African coffee grown on the east coast of Africa is a small-sized bean, gnarley and unsightly in appearance, resembling Liberian. In the cup it drinks rank, harsh-flavored and generally disagree able, and is very unsalable.
Manilla coffee is the product of the Island of Manilla, and is only occasionally imported into this country. It possesses no qualities that would recommend it, drinking like many of the package preparations labelled coffee.
Malabar coffee is a product of the East India Islands and is a fine variety. The bulk of the crop is shipped to Alexandria, where it is repacked and sold as Mocha.
California has turned her attention to the growth of coffee, but as yet it has not passed beyond the limit of experiment. The samples that have b3en received, show a large white bean with flavor resembling Costa Rica, from which seed it is raised.
Skimmings. This variety is literally what its name indicates, and the process of obtaining it is as follows: A greater or less portion of each cargo is found on arrival to have become damaged by dampness, discoloring the bean and rendering it musty and mouldy. That portion of the cargo packed along the sides and top of the hold are more or less stained, and can be easily detected by the outward appearance of the b :g or mat. These are cut open and the damagel beans are skimmed off; the remainder are then re-bagged and sold as sound coffee, although it is an open question whether they can be considered as such. Many good judges maintain that as coffee is very susceptible to outside flavors, the odor of the mouldy beans penetrate through the whole bag. The skimmings of Java after being rebagged are ciassifieti and marked by a sin ill stencil or brush on one corner of the package, as follows : G. S. signifying good skimmings; P. S. poor skimmings; S. S. store sweepings. In appearance good Java skimmings show very little damage. In fact, unless closely examined, would pass for a sound coffee and sell readily for from 2 to 3 cents per pound less than the straight goods. Usually, the demand is in excess of the supply, and this is met by using Sing apore Java, (which we have describe 1 as very offensive in the cup), and coloring S)uth American mild coffees by sweating, taking care to sprink'e in a few damaged or black beans, in order to ful:y stamp them as skimmings. After roasting, it is impes,ible to detect these goods from sound coffee by their appearance. It is very rare to find a lot that in the cup does not develop musty flavors.
Rios are classified in the same way, with an additional letter denoting the color of the goods, viz : G. L. S. signifying good light skimmings ; and G. D. S. signifying good dark skimmings.
Owing to the short time occupied on the passage, Rio, as com pared with Java varieties, arrive in much better condition, and to all intents and purposes Rio skimmings are equal to sound Rio.
Roasting and Grinding. The coffee roasting machine consists of a large round cylinder, revolving regularly and moved by steam power, suspended over a coal fire. The entire surface of the cylinder being perforated with small holes allows the heat to penetrate evenly and thoroughly. At one end is a hopper into which the green coffee is poured, and through the centre is a long tryer enabling the operator to ascertain just how far the roast is advanced. As soon as the coffee is sufficiently browned it is emptied into a large square box with a wire screen bottom, termed a cooler, the operator in the meantime throws over the hot coffee a small quantity of cold water. The rapid vaporizing of the water carries off the heat, and the changes wrought during this part of the process cause the berry to swell, thus giving it a much more sightly and attractive appearance. The addition of water does not add to the weight of the coffee as much as might be supposed, for the heat is so intense as to convert most of the water into steam, which readily escapes. At an opening in the end of the cooler is fitted a powerful blower, forcing cold air through the heated beans until they assume a condition which allows their being handled. Meanwhile the coffee is thoroughly agitated while cooling, as the oil of the coffee would appear on the surface if allowed to remain quiet.
The shrinkage of coffee by roasting averages 15 to 16 per cent.; extremely green lots losing 18 per cent., while a very old coffee will not lose over 12 or 13 per cent. The roasting process will develop in every coffee more or less of what is termed in cof fee par'ance, quakers. Too much importance is attached to these kernals, many supposing that their presence indicates a mixture. Such is n ,t the case, they are simply a bean, which, while on the trees become sun-dried, the oil, which is the essence or flavor of coffee, evaporating, leaving nothing but a lifeless berry; they roast white, and are perfectly tasteless.
Simple as it may seem, the process of grinding the roasted bean is one that requires more attention than what is at present given to it. Coarse ground coffee requires protracted boiling to extract its strength, and much boiling is fatal to a good cup of coffee. While one may grind too finely, the mistake of grinding too coarsely is the one most frequently made. Just to what de gree of fineness it should be ground depends somewhat on the manner of making the coffee.