Coffee berry

“ The adulterations of ground coffee can be easily detected. It must be premised here that the genuine coffee berry is extremely hard and tough. Every one knows the character of the grounds even after long soaking and boiling. "Now," says an expert, "a spoonful of pure coffee placed gently on the surface of a glass of cold water will float for some time and scarcely color the liquid. If it contains chicory it will rapidly absorb the water, and, sinking to the bottom of the glass, communicate a deep reddish brown tint as it falls. ”

“ When the blossom falls, there springs from it a small fruit, green at first, red when ripe, and under its flesh, instead of a stone, is the bean or berry we call coffee. "It has but recently become known by Europeans that the leaves of the coffee-plant contain the same essential principle for which the berries are so much valued. ”

“ The seeds which constitute the raw coffee “beans” of commerce are plano-convex in form, the flat surfaces which are laid against each other within the berry having a longitudinal furrow or groove. When only one seed is developed in a fruit it is not flattened on one side, but circular in cross section. Such seeds form “pea-berry” coffee.
The seeds are of a soft, semi-translucent, bluish or greenish colour, hard and tough in texture. The regions best adapted for the cultivation of coffee are well-watered mountain slopes at an elevation ranging from 1000 to 4000 ft. ”

“ The coffee shrub is an evergreen, growing to the height of twenty feet, with long, smooth, shining leaves. The pure white flowers are produced in clusters in the axils of the leaves and followed by fleshy berries which, when ripe, resemble small, dark red cherries. Each berry usually contains two seeds embedded in the yellowish pulp. These seeds, when separated from the pulp and papery covering, form the raw coffee of the stores. Each seed—improperly called a berry—is somewhat hemispherical, with a groove running through the middle of the flat side. ”

“ Raw coffee has very little scent, and a bitter taste, and no one would credit it with the delicious aroma which is developed—like the tea leaf—by roasting, an operation which increases the bulk of the berry, whilst diminishing its weight. Its commercial value is in proportion to its aroma; and it is found that, by keeping the raw berry, a chemical change takes place, which very much improves inferior qualities. But this aroma is extremely volatile, and ground coffee should be kept in scrupulously air-tight cases. ”

“ It is this, no doubt, which accounts for the careless methods of the cafetales, where jungle, weeds, and parasites often choke the bushes, while the berries are dried on half-cured cowhides laid in the open streets or on hut floors, with chickens, dogs, goats, and naked children, to say nothing of pigs, wandering over them at will. Such conditions will of course improve when the United States, the greatest coffee-drinking nation on the globe, finally learns that a berry equal to any in the world can be produced on American soil. ”

“ It saves much bother to buy the granulated and cut sugar in sufficient quantities to last a month or more. Powdered sugar “cakes,” and only a small amount should be kept in store. English breakfast tea improves with age, while the lighter teas do not. The green coffee berry grows better as it grows older; but after coffee is roasted it quickly loses strength and flavor, so that only a small quantity of the roasted berry should be bought at one time. ”

“ A knowledge of these advantages was followed by a large incursion of American settlers. There is perhaps no product of field or forest more profitable than the coffee plant. Steadily the demand for the fragrant berry is upon the increase, while, beside having few enemies in the insect world, the area within which coffee can be advantageously grown is very limited. While the coffee plant does not require an exceptionally hot climate, it will not thrive where frost is a possibility. ”

“ In chemical analysis coffee yields an alkaloid, at first named caffeine, but long since determined to be identical with the alkaloid of the tea-plant, so that while the terms theine and caffeine are both in use, chemists recognize them as synonyms. Theine is found not only in the seed—the "berry" of the coffee-plant but even more abundantly in the leaf, though the latter, of less agreeable flavor, has been little used, and is not in commerce. The use of the coffee-leaf is further discouraged by the fact that the plucking of the leaf is injurious to the crop of the berry. ”

“ This grey-green shade of the Western coffees is entirely deficient in those of Asia. The value of the berry in our wholesale markets is not, therefore, a fictitious quality, as some imagine, but is real, and depends first upon the texture and form of the berry or seed, secondly on the colour, and thirdly the flavour. The texture of the berry and form, termed “style” by the coffee brokers, is so well defined and palpable to the initiated, that at one view they{17} pronounce its value, from one hundred and thirty shillings per cwt. ”

“ The tree was fully twenty feet high, and the branches extended out horizontally from all sides.
"Earlier in the season these nuts, as George called them, looked like cherries."
"But where is the coffee?"
"Inside the berry. Each berry contains two seeds. You know how the coffee berry looks. Let us open one of them. See, it is smaller than the ordinary berries, as you know them, but the kind we know are cultivated, which makes them larger, and fuller in appearance. These will make fine coffee, however, and I think we shall have to divide our load with the guavas." ”

“ Contrary to the experience of Java and Arabia Felix, coffee is here found to thrive much better, and produce a more healthy and equal berry on plain land, than upon hills, or undulating slopes, which doubtless arises from the former retaining its moisture better, and generally containing a larger deposit of loam. ”

“ As a result of our experiments with different ways of roasting and brewing coffee, we have found the following plan to be the most convenient and the best: the coffee will taste the same every time and it will taste good. If a good berry be properly roasted and the infusion be of the proper strength, good coffee must result. A Mocha berry should be selected and roasted seven or eight pounds at a time in a cylindrical drum. ”

“ The berry of the coffee-tree, a native of Arabia. The coffee-tree is an evergreen, and makes a beautiful appearance at all times of the year, but especially when in flower, and when the berries are red, which is usually during the winter. It is also cultivated in Persia, the East Indies, Liberia on the coast of Africa, the West Indies, Brazil and other parts of South America, as well as in most tropical climates. ”

“ In Arabia the berry is coarsely broken in a mortar, boiled smartly, and strained before drinking. In Asia coffee is used in a thick decoction. In Sumatra the natives make use of the leaf of the plant instead of the seed, ascribing to it more of the bitter and nutritious property. It may also be cultivated for the leaves where the production of seed would fail from unsuitableness of climate or soil. The leaves are moderately roasted and then rubbed to powder in the hands, and this powder is used like tea. The infusion is said to resemble in taste coffee, as usually prepared, and tea combined. ”

“ More than this, it is an established fact that it bears a larger, plumper, and far more aromatic berry at these altitudes than in a lower situation and in a warmer temperature. The coffee produced on plantations near the foot of the Blue Mountain Peak, in Jamaica, is the finest in the world. In Arabia, likewise, the cold at night is sometimes intense; yet who will dispute the goodness of Mocha coffee?
Nothing can exceed the beauty of the rows or walks planted with coffee-trees, from their pyramidical shape and glossy dark leaves, amongst which are hanging the ripe, scarlet-coloured berries. ”

“ The plant being of a soporific nature, the coffee made from it when drank at night produces a tendency to sleep, instead of exciting wakefulness, and may be safely used as a cheap and wholesome substitute for the Arabian berry, being equal in substance and flavour to the best Mocha coffee. ”

“ This keeps in the aroma until the grinding lets it out. Do it quickly and faithfully, glazing every berry with the air-proof coating. When cool, shake the coffee in a sieve, that the berries may not stick together, and put it into a tight canister. Grind in a good mill—i.e., one that works well without rattling or "wobbling"—every morning as much as will be needed for the day. This was our mothers' and grandmothers' way of preparing coffee grains for making the most popular beverage known to civilized peoples, and no domestic considered herself aggrieved if required to do it. ”

“ The coffee-plants in these farms receive no attention whatever from the time they are planted, so that, instead of the dense well-pruned bushes of India or Ceylon, they grow into tall straggling trees about twelve feet high, with a very small harvest of berries on each, but each berry well exposed to the sun. ”

“ The aroma, upon which the good taste of the coffee depends, is only developed in the berry by the roasting process, which also is necessary to diminish its toughness, and fit it for grinding. While roasting, coffee loses from fifteen to twenty-five percent of its weight, and gains from thirty to fifty percent in bulk. More depends upon the proper roasting than upon the quality of the coffee itself. One or two scorched or burned berries will materially injure the flavor of several cupfuls. Even a slight overheating diminishes the good taste. ”

“ To buy this green coffee and roast it at home is to take slow poison, because this adulteration is not wholly dissipated by the process of roasting. The large roasters of the country do not buy this doctored berry; they care nothing for the appearance if the coffee roasts well, and is clear and free from "quakers" or decayed berries. Therefore it is better to buy roasted coffee of the retailer, either in paper packages or out of tins bearing the name of a reputable house, and refuse to purchase the green under any circumstances. ”

“ The second species of coffee, by some preferred to that of Yemen, but in my poor opinion inferior to it, is the growth of Abyssinia; its berry is larger, and of a somewhat different and a less heating flavor. It is, however, an excellent species; and whenever the rich land that bears it shall be permitted by man to enjoy the benefits of her natural fertility, it will probably become an object of extensive cultivation and commerce. With this stops, at least in European opinion and taste, the list of coffee, and begins the list of beans. ”

“ In the first place, then, the French coffee is coffee, and not chickory, or rye, or beans, or peas. In the second place, it is freshly roasted, whenever made—roasted with great care and evenness in a little revolving cylinder which makes part of the furniture of every kitchen, and which keeps in the aroma of the berry. It is never overdone, so as to destroy the coffee-flavor, which is in nine cases out of tent the fault of the coffee we meet with. ”

“ The more or less advanced state of maturity to which the berry is allowed to attain before picking, and, more particularly still, the degree of dryness, and the longer or shorter period of time for which it is kept before being sent into the market, exercise a most powerful influence upon the quality and flavour of the article. Berries gathered before they have attained maturity, though they may be perfect in colour, will always have a raw, herbaceous taste. ”

“ Buy pure coffee—not necessarily that which costs most—but buy it from some reliable dealer. Mixtures of one-third Mocha and two-thirds Java, or half Mocha and half male berry Java, have given general satisfaction. There are some varieties of South American coffee which are very good. Occasionally one finds a brand, through some friend who is in the business, or who has had opportunity of procuring it directly from coffee-growing countries, which is of such remarkable excellence that it leads one to suspect that much of the best coffee grown is not in the market. ”

“ A combination of one pound Mocha, one pound Rio, and two pounds Java or Maracaibo will give a rich, strong-flavored drink, but not so smooth as if the Rio were omitted.
When buying the berry, pause for a moment to think how you like your beverage. Do you want it smooth and of delicate flavor? Take one-third Mocha and the rest Java or Maracaibo. Do you want it strong? Use all Rio, or temper that brand by combining it with some one of the mild kinds.
[7]
A large proportion of housekeepers buy their coffee roasted, and many also buy it ground. ”

“ These two ingredients are heated separately in equal proportions and then mixed before serving. This is a very satisfactory way in which to serve coffee if cream cannot be obtained.
19. OBTAINING THE COFFEE SEEDS.--The seeds of the coffee tree are enclosed in pairs, with their flat surfaces toward each other, in dark, cherry-like berries. The pulp of the berry is softened by fermentation and then removed, leaving the seeds enclosed in a husk. They are then separated from the husks by being either sun-dried and rolled or reduced to a soft mass in water with the aid of a pulping machine. ”

“ Does this proud representative of Flora's [Pg 146] kingdom, like humanity, require a northern and invigorating atmosphere to inspire its greatest fragrance and best qualities? Coffee plantations are most numerous inland, though they have lately developed a serious blight which has reduced the production at least fifty per cent., causing many to abandon the cultivation of the berry. It is not, like the cinnamon, indigenous to Ceylon, but was introduced here from the main-land. Unless this serious scourge can be overcome, coffee, as an export from the island, will very soon cease. ”