Practically, the demand for a brown Java is an American caprice which has enhanced its commercial value two to three cents per pound, and this caprice is also directly responsible for the immense quantity of imitation brown Java, which is at pres ent flooding the market. In New York City tons of such coffee are produced daily. This condition of affairs will exist just as long as it is the exception rather than the rule, for wholesale dealers to buy coffee on style and color and neglect through care lessness (but oftener ignorance), to roast and test samples in the cups after the manner of testing teas.
" Old Government Java.' This term arises from the fact that the Dutch Government formerly held considerable quantities for a long time without selling it, and this was usually of very good quality. Old Government Java soon became a trade term denot ing highest quality, Of late years this term has been used indiscriminately to designate all Javas of whatever quality, and ceased to possess any real significance as to extra merit.
Mocha, the aristocratic coffee of the world, is grown in Arabia. It is found on both sides of the Red Sea, that on the north side coming from Hodgeda and commonly called "genuine Arabian Mocha," is raised in very hot and dry localities. The bean is very small and irregular in appearance, drinks hard, acrid and peculiar, and when roasted is one of the most unsightly coffees grown—invariably quakery—(see article on roasting) owing to the intense heat prevalent where the coffee grows. This is trans ported to Aden, (the shipping port,) on the backs of camels. Here it is shelled and matted for shipment. The United States arc the principal consumers of this grade. That which comes from the south, from the Berbia district, has quite a large bean, drinkg well, and is prized very highly. Quite lately it has been shipped to the United States, and its intrinsic merit as it becomes known, will eventually make it very desirable. Proba bly no one kind of coffee coming to the United States is so generally adulterated or counterfeited. Vast quantities of Mala bar and small bean Ceylons are shipped to Alexandria, then matted and exported as genuine Mocha. The imports of Mocha received into the United States average about 15,000 bales annually, only about one-half of which is probably of Arabian growth.
Ceylon coffe takes its name from the Island of Ceylon, where it grows, and is to-day the great rival of Java in the East.
Colombo is the pore of shipment, and most of the Ceylon goes to England. It is divided into two classes, Plantation and Native. Plantation Ceylon takes high rank and is considered one of the finest coffees grown. It is raised on elevated lands, the greatest care being taken in its cultivation. It is a very solid, oily bean, transparent in color, and is largely consumed in Europe, where it is highly prized, occupying the position there that Padang Java does in the United States. It is packed in small and large casks. Native or common Ceylon is raised on the low lands, and resem bles in color and size of bean Maracaibo or Savanilla, but lacks the strength of either. It is quite poor, drinks weak, and in cof fee parlance, roasts quakery, resulting from the numerous blighted or undeveloped beans which possess little virtue or strength. Considerable quantities of Male-berry or Pea-berry Ceylon are shipped to this country and are used as a substitute for Male-berry Java.
Maracaibo coffee is a product of the northern part of South America, being raised in Venezuela. Like Java coffee, it is grown in different districts, each district producing a distinct variety, which are known as Cucuta, Merida, Tovar, Bocono and Trujillo. Maracaibo is the principal shipping port. Probably no coffee raised is sold under such false colors as this. It has been found to be an excellent substitute for Java and also for mixing with Java, and its use for this purpose is fully recognized by the trade. The United States consumes five times as much as there is imported into'the United States. Maracaibo coffees are packed in a peculiar bag, made of string, resembling a fine net, the contents being plainly seen through the meshes.
Savanilla coffee is grown in the United States of Columbia, separated from the Cucuta district by a high range of mountains, over which the coffee has to be transported on the backs of mules to reach the shipping port of Maracaibo. It is a light-colored bean of the same general style and quality as the better grades of Maracaibo, but averaging larger in size. and combining the united peculiarities of both Cucuta and Merida. After it leaves the hands of the importers and jobbers it is rarely known as Savanilla, but is rechristened Padang Java and is distributed throughout the country as such.