There are two main crops during the year. The berries, instead of being picked, are allowed to ripen until they fall. They are then carefully gathered up, dried, hulled and cleaned with scrupulous exactness.
The separation of the finest "Mocha" beans by growers and merchants is in itself a study of infinite detail—they are assorted and re-assorted into a perfect graduation of sizes and qualities.
The true Yemen "Mocha" bean is very small, hard and round, regular in size in the best qualities, olive-green when new and a rich semi-transparent yellowish when aged. Its odor when fresh roasted is characteristic, and the liquor is creamy, rich, rather heavy, a little acid, and extremely aromatic and fragrant.
"Tehama" Arabian coffee—that from the province of Tehama—is distinctly inferior to "Yemen." The bean is of about the same size, but it is immature in appearance and often mixed with fragments of hull, etc. Its flavor is quite second-rate when drunk alone, but it imparts a pleasing fragrance and delicacy when blended with a good "Java," etc.
Abyssinian coffee from the vicinity of Harrar and properly called "Harrar Coffee" was formerly shipped via Aden as "long-berry Mocha." It is of the same color as the real "Mocha" but is longer and more pointed and has a rank, leathery odor.
The West Indian islands produce a large quantity of excellent coffee, but the bulk of the finest grades is exported to Europe, as better prices can generally be obtained there than in this market. The greater part of the supply shipped to this country comes from the British West Indies, principally from Jamaica, and Haiti, with small quantities from Santo Domingo, Cuba and the Dutch West Indies.
The best Jamaica coffee, known as "Blue Mountain," is a bean of fair size, attrac tive appearance and bluish color, making a full, rich, fragrant liquor, but "Plain grown," the variety chiefly imported, is a much inferior grade, The bean, large, whit ish and flat, is generally "holly" and the liquor is strong and rather rank or "grassy" in flavor. It is employed almost exclusively for blending with beans of other varieties.
Haitian and San Domingo beans are large, flat and whitish. Their appearance is spoiled by crude preparation, which leaves them bully and includes broken beaus, stems, etc., but their liquor is rich, mild and pleasant.
The best Cuban grades come from the Guantanamo, Alquizar and San Marcos dis tricts and the Sierra Maestro. plantations. The beans are large and whitish and rather especially rounded on the flat side. They are generally excellent in cup quality.
Porto Rico produces very good coffee, the beans regular and well-formed, from 'yellow to greenish in color, and making a very good flavored liquor, but the product goes almost exclusively to Europe. Proposed Government co-operation with the growers
may result in stimulating traffic with this country.
There are several distinct varieties of Ceylon coffees, as follows : "Native," grown in the lowlands+a large, flat white bean of poor quality.
"Plantation," the product of carefully cultivated modern plantations—the bean large, of light-bluish or green tint, well developed and very regular, giving a liquor which is smooth, rich and aromatic.
"Liberian-Ceylon," a hybrid of the Liberian species—the bean smaller and paler than the parent variety and the liquor less strong, but smooth and pleasant in flavor.
"Ceylon-Mocha," a small bean, very even and uniform—generally obtained by separating from the regular "plantation" crop. Both in appearance and flavor it resembles the genuine "Mocha." The two best known varieties of Indian coffee are "Malabar," a small hard bean of fine quality; and "Mysore," a large bluish-green bean, giving a rich, strong liquor. resembling "Java." Coffees from Ecuador are generally known under the title of from the general port of that name. The beans vary from medium to large, are fairly uniform in appearance and give good full fragrant liquor. They are quite largely shipped to the Pacific Coast States.
The coffee industry in the Philippines has in the past suffered from lack of proper cultivation, but it is only a question of time when it will fill an important position, for both soil and climate are admirably suitable. In spite of scanty attention and poor preparation, the better grades have won high esteem in European markets because of their rich flavor and pleasing aroma.
The beans are generally classed as Luzon, Manila and Zamboanga the two latter from the names of the shipping ports.
Luzon is a small bean type, hard in texture and rich in cup quality. If properly cleaned and prepared, it would rank high.
The Manila bean is medium in size, regular in shape and pale green in color, with fine aromatic liquor. It comes principally from the districts of Cavite, Batangas, La Laguna and the immediate vicinity.
Zamboanga from the Southern islands, is the poorest grade. The beans are large, yellowish and rather flabby and the liquor is weak and coarse.
In addition to the countries referred to in the foregoing pages, there are a number of others which produce coffee to a considerable total, including some of very fine quality. but the imports into the United States are not sufficient in volume to affect market conditions.