COFFEE.
Its Growth and Birthplace—Where most Drank—Legends as to its Origin—Its Gradual Spread—Introduction into Europe and England—Pasqua Rosee’s Handbill—The English Coffee Houses—Their Rules—A Poem about Coffee Houses.
Next to tea, Coffee is, perhaps, the infusion most drank, its use being universal in Turkey, Egypt, Persia, and most Mahometan countries; and on the continent of Europe, with the exception of Russia, it is a greater favourite than tea. In Norway and Sweden it is especially drank, whilst tea is comparatively disused.
It is the seed of an evergreen shrub (Coffea Arabica) which grows from six to twelve feet high, with a stem of from six to fifteen inches in circumference. When the blossom falls off, there remains, in its room, or rather, springs from each blossom, a small fruit, green at first, but which becomes red when it ripens; it is not unlike a cherry, and is very good to eat. Under the flesh of this cherry, instead of the stone, is found the bean, or berry, which we call coffee, wrapped round in a fine thin skin. The berry is then very soft, and of a disagreeable taste; but as the cherry ripens, the berry in the inside grows harder, and the dried-up fruit being the flesh or the pulp of it, which was before eatable, becomes a shell or pod, of a deep brown colour. The berry is now solid, and of a clear transparent green. Each shell contains one berry, which splits into two equal parts.
In Abyssinia coffee appears to have been used as a drink from time immemorial. Abd-Alkader, a learned native of Medina, writing at the beginning of the seventeenth century, gives us the history of its introduction into Arabia. A certain Sheikh, notorious for his piety and knowledge, named Jemal-Eddin, brought it from Persia to Aden. He was wont to take it as a medicine relieving the headache, enlivening the heart, and preventing drowsiness. This last attribute at once recommended it to the various imams, muftis, and dervishes, who wished to remain awake for the performance of religious exercises at night. The examples of these holy persons had its usual influence upon the people, and coffee drinking soon became a common custom.
Not, however, without considerable opposition did this fashion come into vogue; there were many long and animated disputes about the legitimacy of drinking coffee. Its defenders alleged its medicinal virtues, its opponents declared it to be like wine, of an inebriating nature—indeed, a sort of wine itself; and went so far, in the heat of argument, as to say that all who drank it would appear at the general resurrection with faces blacker than the bottoms of their coffee-pots.
An insult of this sort was surely sufficient to justify a prompt adoption of the severest rejoinder by the other side, and, in replying, they became poetic. Said one:—
“It is a dear object of desire to the collector of knowledge;
It is the drink of the people of God, and in it is health,
It’s odour is Musk, it’s colour Ink:
The wise man and the good will sip it pure as milk in its innocence,
And differing from it but in blackness.”
And another sang—
“Courtesy is the coat of the customers in a Coffee-house.
The Coffee-house itself is as Paradise in its carpets, its company and its tender delights.
When the waiter comes with the Coffee in its cup of porcelain, sorrow disappears, and all anguish sinks under its dominion.
In its water we wash away our impurities, and burn out our solicitudes in its fire.
The man who has looked only on its chafing dish will say, ‘Fie upon the Wine and the Wine Vats.’”
Coffee won the day.
There is, however, another story of its introduction—how in the far-off past a poor dervish, who lived in the deserts of Arabia, noticed that his goats came home every evening in a state of hilarity. Unable to account for this, he watched them, and found them feeding on the blossoms and berries of a tree which he had never before noticed. He experimented upon himself by eating them, and soon became as jocund as his goats, so much so, that he was accused of having partaken of the accursed juice of the grape. But he soon convinced his maligners that the source of his high spirits was harmless, and they, tasting, became converts, and the berry became of general use.
From Abyssinia, the use of coffee spread to Persia and Arabia, thence to Aden, Mecca, Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo and Constantinople, whence it found its way to Venice in 1615. But it is hard to say exactly when its use was introduced into England. Robert Burton mentions it in his Anatomy of Melancholy, but not in the 1621 edition. He says,[142] “The Turks have a drink called Coffee (for they use no wine), so named of a berry, as black as soot, and as bitter (like that black drink which was in use among the Lacedæmonians, and perhaps the same), which they sip still of, and sup as warm as they can suffer; they spend much time in those coffee houses, which are somewhat like our alehouses or taverns, and there they sit, chatting and drinking, to drive away the time, and to be merry together, because they find by experience that kind of drink, so used, helpeth digestion, and procureth alacrity.”
Anthony à Wood says that the first coffee-house was kept in 1650 in Oxford, by Jacobs, a Jew; and it seems generally recognised that the first coffee-house in London was opened in St. Michael’s Alley, Cornhill, in 1652, by one Pasqua Rosee, a Greek, servant to Mr. Edwards, a Turkey merchant. In “A Broadside against Coffee, or the Marriage of the Turk” (1672), he is thus mentioned:—
“A Coachman was the first (here) Coffee made,
And ever since the rest drive on the trade;
Me no good Engalash! and sure enough,
He plaid the Quack to salve his Stygian stuff;
Ver boon for de stomach, de Cough, de Ptisick,
And I believe him, for it looks like Physick.”
Here is Rosee’s handbill:—
“The Vertue of the Coffee Drink.
“First publiquely made and sold in England, by Pasqua Rosee.
“The grain or berry called Coffee, groweth upon little Trees, only in the Deserts of Arabia.
“It is brought from thence, and drunk generally throughout all the Grand Seignior’s Dominions.
“It is a simple innocent thing, composed into a Drink, by being dryed in an Oven, and ground to Powder, and boiled up with Spring water, and about half a pint of it to be drunk, fasting an hour before, and not Eating an hour after, and to be taken as hot as possibly can be endured; the which will never fetch the skin off the mouth, or raise any Blisters, by reason of that Heat.
“The Turks drink at Meals and other times, is usually Water, and their Dyet consists much of Fruit; the Crudities whereof are very much corrected by this Drink.
“The quality of this Drink is Cold and Dry; and though it be a Dryer, yet it neither heats, nor inflames more than hot Posset.
“It so closeth the Orifice of the Stomack, and fortifies the heat within, that it’s very good to help digestion; and therefore of great use to be taken about 3 or 4 o’clock afternoon, as well as in the morning.
“It much quickens the Spirits, and makes the Heart Lightsome.
“It is good against sore Eys, and the better if you hold your Head over it, and take in the Steem that way.
“It suppresseth Fumes exceedingly, and therefore good against the Head-ach, and will very much stop any Defluxion of Rheums that distil from the Head upon the Stomack, and so prevent and help Consumptions, and the Cough of the Lungs.
“It is excellent to prevent and cure the Dropsy, Gout and Scurvy.
“It is known by experience to be better than any other Drying Drink for People in years, or Children that have any running humors upon them, as the King’s Evil, etc.
“It is very good to prevent Mis-carryings in Child-bearing Women.
“It is a most excellent remedy against the Spleen, Hypocondriack Winds, or the like.
“It will prevent Drowsiness, and make one fit for busines, if one have occasion to Watch; and therefore you are not to drink of it after Supper, unless you intend to be watchful, for it will hinder sleep for three or four hours.
“It is observed that in Turkey, where this is generally drunk, that they are not trobled with the Stone, Gout, Dropsie, or Scurvey, and that their Skins are exceeding cleer and white.
“It is neither Laxative nor Restringente.
“Made and Sold in St. Michael’s Alley in Cornhill, by Pasqua Rosee, at the Signe of his own Head.”
That it met with opposition at its introduction, we have already seen in “A Broadside against Coffee;” but Hatton, in his “New View of London,” 1708, gives a case of clear persecution. “I find it Recorded that one James Farr, a barber, who kept the Coffee House which is now the Rainbow, was, in the year 1657, presented by the Inquest of St. Dunstan’s in the W. for Making and Selling a sort of Liquor, called Coffee, as a great Nusance and Prejudice of the neighbourhood, etc. And who would then have thought London would ever have had near 3000 such Nusances, and that Coffee should have been, as now, so much Drank by the best of Quality and Physicians.”[143]
The coffee houses soon became popular, because they filled a social want. There were no clubs, as we know them, although there were limited social gatherings, under the name of club, held at stated periods—and the coffee house provided a convenient place for gossip and news. Here were served alcoholic drinks as well as coffee; here the newspapers might be seen; here, also, men could indulge in a pipe, and its advantages are well summed up by Misson,[144] who travelled in England in the reign of William and Mary. “These Houses, which are very numerous in London, are extreamly convenient. You have all Manner of News there; You have a good Fire, which you may sit by as long as you please; You have a dish of Coffee, you meet your Friends for the Transaction of Business, and all for a Penny, if you don’t care to spend more.”
“THE RULES AND ORDERS OF THE COFFEE-HOUSE.[145]
“Enter Sirs, freely, But first, if you please,
Peruse our Civil-Orders, which are these.
“First, Gentry, Tradesmen, all are welcome hither,
And may, without Affront, sit down Together:
Pre-eminence of Place, none here should Mind,
But take the next fit Seat that he can find:
Nor need any, if Finer Persons come,
Rise up for to assigne to them his Room;
To limit Men’s Expence, we think not fair,
But let him forfeit Twelve pence that shall Swear;
He that shall any Quarrel here begin,
Shall give each Man a Dish t’ Atone the Sin;
And so shall he, whose Complements extend
So far to drink in Coffee to his Friend;
Let Noise of loud Disputes be quite forborn,
No Maudlin Lovers here in Corners Mourn:
But all be Brisk, and Talk, but not too much;
On Sacred things, Let none presume to touch,
Nor Profane Scripture, or sawcily wrong
Affairs of State with an Irreverent Tongue:
Let mirth be Innocent, and each Man see,
That all his Jests without Reflection be;
To keep the House more Quiet, and from Blame,
We Banish hence Cards, Dice and every Game:
Nor can allow of Wagers, that Exceed
Five Shillings, which, oft-times, much Trouble Breed;
Let all that’s Lost or Forfeited be spent
In such Good Liquor as the House doth Vent,
And Customers endeavour to their Powers,
For to observe still seasonable Howers.
Lastly, Let each Man what he calls for Pay,
And so you’re welcome to come every Day.”
To know of coffee-houses in their prime, we must turn to the pages of Addison and Steele, to the Guardian, the Spectator, the Tatler, etc., but they are well epitomised in the following poem, which bears date 1667:—
“NEWS FROM THE COFFEE-HOUSE.
“In which is shewn their several sorts of Passions,
Containing Newes from all our Neighbour Nations.
“A Poem.
“You that delight in Wit and Mirth,
And long to hear such News,
As comes from all Parts of the Earth,
Dutch, Danes, and Turks, and Jews,
I’le send yee to a Rendezvouz,
Where it is smoaking new;
Go, hear it at a Coffee-house,
It cannot but be true.
There Battles and Sea-Fights are Fought,
And bloudy Plots display’d;
They know more things than ’ere was thought
Or ever was betray’d:
No Money in the Minting House
Is halfe so Bright and New;
And, comming from a Coffee-House
It cannot but be true.
Before the Navyes fall to Work,
They know who shall be Winner;
They there can tell ye what the Turk
Last Sunday had to Dinner;
Who last did cut Du Ruitter’s Corns,
Amongst his jovial Crew;
Or Who first gave the Devil Horns.
Which cannot but be true.
A Fisherman did boldly tell,
And strongly did avouch,
He Caught a Shoal of Mackarel,
That Parley’d all in Dutch,
And cry’d out, Yaw, yaw, yaw, Myne Here;
But as the Draught they Drew,
They Struck for fear that Monck was there,
Which cannot but be true.
Another Swears by both his Ears,
Mounsieur will cut our Throats;
The French King will a Girdle bring,
Made of Flat-bottom’d Boats;
Shall compas England round about,
Which must not be a few,
To give our Englishmen the Rout;
This sounds as if ’twere true.
There’s nothing done in all the World,
From Monarch to the Mouse,
But every Day or Night ’tis hurl’d
Into the Coffee-house.
What Lillie or what Booker can
By Art, not bring about
At Coffee-house you’l find a Man,
Can quickly find it out.
They’l tell ye there, what Lady-ware,
Of late is grown too light;
What Wise-man shall from Favour Fall,
What Fool shall be a Knight;
They’l tell ye when our Fayling Trade
Shall Rise again, and Flourish,
Or when Jack Adams shall be made
Church-Warden of the Parish.
They know who shall in Times to come,
Be either made or undone,
From great St. Peter’s-street in Rome,
To Turnbull-street in London.
And likewise tell, in Clerkenwell,
What w⸺ hath greatest Gain,
And in that place, what Brazen-face
Doth wear a Golden Chain.
At Sea their knowledge is so much,
They know all Rocks and Shelves,
They know all Councils of the Dutch,
More than they know Themselves.
Who ’tis shall get the best at last,
They perfectly can shew
At Coffee-house, when they are plac’d
You’d scarce believe it true.
They know all that is Good, or Hurt,
To Dam ye, or to Save ye;
There is the Colledge and the Court,
The Country, Camp, and Navie;
So great a Vniversitie
I think there ne’re was any;
In which you may a Schoolar be
For spending of a Penny.
A Merchant’s Prentice there shall show
You all and every thing,
What hath been done, and is to do,
’Twix Holland and the King;
What Articles of Peace will bee
He can precisely show,
What will be good for Them or Wee,
He perfectly doth know.
Here Men do talk of every Thing,
With large and liberal Lungs,
Like Women at a Gossiping,
With double tyre of Tongues;
They’l give a Broad-side presently,
Soon as you are in view,
With Stories that you’l wonder at,
Which they will swear are true.
The Drinking there of Chockolat,
Can make a Fool a Sophie,
’Tis thought the Turkish Mahomet
Was first Inspir’d with Coffee:
By which his Powers did Over-flow
The Land of Palestine;
Then let us to the Coffee-house go,
’Tis Cheaper farr than Wine.
You shall know there, what Fashions are;
How Perrywiggs are Curl’d;
And for a Penny you shall heare
All Novells in the World.
Both Old and Young, and Great and Small,
And Rich and Poore, you’ll see;
Therefore let’s to the Coffee all,
Come All away with Mee. Finis.”
J. A.
Different Sorts of Coffee—Its Enemies—Its Composition and Treatment—Methods of Making—Adulterations—Liberian Coffee—Date Coffee and other Substitutes.
There are about twenty-two species of coffee, seven of them belonging to Asia, and fifteen to Africa, where it grows in districts widely apart, as in Angola and on the shores of the Victoria Nyanza; yet, although it is so widely disseminated, and comes from so many different places, it is getting commercially dearer without any present prospect of any reduction. Its value in the market is as follows—the first being the highest, and the last the lowest in price. Mocha, Jamaica, Ceylon, Honduras, Mysore, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, New Grenada, and divers East Indian growths; and its consumption per head in Europe, ranks thus: Holland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Austria, Greece, Great Britain, Italy and Russia.
Unfortunately the coffee plant has its enemies, in the shape of two fungi which have devastated the plantations of Ceylon and Mysore, one the Hemileia Vastata, and the other the Pellicularia Kolerota, whilst an insect called the coffee bug (Lecanium Coffeæ) causes great destruction, as does also the coffee, or Golunda rat. Indeed, these enemies so prevailed in Ceylon as to render coffee growing not only unprofitable, but almost impossible, so the planters took to growing tea, with the good results which we have seen.
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. Indeed, so fugitive is it, that coffee to be drank in perfection should be made from berries roasted freshly every day, as is frequently done in France.
Raw coffee contains an astringent acid, which does not stain iron black, like that of tea, but green; and it also embodies Theine, or, as it is called when applied to coffee, Caffeine. This alkaloid does not exist in large quantities as in tea, i.e., the drinker of an equal number of cups of both beverages would have less of the alkaloid if coffee was drunk.
The berries, when roasted, and their flavour developed, are ground—coarse or fine according to taste, and are then ready to be made into a drink. It is here, in conjunction with the use of stale, and consequently, tasteless coffee, that we, in England, go to grief. Of coffee-making machines there are numbers; but if pure coffee is used, they might as well be dispensed with, whilst they are almost necessary if the coffee is adulterated. Another thing that our English housekeepers do not understand is, that coffee, in order to be productive of a good result, should be used large-handedly and generously, and not according to the time-honoured, grandmotherly, but parsimonious method applied to tea, of a teaspoonful for each person and one for the pot. The allowance of freshly ground coffee should be from 1½ to 2 oz. per pint of water, and any less does not make coffee, but only “water bewitched.”
With this quantity excellent coffee can be made without the aid of any machine. Warm the coffee pot, or jug, put in the coffee, and then add the water, which, as with tea, should just have come to the boil, and after standing a little time, the coffee is fit to drink. If the coffee is boiled, the extremely volatile aroma is dissipated, and its exquisite flavour lost.
But a good way of making coffee is to make it over night. Put the coffee in a jug, and pour cold water on it. The lighter particles soon get soaked and fall to the bottom. In the morning it has only to be warmed until it just boils, when it should be strained and served at once. This only applies to pure coffee.
There are too many adulterants used, and what “French Coffee” and “Coffee as in France” is made of, the Lord and their manufacturers only know. The chief of these offenders in England is the root of the succory, chicory, or wild endive (Cichorium Intybus), which, originally wild, is now extensively cultivated in England; whilst on the Continent it is very largely grown in France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland, and both home-grown and foreign chicory are largely in our market, the latter fetching the higher price. It does not taste like coffee, nor has it any aroma; but, when roasted, it gives a dark colour to water, and a bitter taste, as if a great deal of coffee had been used; and for this purpose it must have been first used in the old coffee-houses. But it is a question whether you buy pure roasted and ground chicory. In Germany it is adulterated largely with turnips and carrots, whilst Venetian red is used to give it a colour.
Notice has already been made of the different kinds of coffee, but not the West African species—the Liberian coffee (Coffea Liberica)—which has not, as yet, come into common use in England. There are many substitutes for coffee, one of which developed a few years since into a large commercial undertaking, but eventually collapsed. It was Date Coffee, made out of date stones roasted and ground. Among other substances used in lieu of coffee, are the roasted seeds of the yellow water-lily (Iris pseudocorus); the seeds of a Goumelia, called in Turkey Keuguel; roasted acorns and beans, chick peas, rye and other grains, nuts, almonds, and dandelion roots (Leontodon taraxacum), whilst in Africa many berries are used in its stead.
J. A.
