EritreaMa.s.sowahAbyssinian,The coffee is of the(Italy)m nAbyssinian type,but the output isnot an importanttrade factor.
SomalilandFrenchJibutiHarar, d, tThese coffees areAbyssinian,not grown in Frenchm nSomaliland, butcome from Abyssiniato Jibuti and Adenfor export to Europeand America. SeeAbyssinia.
BritishBerberaHarar, d, tGrown, as above, inZeilaAbyssinian,Abyssinia.
m nItalianMukdishuBenadir,Abyssinian type, butd & m nnot an importanttrade factor.
AbyssiniaJibuti (FrenchHarar, d_, t_In general_: TheSomaliland)Abyssinian,Harari coffee isZeilam nmore carefullycultivated andcured than theAbyssinian, whichis its inferior.
BerberaHarar, d, tThe original Mocha(BritishHarari, m nLongberry. Large,Somaliland)long blue-green toyellow bean.
Ma.s.sowah(Graded No. 1 or No.
(Eritrea)2, according tosize) roasting withAden (Arabia)few quakers,similar to Mocha,having an excellentflavor but notquite so delicate.
Dire-Daoua, tRailway tradingcenter for Harariand Abyssiniancoffees.
=============+============+==============+=================+================= GrandCountryShippingState, orTrade Values DivisionPortsDistrict,and CupMarket NamesCharacteristicsand Gradings-------------+------------+--------------+-----------------+----------------- AfricaAbyssiniaAbyssiniaThe native coffee (_Cont"d_)(_Cont"d_)Kaffa, dgrown wild in this(Gomara)district has littlecommercialimportance. Thebean is dark gray,and it has agroundy flavor.
Bonga, tTrading center forAbyssinia.
Jimma, dTrading center forJiren, tAbyssinia.
Shoa, dMostly AbyssinianAdis-Abeba, tgrowths areexported from thistrading center toHarar orDire-Daoua.
KenyaMombasaNairobi, dHaving MysoreColony& tcharacteristics(FormerlyKikuyuwith a touch ofBritishKyambuMocha flavor.
East Africa)UgandaMombasaUgandaGreenish-gray toProtectorateBunganda, dlight-brown(British)Robusta. Poor tofairly good liquor.
ZanzibarZanzibarZanzibarMedium-sized bean;Protectoratefull body, pleasing(British)flavor.
TanganyikaDar-es-SalaamEast Africa,Not a commercialTerritorym nfactor.
(formerlyorGerman EastTanganyika,Africa)m nNyasalandChindeNyasalandSome high-grown andProtectorate(PortugueseShire Highlands,of fine quality. Not(British)East Africa)da commercial factor.
Blantyre, dRhodesiaBeiraRhodesiaFor local(British)(Portugueseconsumption.
East Africa)Not a trade factor.
PortugueseMozambiqueMozambiqueMedium-sizedEast Africagreenish bean,heavy body; mildand mellow in thecup.
NatalDurbanNatalLarge, light-brown(British)Liberian growth.
Not a trade factor.
AngolaLoandaAngolaMedium-size bean,(Portugal)brownish color,strong in the cup.
Encoje, d,Light weight, darkm nbrown Robusta;strong in the cup.
BelgianBananaCongo, m n_In general_: TheCongoEquator, dcoffees of theAruwimi, dBelgian Congo areBangala, dmostly Liberian andLake Leopold,Robusta growths.
dThere is produced amedium-sized bean,making a handsomeroast and having arich cup.
FrenchLoangoLoango, d,Formerly EncojeCongoLibrevillem nfrom Angola.
Inferior toLiberian.
=============+============+==============+=================+================= GrandCountryShippingState, orTrade Values DivisionPortsDistrict,and CupMarket NamesCharacteristicsand Gradings-------------+------------+--------------+-----------------+----------------- AfricaNigeriaLagosNigeriaCommercially (Cont"d)(British)unimportant.
Gold CoastAccraGold CoastNot a commercial(British)factor.
LiberiaMonroviaLiberian, mLarge, brown bean;nbig, handsomeroaster; strong incup.
Sierra LeoneFreetownSierra Leone_C. stenophylla_, a(British)native growth. Nota trade factor.
FrenchKonakryGuinea, m nCommerciallyGuineaunimportant.
PortugueseBissaoGuinea, m nCommerciallyGuineaunimportant.
ComoroMaroniComoro, m nA wild naturalIslandscaffein-free coffee(French)(_C. humboltiana_);also found inMadagascar. Not acommercial factor.
MadagascarTamataveMadagascarLight-green(French)_liberica_ and_robusta_ bean;full rich flavor.
Reunion,St. DenisBourbon, mNearest to Mocha informerlyncharacter (q. v.).
BourbonRound and pointed(French)bean, pale greenor pale yellow. Nota trade factor.
MauritiusPort LouisMauritiusSimilar to Bourbon.
(British)Medium light green,full body, mild andmellow flavor. Nota trade factor.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER XXV
FACTORY PREPARATION OF ROASTED COFFEE
_Coffee roasting as a business--Wholesale coffee-roasting machinery--Separating, milling, and mixing or blending green coffee, and roasting by coal, c.o.ke, gas, and electricity--Facts about coffee roasting--Cost of roasting--Green-coffee shrinkage table--"Dry" and "wet" roasts--On roasting coffee efficiently--A typical coal roaster--Cooling and stoning--Finishing or glazing--Blending roasted coffees--Blends for restaurants--Grinding and packaging--Coffee additions and fillers--Treated coffees, and dry extracts_
The coffee bean is not ready for beverage purposes until it has been properly "manufactured", that is, roasted, or "cooked". Only in this way can all the stimulating, flavoring, and aromatic principles concealed in the minute cells of the bean be extracted at one time. An infusion from green coffee has a decidedly unpleasant taste and hardly any color.
Likewise, an underdone roast has a disagreeable "gra.s.sy" flavor; while an overdone roast gives a charred taste that is unpalatable to the average citizen of the United States.
_Coffee Roasting as a Business_
In spite of the generally admitted fact that freshly roasted coffee makes the best infusion, most of the coffee used today is not roasted at or near the place where it is brewed, but in factories that are provided with special equipment for the roasting of coffee in a wholesale way.
The reasons for this are various, partly relating to the mere economy of buying and manufacturing on a large scale, and partly relating to the trained skill that is needed both for selecting suitable green coffees to make a satisfactory blend, and for the roasting work itself. The proportion of consumers (including restaurants and hotels) who roast their own coffee is so small as to be negligible, at least in the United States. The average person who buys coffee today, for brewing use, never sees green coffee at all, unless as an "educational exhibit" in some dealer"s display window.
The reasons just mentioned, which have made coffee roasting a real business, all tend, of course, to make the roasting establishments of large size; but this tendency is offset by the problem of distributing the roasting coffee so that it will reach the ultimate consumer in good condition. Roasting enterprises on a comparatively small scale (not by consumers, but by sufficiently expert dealers) would probably be much more numerous on account of the "fresh-roast" argument, except for the fact that coffee-roasting machines can not be installed so easily as the grinding mills, meat-choppers, and slicing machines, that find extended use in small stores. The steam, smoke, and chaff given off by the coffee as it is roasted must be disposed of by an outdoor connection, without annoying the neighbors or creating a fire hazard.
From these general remarks, it can easily be seen that the size of individual roasting establishments will vary greatly, according to the skill of the proprietor in meeting the disadvantages of working on either the smallest or the largest scale. A wholesale plant may be considered to be one in which coffee is roasted in batches of one bag or more at a time; and with this definition, nearly all the roasting in the United States is done in a wholesale way.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A MODERN GAS COFFEE-ROASTING PLANT WITH A CAPACITY OF 1,000 BAGS A DAY
General view of the roasting room of the Jewel Tea Co., Hoboken, N.J.
The equipment consists of twelve Jubilee gas machines in four groups; each group having a smoke-suction fan, and a drag conveyor over the three feed hoppers. To the left is a line of flexible-arm cooler cars]
For many years the regular factory machines have been of a size suitable for roasting two bags of coffee at a time; but roasters of larger size have recently come into considerable use.
Plants treating from fifty to a hundred and fifty bags per day are the most common; but the daily capacity runs up to a thousand bags or more.
The minimum cost of equipping a plant is somewhere between five thousand dollars and ten thousand dollars. The individual machines are of standard construction; but the arrangement in a particular building, especially for the larger plants, is worked out with great care and with numerous special features, so that the goods can be handled from start to finish with minimum expense for floor s.p.a.ce, labor, power, etc.
The practical coffee roaster locates his roasting room in the top floor of his factory building, where light and ventilation are generally best.
He usually has a large skylight in the roof, directly over the roasting equipment. In addition to the advantage as regards good light and the convenient discharge of smoke, steam, and odors, through the roof, the top-story location makes it possible to send the roasted coffee by gravity through the various bins which may be needed in connection with subsequent operations, such as grinding, and for temporary storage before the final packaging and shipping.
_Wholesale Coffee-Roasting Machinery_
The indispensable coffee operations are roasting and cooling; and in practically all United States plants the cooling is followed by "stoning". This is an air-suction operation that effects, aided by gravity, the removal of any stones or other hard material that would damage the grinding mill. The best commercial cleaning and grading of the green coffee has usually left in every bag a few small stones. These can be got rid of better after the coffee is roasted; because it is then not only lighter, but more bulky.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MILLING-MACHINE CONNECTIONS FOR A TWO-ROASTER PLANT]
Besides these three operations of roasting, cooling, and stoning, the plant may have machinery for treating the coffee both before it is roasted and after it leaves the stoner.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A SIXTEEN-CYLINDER COAL ROASTING PLANT IN A NEW YORK FACTORY
This is a view of the roasting room of B. Fischer & Co. and shows a battery of Burns coal roasters]
Treatment of the green coffee in roasting establishments is of less importance now than in years gone by; first, because most coffees now come to market more perfectly graded and cleaned than formerly; and second, because the whole-bean appearance of the coffee has become of less account, as wholesale grinding operations have increased.
Nevertheless, many plants consider it highly important to have a separator for grading the coffee closely as regards the size of the beans--and particularly for the separation of round beans, or "peaberry"--as well as milling machinery for making the coffee as clean as possible before it is roasted. One green coffee operation that has lost none of its old-time importance, but on the contrary is more needed as the plants increase in size, is the mixing of different varieties of coffee--in proportions that have been decided on by sample tests--so as to get a uniform blend.