Coffee Growth and Production.
Coffee plants are raised from the seed, are set out in 12 months, 450 plants to the acre, begin to bear in 4 years, mature in 7 years, and continue for 40 years. The flowers are white and fragrant; the fruit, which grows in clusters, resembles a red cherry and contains two seeds, which are the coffee of commerce.
The world’s total annual production of coffee is about 666,000 tons, of which Brazil furnishes 360,000 tons. The entire population of the United States averages to consume, per capita 7-42/100 lbs. of coffee yearly, more than three-quarters of which comes from Brazil.
Raw Coffee, unlike tea, improves in quality with age, while it shrinks in weight, and inferior coffees may in time equal the choicest varieties. The aroma is in the direct ratio of its drying by keeping. Inferior coffees are uneven, often unclean. The large, uniform, dense, heavy grains are preferred, as showing complete maturity and careful selection. The color varies from all shades of yellow to tints of brown, green, and bluish green. There are large establishments in one or more eastern cities, which assort, color, and polish raw coffees. Much Brazilian coffee is assorted and sold for Mocha, Java, etc. Real Mocha is small, round, and dark yellow; Java and East Indian is larger and of a paler yellow. Ceylon, Brazilian and West Indian have naturally a bluish green or greenish grey tint.
Roasting is necessary to develop the aroma and goodness of coffee. This delicate operation changes its chemical composition and develops the caffeine and volatile oil. If roasted too little the coffee retains a raw taste; if too much, a part is changed to charcoal and much aroma lost. The outside may be burned and the inside left raw, or some grains may be half raw and others burned. Coffee loses in weight from 15 to 20 and even 25 per cent., and gains in bulk from 30 to 60 per cent., according as it is roasted to a reddish, chestnut, or dark brown. The best roasting is that which reduces the weight about sixteen per cent., or to a light chestnut brown.
Coffee and Tea Compared.
Tea yields, weight for weight, twice as much caffeine (or theine) as coffee; but as we use more in weight of the latter, a cup of coffee contains about as much caffeine as a cup of tea. The composition of roasted coffee and the tea leaf are given as follows, although the proportions are variable:
| Tea. | Coffee. | |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 8 | 5 |
| Theine or caffeine | 2-1/2 | 3/4 |
| Tannin | 14 | 4 |
| Essential oil | 1/2 | Trace. |
| Minor extractives | 15 | 36 |
| Insoluble organic matter | 54-1/2 | 50 |
| Ash | 5-1/2 | 4-1/4 |
| —————— | —————— | |
| 100 | 100 |
Modes of Making Coffee.
One pound of the properly roasted bean or berry should make 55 or 60 cups of good coffee. Coffee may be made too bitter, but it is impossible to make it too fragrant. Coffee is much the best when freshly ground. The French and many Americans merely steep or infuse their coffee at a temperature just below the boiling point, claiming that boiling dissipates the aroma; others bring it only to a boil; while others still, hold that boiling it a little is more economical, as giving an increased quantity of the soluble, exhilarating and bitter principles. Soft water is best for coffee, and coffee is better cold than warmed over, as it then loses its fragrance.