Coffee maker

“ The French meantime focused on coffee makers; and in 1827, Jacques Augustin Gandais, a manufacturer of plated jewelry in Paris, produced a really practicable pumping percolator. This machine had the ascending steam tube on the exterior. The same year, 1827, Nicholas Felix Durant, a manufacturer in Chalons-sur-Marne, was granted a French patent on a percolator employing for the first time an inner tube for spraying the boiling water over the ground 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 larger percentage of roasted coffee sold by the average retailer is inferior. The crude and ignorant manner in which roasted coffees are handled by the small dealers is of itself sufficient to depreciate and almost destroy the good that is in any coffee; and, to meet this emergency, the Schnull-Krag Coffee Co., of Indianapolis, Ind., adopted a patent can from which their coffees are sold. These cans are sealed as soon as the coffee is placed in them, and, by the intervention of a trap on the inside of the can, refilling is prevented except at their mills. ”

“ Pounding by hand is likely to damage the bean by breaking it, and when this is done the market value of the coffee is considerably reduced. Inventors have studied the problem, and a good many machines have been devised to accomplish the desired separation. The most successful one thus far is the invention of an Englishman in Ceylon, and his machines are in use all over the coffee-producing world. ”

“ The separator, with its bins and elevator, may be installed independently of the rest of the plant, the graded coffee being all bagged up again and treated as new raw stock—some of it to be held for later use, or perhaps sold again unroasted. The milling machine and the mixer, however, are usually so placed and connected that the coffee can be sent from one to the other, and to the roaster feed hoppers, without any manual labor. ”

“ In this system, the proprietor buys the green coffee in large quantities, and it is roasted in each of his specialty stores, which are located in public markets, store windows, and alongside heavily traveled highways. The roasting machinery is invariably set up in front of the store where passers-by can easily see it in operation—and also smell the coffee roasting. ”

“ When the colors match exactly, the coffee is dumped automatically into the cooler box just below the cylinder opening; and when sufficiently cooled off, is ready for grinding to order.
A large number of retailers roast coffee in their stores; and the most successful find that besides being able to make a feature of freshly roasted coffee, they can save money and increase their sales. ”

“ The hotel steward wishing to furnish his patrons with a heavy-bodied coffee, particularly a black after-dinner coffee, without chicory, will use three, four, or even four and one-half pounds of ground coffee to five gallons of water.
With so wide a choice of coffees to choose from, a coffee blender can make up many combinations to meet the demands of his trade. Probably no two blenders use exactly the same varieties in exactly the same proportions to make up a blend to sell at the same price. ”

“ Beyond acquiring a general talking knowledge about coffees, the retailer buying his stocks roasted in bulk or package form does not generally need the intimate knowledge of his goods required by the grocer who roasts his own coffee. If he grinds the coffee for his customers he must know the type of grind best suited to the way the coffee is to be brewed, and must be able to tell the best brewing method. ”

“ Nearly all the coffee is ground at home, which is not a bad practise for the consumer; but perhaps works hardship on the dealer, who can mix some grade grinders into his blends without doing them any material harm. Where coffee mills are used in the stores, they are of the Strong-Arm family and of an ancient heritage. To get a growl out of the grocer in France, buy a kilo of coffee and ask him to grind it. ”

“ The mixer does not blend the various coffees any more surely than a good roaster cylinder will do it, but treats batches of much larger size. This means saving a great amount of labor that would be necessary for putting the desired quantity of component coffees into each individual roaster.
A proper installation of green coffee machinery requires various bins of ample capacity, and bucket elevators by which the coffee can be sent without manual labor from one operation to another. In modern plants, all the bins and elevators are constructed of metal. ”

“ The reasons for this are various, partly relating to the mere economy of buying and manufacturing on a large scale, and partly relating to the trained skill that is needed both for selecting suitable green coffees to make a satisfactory blend, and for the roasting work itself. The proportion of consumers (including restaurants and hotels) who roast their own coffee is so small as to be negligible, at least in the United States. The average person who buys coffee today, for brewing use, never sees green coffee at all, unless as an "educational exhibit" in some dealer's display window. ”

“ For general home use, a device that employs filter paper or filter cloth is best; for the epicure an improved porcelain French percolator (drip pot) or an improved cloth filter will yield the utmost of coffee's delights. Drink it black, sweetened or unsweetened, with or without cream or hot milk, as your fancy dictates.
It should be remembered that to make good coffee no special pot or device is necessary. Good coffee can be made with any china vessel and a piece of muslin. But to make it in perfection pains must be taken with every step in the process from roaster to cup. ”

“ The first difficulty is that of a weak product, in spite of the fact that you know the right quantity of coffee, and not too much water, is used. You may be almost sure, in this instance, that the coffee is not ground fine enough, half of it, probably, being as large as rice. Alter the screw of your mill. It is harder work to grind coffee when the mill is screwed tight, and you may not find it easy to keep it screwed just right, for it will develop a perverse tendency to loosen under Delia's care, which you will know by your coffee being weak and your grocer's bill long. ”

“ Creating a Coffee Trade
Because of steady sales and quick profits, there is keener competition in retail coffee-merchandising than in other food products. But, all things being equal, any intelligent person can create and hold a profitable trade if he follows approved business methods—and works. The best practise among coffee merchants shows that the prime essential is good coffee, freshly roasted and ground. After that comes intelligent and unremitting sales-promotion work.
[Pg 424]
Small German Roasters
On the left is a hand roaster for wood or coal fuel; on the right is a gas machine. ”

“ But, on the other hand, unless the roasting be done very carefully, the coffee will not be good. A few burnt beans in a quart will ruin the drink. When careful attention to roasting cannot be given at home, it will be better to buy a supply already roasted, but never ground. A French small mill, which can be regulated to grind coarse or fine, can be bought for about a dollar and a half. With care it will last for ten or twenty years. Some firms put up coffee in tin cans. It costs more, but retains so much of the aroma as to be well worth the extra price. ”

“ Some expert blends are to be found among the leading package brands. But you really can not do better than to trust your case to a first-class grocer of known reputation. He will guide you right if he knows his business; and if he doesn't, then he doesn't know his business—try elsewhere. Test him out along this line:
Let us reason together, Mr. Grocer. Let us consider these facts about coffee: green coffee improves with age? Granted. As soon as it is roasted, it begins to lose in flavor and aroma? Certainly. Grinding hastens the deterioration? ”

“ Those most advanced in the correct method of brewing use the drip process. It is generally agreed that demonstrations should not be held too often. They not only cut into profits, but lose much of their advertising value. Food-show demonstrations require more elaborate equipment, consisting of a decorated booth, educational booklets, posters, and exhibits of different kinds of coffee, both green and roasted, whole bean and ground. Generally, coffee packers co-operate with retail demonstrators by supplying gratis the coffee to be brewed, if the names of their brands are suitably displayed. ”

“ The perfection of coffee, to my way of thinking, is made in the "Vienna coffee-pot." A tea-kettle of copper, brass, or plated silver, full of boiling water, is set over a spirit lamp. Into it is fitted a tube attached to a glass receptacle for the finely-ground coffee, which is kept from entering the tube by a wire sieve. A tight stopper prevents the escape through the kettle-spout of the steam generated by the lamp. It is thus forced upward through the tube and sieve into the dry coffee. The globe has a brass cover that keeps in the heat. ”

“ Distribution of roasted coffees outside Chicago and Kansas City is accomplished [Pg 525] through the medium of more than one hundred stock depots in as many different cities of the United States.
To operate the world's greatest coffee business is no small undertaking; and when this is coupled with an important sugar-refining business and a waterfront warehouse-and-terminal business, plenty of room is needed. So we find the plant along the Brooklyn waterfront occupying an area of a dozen city blocks. ”

“ For a good many years, the keenest wits of the coffee merchants, not only of the United States but of Europe as well, have been at work to refine the beverage as it comes to the consumer's cup; and their success has been striking. Now the consumer can have his favorite brand not only roasted but packed air-tight to preserve its flavor; and made up, moreover, of growths brought from the four corners of the earth and blended to suit the most exacting taste. He can buy it already ground, or he can have it in the form of a soluble powder ”

“ Finishing whole-bean roasted coffee, by giving it a friction polish while it is still moist, using a glaze solution or water only, is a practise not harmful if the proper solutions are employed. Roasted coffee dulls in ordinary handling, and it is claimed that coating not only improves its appearance, but serves also to preserve the natural flavor and aroma of the bean. A machine having flat-sided wooden cylinders with ventilated heads, and operated two-thirds full of coffee so as to get an effective rolling motion, is generally employed. ”

“ Thomas Smith & Son (Elkington & Company, Ltd., successors) began to manufacture at Glasgow, Scotland, about 1870, the Napierian vacuum coffee machine which had been invented in 1840—but never patented—by Robert Napier of the celebrated firm of Clyde shipbuilders. This machine makes coffee by distillation and filtration. It employs a metal globe, and a brewer from which the coffee is syphoned over into the globe through a tube, around the strainer-end of which, as it rests in the coffee liquid in the brewer, there is tied a filter cloth. ”

“ The cocoa bean, on the other hand, has not risen to the position of popular favorite in any important consuming country, and so has not aroused the serious opposition of its two rivals.
Coffee is universal in its appeal. All nations do it homage. It has become recognized as a human necessity. It is no longer a luxury or an indulgence; it is a corollary of human energy and human efficiency. People love coffee because of its two-fold effect—the pleasurable sensation and the increased efficiency it produces. ”

“ When using, grind only what you need, and take care that it is not left coarse, when the strength can not be extracted, or that it is not too fine, when the liquor will be muddy in spite of you; in this, as always, experiment until you know the degree of fineness which ground coffee should have. A heaping tablespoonful of ground coffee to a cup and a half of water is the ordinary proportion for making strong coffee—the only kind which should ever be prepared, by the way, the diluting ought always to take place in the cup ”

“ Strong French or filtered coffee is not used in many families, because it is believed to be more expensive; but this mistake comes from the fact that the experiment is often made with coffee too coarsely ground. Grocers usually grind coffee like coarse oatmeal; but coffee so used is very extravagant, for you require double the quantity necessary. Coffee should be ground as fine as coarse corn meal—not so fine as flour, or it will clog the strainer—and it should be [31] freshly ground each time coffee is made. These rules apply both to boiled and filtered coffee. ”

“ The roasted coffee business in New York had grown to such proportions in 1833 and gave such promise, that James Wild considered it a good investment to bring over from England for his new coffee manufactory in New York a complete power machinery equipment for roasting and grinding coffee. ”