Coffee

The best kind is Mocha, but Java is also good, and a mixture of the two makes excellent coffee. It is always best to buy it raw, and roast and grind it yourself as you want. It should not be too much roasted, as it makes it bitter; and not more than a week before it is used, as it loses its flavour; it ought also always to be ground fresh just before using. A great secret in making good coffee is to use plenty in proportion to the quantity of water, at least one cupful of coffee to every two of water. It should never be allowed to boil, as it gives it a coarse bitter taste. There are now an endless variety of coffee-pots for making coffee, but the simplest are always the best. The usual French coffee-pot is made in two parts, fitting closely into one another; the bottom of the upper part is perforated with small holes, and it contains two movable metal.strainers; on the under one the coffee is placed, and boiling water poured on it through the upper one; the lid is then closely shut down, and the pot placed by the fire till it all strained through, and clear.

A still simpler pot, and one which makes excellent coffee, is a tin pot, in which is suspended a strong linen bag, sewn to a ring which fits into the top of the pot; the coffee is placed in the bag, which is shaped like a funnel, and boiling water poured over it; it runs through quite clear. Care should be taken to scald the bag every time it is used. Many prefer the bag to be made of flannel, or use both - one inside the other, the first being made rather shorter. In Germany I have seen a very ingenious coffee-machine for making coffee yourself in the drawing-room. It consists of two vases, one of glass and the other of china; the latter is stopped close with a cork at the top, and is provided with a tap to draw the coffee off; the two are connected with a syphon, which passes into both, and the end in the glass vase is fitted with a fine strainer; a balancing weight is also attached on the side of the glass vase. The requisite quantity of coffee is placed in the glass, the water in the china vase; a lamp is then lit under the latter; as the water boils, the pressure of the confined steam forces the water up the syphon and into the glass vase; as the water ascends, the weight being removed from the china vase, it rises, and the lamp underneath, which is also provided with a cover and a balancing weight, is extinguished by the cover falling on it; at the same time the strainer at the end of the syphon descends and presses the coffee down, the water forces itself through the coffee, and bubbles up in the glass.

The atmospheric air now meets it coming through the hole down which the syphon passes, and forces the coffee back into the china vase, which, as the weight falls into it, again descends into its original place, and the coffee is ready to be drawn off clear and good. It may be passed in this way twice to make it stronger, but it is better if enough coffee is put in to make it strong enough with once passing. This scientific and pretty little machine has, however, the slight objection that it is apt to explode, if at least great care is not taken that no obstruction occurs in the pipe of the syphon.

How To Make Coffee As At Paris

The coffee-berries should be more roasted than is generally the case in England, and the fresher they are roasted the better; in any case they should not be kept longer than a week, and never ground longer than an hour before the coffee is prepared. The powder is to be placed in the ordinary French coffee-pot, in the proportion of half an ounce to every good-sized cupful of water, which should be poured in a boiling state on the coffee. The coffee-pot is then to be placed near the fire in such a way as to keep it very hot, but under the boiling-point; so that all the strength is brought out, but the aroma not carried off. It is usually kept thus for two hours, and then gently poured into the coffee-pot in which it is to be served. Many persons prefer an addition of chicory-powder, which should be in the proportion of a teaspoonful to the ounce of coffee.

How To Make Good Coffee

Take one pound of fresh-ground Mocha coffee; put it into a saucepan with three quarts of water; set it on the stove, and whisk it till it comes to a boil; draw the pan to the side of the fire, and let it simmer gently for ten minutes; then throw into it a large tumblerful of cold water, in which you have dissolved a quarter of an ounce of isinglass; this is to clarify it; let it simmer a minute or two longer, and take the pan from the fire; let it stand half an hour to settle; then you can pour the coffee off clear and fit for use. It is better made a day before, and when wanted heated in a bain-marie - i.e. by putting the coffee-pot into boiling water. Great care must be taken that the coffee itself does not boil, as it makes it bitter.

Coffee Milk

Boil two ounces of well and fresh ground coffee in a pint of milk for twenty minutes; put in two or three shavings of isinglass to clear it; let it boil a few minutes longer; set it aside till it fines, and sweeten it to taste.

This soup, which is of West Indian origin, should be made in an earthen pot, which always remains by the side of the fire, where the contents simmer but do not boil. These should consist of an equal admixture of fish, flesh, fowl, and vegetables, seasoned with chilis or Cayenne pepper and salt, - the only attention it requires being occasional shimming and the addition of a little water when it gets too dry. Anything and everything may be put into it; and as it should at all times be simmering by the fire, a good meal is always ready for any guest that may chance to come uninvited.