All About Coffee, William H. Ukers [short story to read .txt] 📗
- Author: William H. Ukers
- Performer: -
Book online «All About Coffee, William H. Ukers [short story to read .txt] 📗». Author William H. Ukers
The simplest procedure to follow is that in which boiling water is poured over ground coffee suspended on a filtering medium in such a manner that the extracting water will slowly pass through the coffee and be received in a containing vessel, which obviates further contact of the beverage with the grounds. The water as it comes into contact with the ground coffee extracts the soluble material, and the solution is removed by gravity. Fresh water takes its place; so that, if the filter medium be of the proper fineness, the water flows through at the correct rate of speed, and complete extraction is effected with the production of a clear solution. Thus a maximum extraction of desirable materials is obtained in a short time with a minimum of hydrolysis, oxidation, and loss of caffeol; and if the infusion be consumed at once, or kept warm in a contrivance embodying the double-boiler principle, the effects of local overheating are avoided. Also, with the use of an appropriate filter, a finer grind of coffee can be used than in the other devices, without obtaining a turbid brew. All this works toward the production of a desirable drink.
There are several devices on the market, some using paper, and some cloth, as a filter, which operate on this principle and give very good coffee. The use of paper presents the advantage of using a new and clean filter for each brew, whereas the cloth must be carefully kept immersed in water between brews to prevent its fouling.
Contrivances operating on the filtration principle have been designed for use on a large scale in conjunction with coffee urns, and have proven quite successful in causing all of the water to go slowly through the coffee without channeling, thus accomplishing practically complete extraction. The majority of urns are still operated with bags, of which the ones with sides of heavier material than the bottom obtain the most satisfactory results, as the majority of the water must pass through the coffee instead of out through the sides of the bag. Greatest efficiency, when bags are used, is obtained by repouring until all of the liquid has passed twice through the coffee; further repouring extracts too much of the astringent hydrolysis products. The bags, when not in use, should not be allowed to dry but should be kept in a jar of cold water. The urns provided with water jackets keep the brew at almost a constant temperature and avoid the deterioration incident to temperature fluctuation.
Composition of Brews. The real tests of the comparative values of different methods of brewing are the flavor and palatibility of the drink, in conjunction with the number of cups of a given strength which are produced, or the relative strengths of brews of the same number of cups volume. Chemical analysis has not yet been developed to a stage where the results obtained with it are valuably indicative. Caffeol is present in quantities so small that no comparative results can be obtained. "Caffetannic acid" determinations are practically meaningless. This compound is of so doubtful a composition and physiological action, and the methods employed for its determination are so indefinite as to interpretation, as to render valueless any attempts at comparison of relative percentages. The only accurate analysis which can be made is that for caffein.
Much advertising emphasis has been placed on the small amount of caffein extracted by some devices. What is one of the main reasons for the consumption of coffee? The caffein contained therein, of course. So that if one device extracts less caffein than another, that fact alone is nothing in favor of the former. If the consumer does not want caffein in his drink there are caffein-free coffees on the market.
The coffee liquor acts on metals in such a manner as to lower the quality of the drink, so that metals of any sort, and by all means, irons, should be avoided as far as possible. Instead, earthenware or glass, preferably a good grade of the former, should be employed as far as possible in the construction of coffee-making devices.
Of the various metals, silver, aluminum, monel metal, and tin (in the order named) are least attacked by coffee infusions; and besides these, nickel, copper, and well enameled iron (absolutely free from pin holes) may be used without much danger of contamination. Rings for coffee-urn bags should be made of tinned copper, monel metal, or aluminum. Even if coffee be made in metal contrivances, the receptacles in which it stands should be made of earthenware or of glass.
Painstaking care should be given to the preservation of the coffee-makers in a state of cleanliness, as upon this depends the value of the brew. Dirt, fine grounds, and fat (which will turn rancid quickly) should not be allowed to collect on the sides, bottom, or in angles of the device difficult of access. Nor should any source of metallic or exterior contamination be allowed to go uneliminated.
The Perfect Cup of Coffee
Lovers of coffee in the United States are in a better position to obtain an ideal cup of the beverage than those in any other country. While imports of green coffee are not so carefully guarded as tea imports, there is a large measure of government inspection designed to protect the consumer against impurities, and the Department of Agriculture is zealous in applying the pure food laws to insure against misbranding and substitution. The department has defined coffee as "a beverage resulting from a water infusion of roasted coffee and nothing else."
Today no reputable merchant would think of selling even loose coffee for other than what it is. And the consumer can feel that, in the case of package coffee, the label tells the truth about the contents.
With a hundred different kinds of coffee coming to this market from nineteen countries, so many combinations are possible, that there is sure to be a straight coffee or a blend to suit any taste. And those who may have been frightened into the belief that coffee is not for them should do a little experimenting before exposing themselves to the dangers of the coffee-substitute habit.
Once upon a time it was thought that Java and Mocha were the only worthwhile blend, but now we know that a Bogota coffee from Colombia, and a Bourbon Santos from Brazil, make a most satisfying drink. And if the individual seeker should happen to be a caffein-sensitive, there are coffees so low in caffein content, like some Porto Ricans, as to overcome this objection; while there are other coffees from which the caffein has been removed by a special treatment. There is no reason why any person who is fond of coffee should forego its use. Paraphrasing Makaroff, Be modest, be kind, eat less, and think more, live to serve, work and play and laugh and love—it is enough! Do this and you may drink coffee without danger to your immortal soul.
If you are accustomed to buying loose coffee, have your dealer do a little experimental blending for you until you find a coffee to suit your palate. Some expert blends are to be found among the leading package brands. But you really can not do better than to trust your case to a first-class grocer of known reputation. He will guide you right if he knows his business; and if he doesn't, then he doesn't know his business—try elsewhere. Test him out along this line:
Let us reason together, Mr. Grocer. Let us consider these facts about coffee: green coffee improves with age? Granted. As soon as it is roasted, it begins to lose in flavor and aroma? Certainly. Grinding hastens the deterioration? Of course. Therefore, it is better to buy a small quantity of freshly roasted coffee in the bean and grind it at the time of purchase or at home just before using? Absolutely!
If your grocer reacts in this fashion, he need only supply you with a quality coffee at fair price and you need only to make it properly to obtain the utmost of coffee satisfaction.
Some connoisseurs still cling to the good old two-thirds Java and one-third Mocha blend, but the author has for years found great pleasure in a blend composed of half Medellin Bogota, one-quarter Mandheling "Java", and one-quarter Mocha. However, this blend might not appeal to another's taste, and the component parts are not always easy to get. The retail cost (1922) is about fifty cents.
Another pleasing blend is composed of Bogota, washed Maracaibo, and Santos, equal parts. This should retail from thirty to thirty-five cents. Good drinking coffees are to be had for prices ranging from twenty-five to thirty cents. In the stores of one of the large chain systems an excellent blend composed of sixty percent Bourbon Santos, and forty percent Bogota is to be had (1922) for 29 cents. All these figures apply, of course, to normal times.
If you are epicurean, you will want to read up on, and to try, the fancy Mexicans, Cobáns, Sumatra growths, Meridas, and some from the "Kona side" of Hawaii.
In preparing the perfect cup of coffee, then, the coffee must be of good grade, and freshly roasted. It should, if possible, be ground just before using. The author has found a fine grind, about the consistency of fine granulated sugar, the most satisfactory. For general home use, a device that employs filter paper or filter cloth is best; for the epicure an improved porcelain French percolator (drip pot) or an improved cloth filter will yield the utmost of coffee's delights. Drink it black, sweetened or unsweetened, with or without cream or hot milk, as your fancy dictates.
It should be remembered that to make good coffee no special pot or device is necessary. Good coffee can be made with any china vessel and a piece of muslin. But to make it in perfection pains must be taken with every step in the process from roaster to cup.
Hollingworth[385] points out that through taste alone it is impossible to distinguish between quinine and coffee, or between apple and onion. There is something more to coffee than its caffein stimulus, its action on the taste-buds of the tongue and mouth. The sense of smell and the sense of sight play important rôles. To get all the joy there is in a cup of coffee, it must look good and smell good, before one can pronounce its taste good. It must woo us through the nostrils with the wonderful aroma that constitutes much of the lure of coffee.
And that is why, in the preparation of the beverage, the greatest possible care should be observed to preserve the aroma until the moment of its psychological release. This can only be done by having it appear at the same instant that the delicate flavor is extracted—roasting and grinding the bean much in advance of the actual making of the beverage will defeat this object. Boiling the extraction will perfume the house; but the lost fragrance will never return to the dead liquid called coffee, when served from the pot whence it was permitted to escape.
To recapitulate, with an added word on service, the correct way to make coffee is as follows:
1. Buy a good grade of freshly roasted coffee from a responsible
Comments (0)