Sans altérer la tête, épanouit le cœur.”
It is a remarkable fact that, during the retreat of the French from Russia, such soldiers as refrained from brandy, and took only coffee, escaped being frost-bitten, or any of the diseases arising from exposure to cold. There is no part of the world in which better coffee is sold than in London, more especially the Mocha coffee of Twining (which may be purchased, unground and unroasted, at 1s. 8d. the pound, and roasted, or ground and roasted, at 2s. 4d. the pound); yet there is no spot in this world, we verily believe, where coffee is generally so badly made, as in this great wilderness of a metropolis. This arises from several causes: first, the purchasing coffee ground and roasted. The consumption and sale of the article is so small in England, compared to France, that in many of the shops the ground coffee is a week, and in many a fortnight or a month old; and, being too frequently exposed to the influences of the weather and climate, the aroma has entirely evaporated. There is scarcely a shop in London where coffee is daily roasted; and, even if there were such a shop, the quantity purchased for private consumption is generally so large, and the use of it so unfrequent in families, that the flavour in so humid a climate is gone long before the coffee is consumed. The Turks, who are our masters in the art of making coffee, do not employ a mill to triturate the berry, but pound it in mortars, with pestles or mallets of wood. When these machines have been long used for the purpose, they are esteemed precious, and sell at a large price. Brillat Savarin relates the result of an experiment which he caused to be made as to the comparative merits of the liquid made from the pounded and the ground berry:—
“I roasted with care,” says he, “a pound of good Mocha coffee, and separated it into two equal portions, one of which was ground, and the other pounded in the manner of the Turks. I made coffee with both one and other of these powders, taking an equal weight of each, pouring on each an equal portion of boiling water, and in all respects dealing equally between them. I tasted these coffees, and caused them to be tasted by the best judges, and the unanimous opinion was, that the liquid produced from the powdered was evidently superior to the produce of the ground coffee.”
The second reason why the coffee is inferior in England is, that the berry is burned instead of being roasted, and is consequently bitter and burnt, instead of being fine-flavoured and aromatic.
The third reason is, that at hotels, coffee-houses, clubs, and even in private houses, enough of the coffee (even though it were good) is not infused; and the fourth reason may be found in the addition of an excess of water. Now, in the first place, the roasting of coffee should be carefully watched and superintended by an intelligent person. The moment the berry crackles and becomes crisp enough to pulverise, it is sufficiently roasted. Once taken off the roaster, it should be placed in several thick folds of flannel to undergo the process of cooling. This preserves the essential oil in the coffee, and prevents the aroma from escaping. When the coffee is cool, place it in an air-tight canister. Sufficient for the day should be the coffee thereof. In other words, never roast, if you can avoid it, more than for a single day’s consumption—certainly not more than for two or three days. Grind or pound your coffee not more than a quarter of an hour before you want to make the infusion.
There are various methods of preparing the infusion. Any one of them would have the effect of producing very tolerable coffee, if the directions I have given touching the roasting and grinding of the berry were attended to, and a sufficient quantity of the powdered coffee used. But unfortunately English servants, who drink tea or beer, are ignorant of or insensible to the true flavour of coffee, and as they do not partake themselves of the beverage, become indifferent to its preparation. The coffee produced by them is, indeed, drowned in a deluge of water, and deserves the title given it in an old tract called the “Petition against Coffee,” namely, “a base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking, puddle water.”
The best coffee in the world, taken altogether, is certainly made in Paris, though I have occasionally tasted at private houses in England, where the master was a gourmet, and the servants disciplined, finer coffee than was ever brewed either at the Café Foy or the Café Corrazza. And the only wonder is, that it should not be always so; for, as was before observed, the very finest qualities of coffee come to the London market.
For the last forty years, a great deal of fancifulness has prevailed in Paris as to the best manner of making coffee. Much of this arose, no doubt, from the inordinate love which Napoleon exhibited for coffee; as everyone was desirous to improve upon the favourite beverage of the little Corsican and great conqueror. Projects of all kinds were started: to make coffee without roasting it, without grinding it, to infuse it cold, to make it boil three quarters of an hour, &c. Another mode was to run the cold water several times through the powder; another, to infuse the coffee over night. But, notwithstanding these vagaries, coffee is generally well made in France. It is true, that it is most commonly adulterated by the admixture of chicorée, but there is nothing noxious in the endive; it merely adds a bitterness to the coffee, and is adopted in nine instances out of ten from motives of economy.
The most usual method of making coffee in France is à Dubelloy, which consists in pouring boiling water on coffee placed in a porcelain or silver vase, cullendered or pierced with very small holes. This first decoction is poured off, heated to boiling heat, passed again through the coffee-pot, when a clear and exquisite coffee is produced. More than a full-sized tablespoonful of coffee should be allowed for each guest in making a small cup of coffee after dinner.
The most complete apparatus for coffee making ever invented in England, is said to have been the production of Mr. Jones, of Bond Street, ironmonger; but, as I have never tried it, I will not speak of its merits. The ordinary English tin coffee-biggin succeeds tolerably well if the coffee be properly roasted and ground; but the disadvantage is, that the filtering occupies so long a time, that the coffee is half cold when ready to be poured into the cups.