Ground Coffees
Description
This section is from the book "Tea, Coffee, And Cocoa Preparations", by Guilford Lawson Spencer . Also available from Amazon: Tea, coffee, and cocoa preparations.
Ground Coffees
Ground coffees afford a very wide field for adulterations. This class of coffees is sold largely by the smaller dealers. The large stores Usually grind the coffee to order, but in the latter case the presence of the purchaser does not always insure pure coffee.
Ground coffees.
Serial. | Water test. Coloration in five minutes. | Water test. Proportion sinking in water In live minutes. | Approximate coffee. | Microscopic examination. |
Adulterants. | ||||
Per cent. | ||||
6854 | Slight........ | ...................... | 100 | |
6857 | No color...... | ...................... | 75 to 90 | |
6858 | ....do......... | ...................... | 100 | |
6859 | Highly colored | ....................... | 75 | Chicory and wheat. Dealer admitted presence, of chicory. |
6861 | No color......... | ....................... | 100 | |
6862 | ....do ............ | ....................... | 100 | |
6865 | Highly colored | ....................... | 25 | Chicory and wheat. Wheat partly in masses, probably Graham bread crumbs; rest in fragments. |
6874 | Slight........ | ....................... | Nearly 100 | Chicory. |
6878 | Colored....... | ....................... | 75 | Chicory and pease. |
6879 | ....do......... | ....................... | Less than 25 | Chicory, pea hulls, and wheat. |
6880 | No color......... | ....................... | 90 | Imitation coffee. |
8773 | ....do......... | ....................... | 100 | Sample consists of coffee screenings. |
8775 | Highly colored | Two-thirds . .. | 50 | Much peas (especially the testa), wheat bran and chicory. |
8777 | ...do ................... | One-half...... | 50 | Wheat and chicory. |
8781 | ....do......... | One-half...... | 50 | Wheat, chicory, and pcase, and a little corn. |
8782 | Slight........ | One-fourth...... | 50 to 75 | Pease and chicory, with a little corn. |
8784 | Highly colored | One-third..... | 50 | Chicory and barley, with small amount of pease and corn. |
8785 | Slight........ | One-third..... | 50 to 75 | Chicory and pease. |
8786 | Highly colored | Two-thirds ... | 25 to 50 | Small amount chicory, wheat bran, buckwheat bran, and pea hulls, and fragments of pease. |
8787 | Slight....... | ....................... | Nearly 100 | Small amount wheat, pease, and chicory. |
8788 | Highly colored | One half ... | 25 to 50 | Chicory and barley, with occasional fragments corn. |
8794 | Slight........ | One-fourth....... | 100 | |
8796 | Highly colored | Three-fourths | 50 to 75 | Chicory and pease. |
8799 | ....do......... | Nearly all....... | No coffee....... | About 25 per cent chicory; rest wheat bran and pea hulls mashed together. |
8801 | ...do ......... | Three-fourths | 25 to 50 | Mostly pea hulls, fragments of pease, wheat, and small per cent chicory. |
8802 | No color...... | One-fifth...... | 50 | Wheat, probably Graham bread. |
8803 | Slight........ | One-fourth ... | 25 to 50 | Chicory and wheat. |
8804 | ...do......... | One-half...... | 25 to 50 | Pea hull, with small percent wheat and chicory. |
8853 | Highly colored | ............................. | 25 to 40 | About 50 pet cent chicory; rest pease and wheat. |
8854 | Colored.......... | ....................... | 25 to 50 | Wheat, chicory, and pease. |
1 Dealer stated that this sample contains 50 per cent coffee and 50 per cent chicory .
The results of the examination of thirty samples are given in the table of ground coffees. Twenty-six samples, or 86 2/3 per cent of the samples examined, were adulterated, or if we include serial No. 8773, this percentage is increased to 90. One sample, sold as ground Rio, contained no coffee at all. In fifteen samples the purchaser obtained half, or less than half, the coffee he paid for. The price paid for samples Nos. 6874 and 6880 was certainly high enough to have insured a pure coffee.
The following table gives a comparative statement of the adulterated coffees, showing the price and the quality; the latter only so far as the percentage of pure coffee is concerned:
Table showing name under which adulterated ground coffees were sold, and the price per pound.
Serial No. | Name under which sold. | Price per pound. | Approximate per cent pure coffee. | Remarks. |
Cents. | ||||
6857 | Rio................... | 30 | 75 to 90............... | |
6859 | 8 o'clock breakfast ... | 25 | 75..................... | |
6865 | Rio.................. | 25 | 25..................... | |
6874 | Mocha................ | 40 | 92..................... | Ten per cent infusion indicated from 7.7 to 8.7 per cent chicory. |
6878 | Rio................... | 25 | 75..................... | |
6879 | Mocha and Java...... | 25 | Less than 25.......... | |
6880 | Java.................. | 35 | 90..................... | |
8773 | 20 | Coffee screenings..... | A sample of coffee screenings examined contained 10 per cent sand; also sticks and beans. | |
8775 | Johnson's breakfast.............. | 25 | 50..................... | |
8777 | Blended coffee, Java and cereals. | 25 | 50..................... | |
8781 | Brazil................ | 25 | 50..................... | |
8782 | Java.................. | 30 | 50 to 75............... | |
8784 | Rio................... | 25 | 50..................... | |
8785 | Mocha and Java...... | 30 | 50 to 75............... | |
8786 | 25 | 25 to 50 ............... | ||
8787 | Rio and Arbuckle's... | 25 | Nearly 100............ | |
8788 | 28 | 25 to 50............... | ||
8796 | Sunrise blended...... | 25 | 50 to 75............... | |
8799 | Rio................... | 20 | No coffee............. | |
8801 | Maracaibo (?)......... | 30 | 25 to 50............... | |
8802 | 25 | 50..................... | ||
8803 | Rio................... | 20 | 25 to 50.................. | |
8804 | Rio and Maracaibo.............. | 30 | 25 to 50............... | |
8853 | Japan coffee.......... | 16 | 25 to 40................ | Dealer states that sample contains 50 per cent chicory. |
8854 | Golden blended....... | 20 | 25 to 50............... |
Continue to:
My Books
