It is a convenience, however, to have on hand a concentrated syrup from which any kind of coffee-flavored drink may be concocted on short notice and without the necessity of lighting the stove. Coffee left over from meals may be used for the same purpose, but it should be kept in a covered glass or china dish and not allowed to stand too long. A coffee syrup made after the following recipe will keep indefinitely and may be used as a basis for many delicious iced drinks:
Coffee Syrup. Two quarts of very strong coffee; 31⁄2 pounds sugar. The coffee should be very strong, as the syrup will be largely diluted. The proportion of a pound of coffee to one and three-fourths quarts of water will be found satisfactory. This may be made by any favorite method, cleared and strained, then combined with the sugar, brought to boiling point, and boiled for two or three minutes. It should be canned while boiling, in sterilized bottles. Fill them to overflowing and seal as for grape juice or for any other canned beverage.
A COFFEE CHRONOLOGY
Giving dates and events of historical interest in legend, travel, literature, cultivation, plantation treatment, trading, and in the preparation and use of coffee from the earliest time to the present
900[L]—Rhazes, famous Arabian physician, is first writer to mention coffee under the name bunca or bunchum.[M]
1000[L]—Avicenna, Mahommedan physician and philosopher, is the first writer to explain the medicinal properties of the coffee bean, which he also calls bunchum.[M]
1258[L]—Sheik Omar, disciple of Sheik Schadheli, patron saint and legendary founder of Mocha, by chance discovers coffee as a beverage at Ousab in Arabia.[M]