The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1902-03-15
A CHAT ABOUT COFFEE
SOME STEADY DRINKERS BECOME
FOND OF THE ADULTERANTS.

b An old friend asked tho other day
what kind Of coffee l used, and on be-
ing informed that 1t was the usual
mixture of Arabian Mocha and Aand-
heling Java, half and half, 1T 40 cents
pound, offered this amazing informa-
ton: Il am obliged to have q strong
cup of coffee in the morning. Without
it am unable to attend to business l
try to buy the best in the market and
for years have paid from 40 to As
cents pound for Mocha and Java Not
long ago I learned . secret. A great
deal Of the alleged Java we buy It big
prices is Maracaibo. which under Its
real name costs only Is cents pound"
A member Of the Coffee exchange
says: Il am not surprised to hear
that Maracaibo is often sold for Java.
In England it has been the rule rather
than the exception for long time to
substitute the Guatemala product for
that OF Java. and probably the con-
sumers never know the difference. The
production of Java Is steadily falling
Off Indeed, the government Is grad
ually giving up the cultivation OF cof-
fee, finding the profits small in COM
parison with former years, and in the
near future the crop will be entirely
in the hanas of private planters. OF
late the business has been so unre-
munerative. that many coffee estates
have been turned into tea FARMS We
import about 500, 900 900 pounds Of cot
fee, and of this huge quantity only
about million and a quarter pounds
are Java. In 1898 our supply Of Java
was near $780, 900 pounds"
This broker continues: 1.-THE de-
mand, for Java has been sustained by
its name. During the civil war a bag
Of old Government was worth its
weight In gold. While the army was
making coffee out of burnt potatoes the
stay-at-homes we're slipping small cups
Of this. treasure, which was measured
out as carefully as If it were the rar-
est wine. The name has lived in the
memories of the old folk. and its po-
tency has been the encouragement and
excuse for much fraud Even the
cheapest store has pretended to keep
on hand a supply of old Government
for customers who would not think of
drinking anything else, and 1 doubt
if one Of them ever had an oups.
the genuine article in stock. - mere
are coffees quite as good IS Java, and
I am glad the people are beginning to
wean themselves from Old Govern
ment
Because Maracaibo is cheap in price
you must not believe 1t q cheap cot
fee, in the sense of inferiority. We
import about $4,000. 900 pounds annu-
ally. In. 1899 it was invoiced to US at
a fraction over 8 cents q pound. In.
1900 the price was about cent high
er. Rio will always be our cheap COT
fee, l suppose, because there is more
of it, GOD there will continue to be
no%Js.:t The Brazilian crop is over
1,lO0 0Uv,v pounds Think of that.
Why, it is 4oO,00O,o0o pounds more
than the United States consumes Most
Of the Rio used in public houses is
mixed with chicory, which greatly
improves the taste.
Steady coffee drinkers who are not
able to obtain a satisfactory brand
OF the bean become go fond of certain
adulterants that they demand them.
Take chicory: 1t has an injurious eff
feet on the bowels II taken in too large
quantities, but all cheap restaurants
that make specially Of coffee use 1t,
and proprietors have told me In all
.eeriodsness that should the chicory be
left out for q few days and only the
pure coffee fusion be used their Gus
toners will complain and threaten to
60 elsewhere The adulteration Of
ground coffee Is fine subject for con-
gress investigation. Whew! II you
could only know what you get when
you buy it! The French use caramel
or burnt sugar, cast-of product OF
the refneries. And everybody brags
about French coffcs.' Among other
authorizations are roasted wheat and
beans, rye and potato flour, acorns,
ground date stones. etc. Coffee sub
stitutes are flooding the market-cere-
ais, essences, etc.
1T is a hard matter to adulterate
the green bean, and nearly as dificult
to adulterate the roasted bean; but
ground coffee is dangerous. The peo-
pie who roast their own coffee, a small
quantity at time, have the best infu-
sion and save the most money. It is
the rule among certain firms to under
roast the bean in order to escape the
less in weight, which is considerable.
An under-roasted coffee is unft to
drink. Beans cooked to a reddish
brown color lose Is percent, when
chestnut brown they lose about 20
percent, and when they become dark
brown. the correct color. they lose
about IS percent, by weight. In GER
tain South American countries, Colon
bia, for instance, the bean is cooked
until 1t becomes coal. The beverage
made from it is very black and strong
and clear, but has a bitter taste that
would not suit US. All coffee substi-
tutes lack caffeine. and caffeine is what
makes coffee coffee
Coffee is poison to some people. No
question about 1t. Some folk find it