coffee beans
are packed in the closets and the steam is
turned on. One hundred and thirty degrees
is the temperature required, and the bean
is left for several hours to thoroughly dry.
The bean is, of course, still very rough.
and would easily be detected as spurious
were it not smoothed down. For this pro-
cess dozen revolving sleeves are required
The bean is taken from the drying closets
and dumped into the sleeves, and is smoothed
and polished by friction. In the bottom of
each sieve there is funnel-shaped trap
through whic h the beans fall into a recep-
tacle on the floor below.
The compound now tastes like coffee.
and were it not for slight molasses flavor
it would be almost impossible to distinguish
it from the true product. The final process is
to roast the bean in the same manner as
the genuine article. Any desired shade can
be obtained in roasting, thus initiating the
various bra nds of coffee. The enire process
of manufactur occupies about two days.