The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1914-06-25

| more than two and one-half billions
of pounds. The United States con-
sumes about one billion and fifty mil
lion pounds. and of this Brazil fur
nishes us about S1S,000,000 pounds,
while the other countries to the south
furnish about 100,000,000 pounds.
Arabia sends to the United States
yearly only 2,12S,000 pounds. This is
hardly drop in the bucket, espe-
cially when it is remembered that be-
fore the passage of the food legisla-
ton much of the coffee was adver-
tised as Arabian under the name of
Mocha"
The coffee shrub is an evergreen
plant with Shiny green leaves, white
| flowers and fruit which is a feshy
berry, green at first, finally changing
to dark glossy purple or dark red.
The coffee beans themselves are en-
closed in the flesh or pulp of the
fruit, (something like a cherry stone)
each inside of thin parchment-like
skin. The berries are gathered and
the pulp is cleaned off them by ma
chinery, leaving the beans inside the
parchment like covering, They are
then run into series of fermenting
and washing tanks, where by lying in
water or moistening they are ferment-
ed, then washed to remove the sac
charine matter of the fruit which adj
heres to the outside of the parchment
like skin. After this they are dried |
by exposure to the sun or by artifi- |
cial heat and then hulled and peeled, |
but before this is undertaken the bean
is allowed to remain in the parch |
ment for several weeks to cure the |
curing improving its quality. The |
thin skin is then removed from the |
berries and the bean finally attains
sort of fine green or yellowish hue.
When the coffee gets Older the tint
becomes a pale yellow. AS the beans
merge from the huller they come I'M
der a fan which removes the detach-
ed skins, and then go to the "separa-
tor" which is sieve divided into diff
ferent meshes and both cleans and
sorts the grains. Some curious
things come out of coffee sometimes.
This department has a sample on
hand containing nails, pebbles, spur
wheels from a Spanish spur and the
like.
The value of coffee depends to a
large extent on the care and judg
ment exercised in bringing it through
the various processes and the same
care must be continued in it's trans
portatiOn to seaport and its shipment |
and storage before it reaches the con-
san4er
Roasted coffee contains about one
per cent of caffeine, to which is chief
Iy due its stimulant properties. Aft
er it gets to the consuming countries
coffee may be blended, and this is a
very important branch of the business
|
may be obtained.
Coffee may be adulterated in var
ous ways. chiefly by substitution of
lower grades for high grades. COT
Zee expertsmen who have spent their
lives in Judging of the grade of the
berry must be called in in order to
ina III hna Of l
nigh salaries these men command it I
Is not possible for the average state
inspector to hire them. Polishing"
S considerably resorted to--this be- ,
ng done by the addition to batch of +
coffee of various pigments such as t
chrome yellow, burnt lumber, vene-
ian red, etc, water containing little
gum, and usually ground tale, etc. S
This batch is then tumbled into ro- a
ating cylinder. OF course there is :
lot great deal of these pigments in
my batch of coffee, the deception con-
,isting in the making of the grade of
coffee appear better than it really is.
imitation beans were formerly much
more sold than is now the case.
They were cleverly nodded out of
lour to initiate the real coffee.
Ground coffee is much more liable to
than the bean; adulter
lnts of it have been roasted peas,
BEANS, rye, oats, charcoal, red slate,
,hicory and so on.
Owing to the activitise of the Unit
I'd States food and drugs inspection,
which has authority over all ship
nents across the state lines, not q
great deal of adulteration in coffee
low prevails. The average consum-
II would probably be luost deceived
low in hotel or restaurant which
Used chicory in it's coffee without mott
ication of that fact to the consumer,
he consumer in this case having no
Iccess to the original material The
Tennessee food and drugs department
'equires that when chieory and cof-
ee are used instead of straight cof-
ee in any hotel or restaurant that
act shall be notified to the consum-
" by proper placards on the wall of
he eating room.
Hot Weather Tome and Health Builder.
Are you run down-nervous-tire Is
Al 4