Handbook of domestic science and household arts for use in elementary schools

Let them taste the water in which the leaves have been standing. Let them boil it for five or ten minutes and taste again. What is the difference in the taste ? To what is the flavor due in the first instance ? In the second ? For what other purpose is tannin used ? (Tanning leather.) How then, should tea be made ? What is its food value ? "What is its effect on the nervous system ? By whom, then, should it not be drunk ? What are its advantages ? Exhibit samples of various teas, — letting the pupils arrange these according to their commercial value. Recipes for Pupils A Cup of Tea. — Pour boiling water in the teapot ; when the pot has become thoroughly heated, empty it. Put one teaspoon of tea into the hot pot, and pour one cup of freshly boiled water on it. Let it steep five minutes and then serve. If too strong, dilute with boiling water. If the tea has to stand, pour off the tea from the leaves. Serve plain with a sweet cake, as do the Chinese and Japanese ; or with cut sugar and slices of lemon, Russian fashion ; or in the ordinary way, with cream and sugar. A Cup of Tea (second method). — Pour a cup of cold water over a heaping teaspoonful of tea. Let it stand all day in the refrigerator. Pour off the liquid, heat, and serve as desired. Tea made in this way is much to be preferred to any other for iced tea. Coffee Food Value. — Roasted coffee contains about one per cent of caffeine (a principle analogous to theine) ; about thirteen per cent of peculiar aromatic compounds, developed in the roasting from the oils and fats of the green berry ; about six or seven per cent of sugar (caramel). Caffeic acid, in its physiological effect similar to tannin, is present in small quantities (three to five per cent). It contains, also, not far from thirteen per cent of proteids, a small quantity of min- eral matter, and about sixty-nine per cent of burnt cellulose. The berry itself, then, is more nutritious than the leaves of the tea ; but the infusion which is usually drunk is a stimulant, rather than a food. Natural History. — Coffee is the seed of a berry of a tree which, wild, attains a height of twenty to thirty feet. In cultivation, however, it ranges from three to six feet, thus making it possible to gather the abundant fruit with ease. It belongs to the same family as the Peruvian bark from which quinine is made. It is an evergreen, with numerous beautiful jessaminelike white flowers. These bloom for eight months of the year, producing a succession of crops of fruit. Coffee, like tea, needs a warm, moist climate, rich soil, and protection from winds and storins. The original home of Mocha coffee has the finest climate in the world for coffee culture. All the year round a thick mist ascends from the coast to the slopes on which the coffee is growing. At the time of the greatest heat, midday, this mist protects the plants from it; and at night the hot air ascending from the plains keeps the temperature marvellously equable. It is a natural, self-regulating hothouse.