River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-06-04
COFFEE AT SANTOS
BraziPs National Beverage and
the Way 1t Is BreWed.
A DRAFT OF LIQUID LIFE.
Thick as Thin Maple Sirup, Amber
Bright and Crystal Clear, the Seduc-
tive Drink Stimulates the Brain
While 1t Sets the Nerves on EDGE.

0tlAIth AIN 0AySId SlCdIg klS 06QQCS
tive Drink Stimulates the Brains
While 1t Sets the Nerves on Edge.
The coffee of Brazil is the lowest
priced in the worlds market. Know
ing this fact, | was the more surprised
at the exquisite flavor of the coffe5
served in the public cafes of Brazil. Z
called this apparent anomaly to the at
tention of an old Anglo-BraZilian with
whom l dined in Santos one evening,
and he advanced the opinion that this
Americans, Germans and French, tho
principal coffee drinkers, did not know
how to make the beverage.
You are all too free with water
and too sparing with coffee" he said.
You spare your coffee and, | suppose
-um-well. yes, possibly your nerves."
Then he summoned the head waiter.
held a short conversation with him i'm
Portuguese and finally induced him to
escort us to the kitchen in the rear, and
i%naugurate for my benefit the cere-
mony of preparing a fresh tank OF
coffee.
The chef desired it particularly ex-
planned that coffee as generally used
in Brazil was not roasted to the crisp
ness of that treated in the United
States. This insureS against any but
the most delicate of the favOring es-
sence being extracted in the boiling
and thus imparts smoothness to tho
beverage. He also called attention tu
the fact that the bean is not ground
fine. Each grain is cracked into not
more than six or eight pieces by being
run through a wide set mill and then
carefully blown and sifted to get rid OF
the dust and smaller fragments.
But the main divergence from our
procedure lies in the quantity of coffea
used. An extract of meat advertise
ment defines its product as "a bull liz
a teacup.'' With no more exaggeratiolG
might the modern Brazilian nectar bd
styled "a plantation in a coffee cup"
The chef took four liter measures OF
the cracked coffee and added it to just
twice that quantity of warm but not
boiling water in a shallow copper pan.
Here he allowed it to soak for hvG
minutes before turning on the burn
ers, quickly bringing the water to a
boil so violent that pieces of the coffee
were thrown out on the stove.
This agitation was followed by ten
minutes cooling on a side table, at the
end Of which time the chef added a
half dozen drops of a pungent liquid
from a slender green vial, the nature
Of which he refused to divulge, but
which my friend told me was some
kind Of a n~eutralizing agent to elm
mate a certain raWness, impalpable to
other than trained p~alates. Almost i'm
mediately a nickel siphon was intro
duced Just under the surface of the
LIQUID. and about six liters Of 1t was
drawn off from the pan into a boiler.
Nothing now remained but the boil
ing down. which took half an hour n
reduced the liquid to a volume of three
liters and the consistency Of thin ma
pie strip. In the boiler 1t was inky
black, but when poured showed q
stream which was amber bright n
crystal clear. Thus the four liters of
coffee beans made only three-quarters
Of that quantity of liquid coffee.
If you are not Of a nature impervious
to the appeals of the appetite your first
cup of coffee in a Santos cafe will be
an experience. You enter and seat
Yourself at one of the tables scattered
in refreshing aimlessness over the cool
marble pavement. Hidden in a tangle
Of s%hrubbery an orchestra Is playing
something with a catch and a sob in
1t that you are sure you have heard
in another incarnation, while an cleo
trio fan placed in a palm tree sets a
frond aquiver just above your head.
Even the rattle of the street sinks
to a heavy hum and comes to your ear
all peacefulness. Lulled by a veritable
lotus eaters spell of content, you are
about to browse away and loose your
fancy on a search for the original
source of the familiar but elusive melo-
dy that is still pulsing in the jungle | n
the patio when somehow you become
aware that the mOZo has set a little
cup before you, which, from the pleas
ant odor and the thin curl of smoke
above 1T. might be full Of a fragrant
incense.
lou I'LL II W yOul hPo LIN Y SH~"
strange stir of anticipation, that mys-
ferrous foretaste. caFed by sentimental
lists 'the soul of the drink" which
steals over you preliminary to slipping
a rare and pungent liquor. Now it
touches your tongue, and you are will
ling to swear that the capsule of liquid
life is dissolving in your mouth. In a
moment more the fumes have risen to
your brain, a thrill Of energy goes tin
Cling through your nerves and you
straighten up with the feeling that you
are able to go out and build a railroad
single handed. If you can go to sleep
In the next twenty-four hours you de-
serve a gold medal.-New York Sun.
Undecided.
ssJVhv don,f vou marry old CHAMP,