How to Make Good Coffee
When the National Coffee Roasters' Association tells how to make good coffee the housewife is naturally interested, no matter how fervently the family may praise her own brew. Coffee is the business of these gentlemen. They know it from the scientific standpoint as well as practically. Their opinion as to the best method of preparing it for the table is, therefore, worth consideration.
They tell us, first of all, that the virtues of the infusion depend primarily upon the fineness with which the roasted bean is ground. Careful experiments have shown, indeed, that when pulverized it gives a larger yield of full strength beverage than in any other shape, so that such grinding is urged in the interest of economy, as well as from a gastronomic standpoint.
The grinding, however, must be done immediately before the coffee is made. Otherwise no little of the delicate and much prized flavor of the bean will escape.
The method of making the infusion is governed by the solubility of the various elements composing the coffee. The caffeine and caffetannic acid readily dissolve in cold water, but the delicate flavoring oils require a considerable degree of heat. It so happens that water at the boiling point, 212 deg. F., is twice as effective in extracting these flavors as when at a temperature of 150 deg. F.
Nevertheless, the usual method of boiling the coffee is unsparingly condemned by the association. The infusion thus made is very high in caffeine and tannic acid. It is muddy, too, and overrich in dissolved fibrous and bitter matters. As most of the deleterious effects of coffee are due to dissolved tannin, owing to excessive boiling or the use of grounds a second time, this method of making the beverage is unqualifiedly condemned.
Steeping—that is, placing the coffee in cold water and permitting it to come to a boil—is also deprecated. An infusion so made contains less caffeine, to be sure, but it lacks the desired aromatic flavor and the characteristic coffee taste.
In fine, the association leans to a method of coffee making known as filtration. This consists in pouring boiling water once through finely pulverized coffee confined in a close-meshed muslin bag. The resultant infusion is one in which the percentage of tannin is extremely low. There is a medium amount of caffeine, but the full flavor and characteristic taste are present.
| STATE OF OREGON EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT SALEM. Dec. 22, 1914. Editress Suffrage Cook Book: This is to acknowledge yours of the 16th instant, in reference to women's suffrage, and in reply will say that while this right has been enjoyed but a short time by our women, they have been making excellent use of it. They are prompt to register and vote, and their influence is most always found upon the side of better government. The result of their efforts is already being reflected in a number of important measures recently adopted in this state, which will make for the public good. Very truly yours, Oswald West. Governor. |