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

To detect these adulterations put a few grains of the suspected coffee on the surface of water in a glass tumbler. If chicory is present, it will be surrounded by a yellow brown cloud which will soon color the whole tumbler of water. Caramel colors the water much more deeply, and dandelion root or rasped bread less deeply. Beans and peas, on the contrary, color the water much less deeply than pure coffee even, so that the color scale increases in intensity in the following order : Peas or beans, rasped bread or dandelion, coffee, chicory, caramel. Dandelion root may be detected by tasting it, and bread, of course, will soften in the mouth. Pure coffee will not color cold water in less than fifteen minutes. Preparation for the Table. — The most economical way to buy coffee is raw. It must be kept dry, but it improves with age. To roast it, use quick heat. This develops the flavor and makes it brittle. It may be ground in a coffee-mill or pounded in a mortar to the required fineness. In cooking it the point is to make an infusion which will contain the essential oils and the caffeine. This may be accomplished by letting it stand for some hours in cold water, bringing it to a boil just before using it. Although this is the most economical way, boiling it and filtering it are the more usual methods. Method. — Procure from any grocer samples of the different coffees raw, roasted, and ground. Coffee in the "parchment" and even in the pulp may sometimes be procured from wholesale grocers who keep them as curiosities and are willing to loan or give them away. Pictures of the tree and of the various stages of manufacture are easily found, and with small classes add to the interest of the lesson. With this material develop so much of the natural history, manufacture, and history of coffee as you deem expedient. Teach its physiological effects. Ask them to find out the market price per pound of Mocha, Java, Mexican, Maracaibo, Bogota, Jamaica, Rio and other common commercial varieties. Is it costly enough to warrant adulteration ? Let them test pure coffee as suggested above. Give them experience in testing the various adulterants. This is most safely done by giving them coffee that you have yourself adulterated. Here again the friendly wholesale grocer will prove invaluable. Let them make coffee in the various ways suggested. Calculate the cost per cup in each case, and carefully note the difference in flavor. Recipes Infused Coffee. — To one tablespoon of finely ground coffee, in a covered earthenware jar, add a cup of cold water. Stir until all the coffee has been wet. Cover and let it stand for several hours. Just before it is needed for use, bring it gradually to a boil. Boiled Coffee. — Have the coffee ground medium fine. Rinse the coffee-pot, and allow one heaping tablespoon of ground coffee to each cup of boiling water. Stir well together and pour on the boiling water; let the coffee boil two minutes. Set the pot back on the range, where it will not boil, but keep below the boiling point for ten minutes. Pour a little off into a cup and then back again ; do this twice, and then pour one tablespoon of cold water down the spout to perfect the settling and clearing. It will then be ready for the table in ten minutes.