New Britain herald., 1922-05-05
COOKS SHOULD NOT
 LET COFFEE BOIL
Drinkers Prefer It Made by Drip
 or Filtration Method

| In reaching the conclusion that cof- fee never should be boiled, the coffee research staff at the Massachu husctts h. stitute Of Technology have depended upon practical tests as well us chem istry. Several pots of coffee arc pre- pared. each by different method, and then a group Of students and instruc- tors are called In to sample each brew and determine which they prefer. These experiments have been repeated over and over again until now the in- vestigators believe they have reliable data on the preference Of the average coffee thinker
 Individual Taste.
 Tt must be emphasized" says Pro lessor s. c. Prescott, head of the De- partment of Biology and Public Health in discussion of these ex- periments that the individual prefer ence or taste plays very important part in arriving at an opnios on mat ters of this sort. Some individuals have keen taste perception. while with others it is not acute. Further more, it is likely to be influenced by u o'Iiilt, IdplL ol SAptI 50 LlldI those who have long been accustomed to a particular style of cooking or a characteristic method of preparation of any food substance unconsciously tend to select the flavor to which they have been habituated as the most desirable. This fact, combined with the facts that taste, flavor and aroma cannot be made the subject of exact quantitative estimates makes it necessary to replace the individual opinion by q group opinion or pop ular vote in arriving at decision as to what is best" in the public mind. We have, therefore, in these practical studies on coffee-making. attempted. in every case to test our individual opinions as to quality by checking it against such group opinion, or rather by becoming units in such composite group.
 Test Methods.
 Observations previously made had indicated that the factors of temper ature, quantity of coffee used, fineness of grind, character of the coffee pot, and time of infusing would be most important, and we have therefore car ried out many comparative experi- ments in which one factor alone was varied, all the others remaining con- stant, or as nearly so as is humanly possible. By this means direct com- parisons are obtained, and conclusions reached absolutely free of individual bias. Some of these conclusions we believe to be of very great importance in the movement for perfect coffee"
 Making the Test.
 With the particular variant known to but one person, a series of coffees is prepared, and while fresh and hot tested and compared by a group of in- dividuals of intelligence and ability to No discussion is permit ted during the test, the report of pre- ference or quality being designated on a slip of paper which is given into the custody of the coffee maker. When the whole group has reported the individ- ual opinions are tabulated and the popular preference is indicated by the vote. While the groups have in general been small. say of ten to | twenty individuals, the total number of different persons has been about | sixty, and the repetition of the tests has been undertaken as control measure. It cannot be claimed that l single test of this sort is always therefore it is our purpose 10 make constant repetitions with | much larger numbers, before an- bouncing opinions as final. The re- suits of the tests made have great l value, however, as indicating the gen. aral trend of opinion as to what con- stitutes quality in beverage coffee, and as suggesting methods for im- in coffee making and in