from a nut, instead of a leaf, but it is put here because it contains
the alkaloid _Theine_. Its botanical name is _Sterculia acuminata_, and
it is a native of tropical West Africa, although now introduced into
the West Indies and Brazils. The earliest mention of it to be found,
is in “the Sieur Brüe’s Journey from Albreda, on the river Gambia, to
Kachao, by land, in the year 1700.” Shortly after his start from Gambia,
he was entertained by a Portuguese lady, and “after a short Compliment,
one of her Slaves, a young, handsome Girl, but very immodestly dressed,
presented the General a Pewter Basin full of _Kola_, a fruit much valued
by the _Portugueze_. It is bitter, and makes the Teeth and Spittle
yellow.”
Barbot[141] gives a very bad illustration of the nut, and the following
description. “The _Cola_ is a sort of fruit, somewhat resembling a large
chestnut. The tree is very tall and large, on which this fruit grows,
in clusters, ten or twelve of them together; the outside of it is red,
with some mixture of blue; and the inside, when cut, violet colour and
brown. It comes once a year, is of a harsh, sharp taste, but quenches
the thirst, and makes water relish so well, that most of the _Blacks_
carry it about them, wheresoever they go, frequently chewing, and
some eat it all day, but forbear at night, believing it hinders their
sleeping. The whole country abounds in this _Cola_, which yields the
natives considerable profit, selling it to their neighbours up in the
inland; who, as some _Blacks_ told me, sell it again to a sort of white
men, who repair to them at a certain time of the year, and take off
great quantities of it. These white men are suppos’d to be of _Morocco_
or _Barbary_, for the _English_ of _Bence_ island assur’d me, there was
a great quantity carry’d yearly by land to _Tunis_ and _Tripoli_, in
_Barbary_.”
So we see that, although a fair trade was done in Kola over 150 years
ago, it is only beginning to be known in Europe.
In Congo it is called Makasso, and Guru in Soudan, and the seeds or nuts
are used in West and Central Africa to make a refreshing beverage, which
is somewhat allied to tea, and which has the same active principle as
cocoa, without so much fatty matter. It is refreshing, invigorating,
and has digestive properties. In the West Indies it is sometimes used
by the negroes to counteract the effects of intoxication. It grows in
pods, which contains several seeds, about the size of a horse chestnut.
At present it is only used as a tonic. Kola is said to be a cure for
drunkenness, and to sober an inebriate in an hour’s time; but woe be
to him if he returns to his evil courses for three or four days—his
punishment will be equal to sea-sickness.
There is a new product, about which, at present, very little is known in
Europe. This is the _Cattia edulis_, which is said to be similar in its
properties to Maté, Cuca, and Kola, in maintaining animal strength for a
time, in the absence of food. It has been used by the natives of Arabia
and Abyssinia for centuries. The plant is a shrub with lanceolate leaves
of an olive-green colour, and it flourishes in Africa between 15° N.
and 30° S. latitude, but it is chiefly cultivated in Arabia, especially
in the province of Yemen. From Aden it is exported to the north-east of
Africa, and the coasts of Somali land. The leaves are either chewed or
infused like tea, and their sustaining virtues have recently been tested
by M. Leloups, a French therapeutist. He employed not only the infusion,
but the tincture, and an extract of the leaves, finding them all to
produce wakefulness and banish fatigue. No definite alkaloid has yet been
obtained from the leaves.
In conclusion I may give the following list of substitutes for Chinese
Tea and Maté.
Popular Name. Where collected Name of Plant.
and used.
Arabian Tea. Arabia. { Cattia edulis.
Abyssinia. { Cattia Spinosa.
Unnamed. China. Sageretia theezans.
New Jersey Tea. N. America. Ceanothus Americanus.
Unnamed. Chili. Psoralea glandulosa.
Boer Tea. Cape of Good Hope. Cyclopia Vogelii.
Sloe and Strawberry Tea. North Europe. { Prunus spinosa ⅓
{ Fragraria collina or
{ F. resca ⅔.
Long-life Tea. Bencoolen. { Glaphyria nitida
{ (flowers).
Tea Plants. } New Holland. { Leptospermum scoparium
Tasmanian Tea.} { and L. Thea.
{ Melaleuca genistifolia,
{ and M. scoparia.
Unnamed. Chili. Myrtus ugni.
Colony Tea. Cape of Good Hope. { Helichrysum
{ serpyllifolium.
Mountain Tea. N. America. Gualtheria procumbens.
Labrador Tea.} N. America. { Ledum palustre and
James’s Tea. } { Ledum latifolium.
Toolsie Tea. India. Ocymum album.
Oswego Tea. N. America. { Monarda didyma and
{ M. purpurea.
Unnamed. France. { Micromeria thea
{ sinensis.
Sage Tea. North Europe. Salvia officinalis.
Ama tsja: Tea of Heaven. Japan. Hydrangea thunbergii.
“Burr.” New Holland. Acæna sanguisorba.
Santa Fé Tea. New Granada. Styrax alstonia.
Unnamed. Central America. Capraria bifolia.
Cape Barran Tea. New Holland. Correa alba.
Capitão da matto. Brazil. Lautana pseudo thea.
Faham or Bourbon Tea. Mauritius. Angrœcum fragrans.
Brazilian Tea. Austria. { Stachytarpheta
{ jamaicensis.
Mexican Tea. Mexico and Columbia.{ Chenopodium
{ ambrosoides.
Apalachian Tea. N. America. { Viburnum Cassinoides,
{ and Prinos glaber.
A tea is also made of coffee leaves, and this infusion has been drunk for
an unknown time in the Eastern Archipelago, especially in the island of
Sumatra. It is said to be an agreeable beverage, and is preferred by the
natives to the berry.
J. A.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
COFFEE.
Its Growth and Birthplace—Where most Drank—Legends as to
its Origin—Its Gradual Spread—Introduction into Europe and
England—Pasqua Rosee’s Handbill—The English Coffee Houses—Their
Rules—A Poem about Coffee Houses.
Next to tea, Coffee is, perhaps, the infusion most drank, its use being
universal in Turkey, Egypt, Persia, and most Mahometan countries; and on
the continent of Europe, with the exception of Russia, it is a greater
favourite than tea. In Norway and Sweden it is especially drank, whilst
tea is comparatively disused.
It is the seed of an evergreen shrub (_Coffea Arabica_) which grows from
six to twelve feet high, with a stem of from six to fifteen inches in
circumference. When the blossom falls off, there remains, in its room,
or rather, springs from each blossom, a small fruit, green at first,
but which becomes red when it ripens; it is not unlike a cherry, and is
very good to eat. Under the flesh of this cherry, instead of the stone,
is found the bean, or berry, which we call coffee, wrapped round in a
fine thin skin. The berry is then very soft, and of a disagreeable taste;
but as the cherry ripens, the berry in the inside grows harder, and
the dried-up fruit being the flesh or the pulp of it, which was before
eatable, becomes a shell or pod, of a deep brown colour. The berry is now
solid, and of a clear transparent green. Each shell contains one berry,
which splits into two equal parts.
In Abyssinia coffee appears to have been used as a drink from time
immemorial. Abd-Alkader, a learned native of Medina, writing at the
beginning of the seventeenth century, gives us the history of its
introduction into Arabia. A certain Sheikh, notorious for his piety and
knowledge, named Jemal-Eddin, brought it from Persia to Aden. He was wont
to take it as a medicine relieving the headache, enlivening the heart,
and preventing drowsiness. This last attribute at once recommended it to
the various imams, muftis, and dervishes, who wished to remain awake for
the performance of religious exercises at night. The examples of these
holy persons had its usual influence upon the people, and coffee drinking
soon became a common custom.
Not, however, without considerable opposition did this fashion come into
vogue; there were many long and animated disputes about the legitimacy
of drinking coffee. Its defenders alleged its medicinal virtues, its
opponents declared it to be like wine, of an inebriating nature—indeed, a
sort of wine itself; and went so far, in the heat of argument, as to say
that all who drank it would appear at the general resurrection with faces
blacker than the bottoms of their coffee-pots.
An insult of this sort was surely sufficient to justify a prompt adoption
of the severest rejoinder by the other side, and, in replying, they
became poetic. Said one:—
“It is a dear object of desire to the collector of knowledge;
It is the drink of the people of God, and in it is health,
It’s odour is Musk, it’s colour Ink:
The wise man and the good will sip it pure as milk in its innocence,
And differing from it but in blackness.”
And another sang—
“Courtesy is the coat of the customers in a Coffee-house.
The Coffee-house itself is as Paradise in its carpets, its company
and its tender delights.
When the waiter comes with the Coffee in its cup of porcelain, sorrow
disappears, and all anguish sinks under its dominion.
In its water we wash away our impurities, and burn out our solicitudes
in its fire.
The man who has looked only on its chafing dish will say, ‘Fie upon
the Wine and the Wine Vats.’”
Coffee won the day.
There is, however, another story of its introduction—how in the far-off
past a poor dervish, who lived in the deserts of Arabia, noticed that his
goats came home every evening in a state of hilarity. Unable to account
for this, he watched them, and found them feeding on the blossoms and
berries of a tree which he had never before noticed. He experimented upon
himself by eating them, and soon became as jocund as his goats, so much
so, that he was accused of having partaken of the accursed juice of the
grape. But he soon convinced his maligners that the source of his high
spirits was harmless, and they, tasting, became converts, and the berry
became of general use.
From Abyssinia, the use of coffee spread to Persia and Arabia, thence to
Aden, Mecca, Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo and Constantinople, whence it found
its way to Venice in 1615. But it is hard to say exactly when its use was
introduced into England. Robert Burton mentions it in his _Anatomy of
Melancholy_, but not in the 1621 edition. He says,[142] “The Turks have a
drink called Coffee (for they use no wine), so named of a berry, as black
as soot, and as bitter (like that black drink which was in use among the
Lacedæmonians, and perhaps the same), which they sip still of, and sup
as warm as they can suffer; they spend much time in those coffee houses,
which are somewhat like our alehouses or taverns, and there they sit,
chatting and drinking, to drive away the time, and to be merry together,
because they find by experience that kind of drink, so used, helpeth
digestion, and procureth alacrity.”
Anthony à Wood says that the first coffee-house was kept in 1650 in
Oxford, by Jacobs, a Jew; and it seems generally recognised that
the first coffee-house in London was opened in St. Michael’s Alley,
Cornhill, in 1652, by one Pasqua Rosee, a Greek, servant to Mr. Edwards,
a Turkey merchant. In “A Broadside against COFFEE, or the Marriage of the
Turk” (1672), he is thus mentioned:—
“A Coachman was the first (here) _Coffee_ made,
And ever since the rest _drive on_ the trade;
_Me no good Engalash!_ and sure enough,
He plaid the Quack to salve his Stygian stuff;
_Ver boon for de stomach, de Cough, de Ptisick_,
And I believe him, for it looks like Physick.”
Here is Rosee’s handbill:—
“THE VERTUE OF THE COFFEE DRINK.
“First publiquely made and sold in England, by _Pasqua Rosee_.
“The grain or berry called _Coffee_, groweth upon little Trees,
only in the _Deserts of Arabia_.
“It is brought from thence, and drunk generally throughout all
the Grand Seignior’s Dominions.
“It is a simple innocent thing, composed into a Drink, by being
dryed in an Oven, and ground to Powder, and boiled up with
Spring water, and about half a pint of it to be drunk, fasting
an hour before, and not Eating an hour after, and to be taken
as hot as possibly can be endured; the which will never fetch
the skin off the mouth, or raise any Blisters, by reason of
that Heat.
“The Turks drink at Meals and other times, is usually _Water_,
and their Dyet consists much of _Fruit_; the _Crudities_
whereof are very much corrected by this Drink.
“The quality of this Drink is Cold and Dry; and though it be a
Dryer, yet it neither _heats_, nor _inflames_ more than _hot
Posset_.
“It so closeth the Orifice of the Stomack, and fortifies
the heat within, that it’s very good to help digestion; and
therefore of great use to be taken about 3 or 4 o’clock
afternoon, as well as in the morning.
“It much quickens the _Spirits_, and makes the Heart
_Lightsome_.
“It is good against sore Eys, and the better if you hold your
Head over it, and take in the Steem that way.
“It suppresseth Fumes exceedingly, and therefore good against
the _Head-ach_, and will very much stop any _Defluxion of
Rheums_ that distil from the _Head_ upon the _Stomack_, and so
prevent and help _Consumptions_, and the _Cough of the Lungs_.
“It is excellent to prevent and cure the _Dropsy_, _Gout_ and
_Scurvy_.
“It is known by experience to be better than any other Drying
Drink for _People in years_, or _Children_ that have any
_running humors_ upon them, as _the King’s Evil_, etc.
“It is very good to prevent _Mis-carryings in Child-bearing
Women_.
“It is a most excellent remedy against the _Spleen_,
_Hypocondriack Winds_, or the like.
“It will prevent _Drowsiness_, and make one fit for busines,
if one have occasion to _Watch_; and therefore you are not
to drink of it _after Supper_, unless you intend to be
_watchful_, for it will hinder sleep for three or four hours.
“_It is observed that in Turkey, where this is generally drunk,
that they are not trobled with the Stone, Gout, Dropsie, or
Scurvey, and that their Skins are exceeding cleer and white._
“It is neither _Laxative_ nor _Restringente_.
“Made and Sold in _St. Michael’s Alley_ in _Cornhill_, by
_Pasqua Rosee_, at the Signe of his own Head.”
That it met with opposition at its introduction, we have already seen
in “A Broadside against Coffee;” but Hatton, in his “New View of
London,” 1708, gives a case of clear persecution. “I find it Recorded
that one _James Farr_, a barber, who kept the Coffee House which is now
the _Rainbow_, was, in the year 1657, presented by the Inquest of St.
Dunstan’s in the W. for Making and Selling a sort of Liquor, called
Coffee, as a great Nusance and Prejudice of the neighbourhood, etc. And
who would then have thought London would ever have had near 3000 such
Nusances, and that Coffee should have been, as now, so much Drank by the
best of Quality and Physicians.”[143]
[Illustration]
The coffee houses soon became popular, because they filled a social
want. There were no clubs, as we know them, although there were limited
social gatherings, under the name of club, held at stated periods—and the
coffee house provided a convenient place for gossip and news. Here were
served alcoholic drinks as well as coffee; here the newspapers might be
seen; here, also, men could indulge in a pipe, and its advantages are
well summed up by Misson,[144] who travelled in England in the reign
of William and Mary. “These Houses, which are very numerous in London,
are extreamly convenient. You have all Manner of News there; You have a
good Fire, which you may sit by as long as you please; You have a dish of
Coffee, you meet your Friends for the Transaction of Business, and all
for a Penny, if you don’t care to spend more.”
“THE RULES AND ORDERS OF THE COFFEE-HOUSE.[145]
“_Enter Sirs, freely, But first, if you please,_
_Peruse our Civil-Orders, which are these._
“First, Gentry, Tradesmen, all are welcome hither,
And may, without Affront, sit down Together:
Pre-eminence of Place, none here should Mind,
But take the next fit Seat that he can find:
Nor need any, if Finer Persons come,
Rise up for to assigne to them his Room;
To limit Men’s Expence, we think not fair,
But let him forfeit Twelve pence that shall Swear;
He that shall any Quarrel here begin,
Shall give each Man a Dish t’ Atone the Sin;
And so shall he, whose Complements extend
So far to drink in COFFEE to his Friend;
Let Noise of loud Disputes be quite forborn,
No Maudlin Lovers here in Corners Mourn:
But all be Brisk, and Talk, but not too much;
On Sacred things, Let none presume to touch,
Nor Profane Scripture, or sawcily wrong
Affairs of State with an Irreverent Tongue:
Let mirth be Innocent, and each Man see,
That all his Jests without Reflection be;
To keep the House more Quiet, and from Blame,
We Banish hence Cards, Dice and every Game:
Nor can allow of Wagers, that Exceed
Five Shillings, which, oft-times, much Trouble Breed;
Let all that’s Lost or Forfeited be spent
In such Good Liquor as the House doth Vent,
And Customers endeavour to their Powers,
For to observe still seasonable Howers.
Lastly, Let each Man what he calls for _Pay_,
And so you’re welcome to come every Day.”
To know of coffee-houses in their prime, we must turn to the pages of
Addison and Steele, to the _Guardian_, the _Spectator_, the _Tatler_,
etc., but they are well epitomised in the following poem, which bears
date 1667:—
“NEWS FROM THE COFFEE-HOUSE.
“In which is shewn their several sorts of Passions,
Containing Newes from all our Neighbour _Nations_.
“A POEM.
“You that delight in Wit and Mirth,
And long to hear such News,
As comes from all Parts of the _Earth_,
_Dutch_, _Danes_, and _Turks_, and _Jews_,
I’le send yee to a Rendezvouz,
Where it is smoaking new;
Go, hear it at a _Coffee-house_,
_It cannot but be true_.
There Battles and Sea-Fights are Fought,
And bloudy Plots display’d;
They know more things than ’ere was thought
Or ever was betray’d:
No Money in the Minting House
Is halfe so Bright and New;
And, comming from a _Coffee-House_
_It cannot but be true_.
Before the _Navyes_ fall to Work,
They know who shall be Winner;
They there can tell ye what the _Turk_
Last Sunday had to Dinner;
Who last did cut _Du Ruitter’s_ Corns,
Amongst his jovial Crew;
Or Who first gave the _Devil_ Horns.
_Which cannot but be true._
A _Fisherman_ did boldly tell,
And strongly did avouch,
He Caught a Shoal of Mackarel,
That Parley’d all in _Dutch_,
And cry’d out, _Yaw, yaw, yaw, Myne Here_;
But as the Draught they Drew,
They Struck for fear that _Monck_ was there,
_Which cannot but be true_.
Another Swears by both his Ears,
_Mounsieur_ will cut our Throats;
The _French King_ will a Girdle bring,
Made of Flat-bottom’d Boats;
Shall compas _England_ round about,
Which must not be a few,
To give our _Englishmen_ the Rout;
_This sounds as if ’twere true_.
There’s nothing done in all the World,
From _Monarch_ to the _Mouse_,
But every Day or Night ’tis hurl’d
Into the _Coffee-house_.
What _Lillie_ or what _Booker_ can
By Art, not bring about
At _Coffee-house_ you’l find a Man,
_Can quickly find it out_.
They’l tell ye there, what Lady-ware,
Of late is grown too light;
What Wise-man shall from Favour Fall,
What Fool shall be a Knight;
They’l tell ye when our Fayling Trade
Shall Rise again, and Flourish,
Or when _Jack Adams_ shall be made
Church-Warden of the Parish.
They know who shall in Times to come,
Be either made or undone,
From great _St. Peter’s-street_ in _Rome_,
To _Turnbull-street_ in _London_.
And likewise tell, in _Clerkenwell_,
What w⸺ hath greatest Gain,
And in that place, what Brazen-face
Doth wear a Golden Chain.
At Sea their knowledge is so much,
They know all Rocks and Shelves,
They know all Councils of the _Dutch_,
More than they know Themselves.
Who ’tis shall get the best at last,
They perfectly can shew
At _Coffee-house_, when they are plac’d
_You’d scarce believe it true_.
They know all that is Good, or Hurt,
To Dam ye, or to Save ye;
There is the _Colledge_ and the _Court_,
The _Country_, _Camp_, and _Navie_;
So great a _Vniversitie_
I think there ne’re was any;
In which you may a Schoolar be
For spending of a Penny.
A _Merchant’s Prentice_ there shall show
You all and every thing,
What hath been done, and is to do,
’Twix _Holland_ and the _King_;
What _Articles_ of _Peace_ will bee
He can precisely show,
What will be good for _Them_ or _Wee_,
He perfectly doth know.
Here Men do talk of every Thing,
With large and liberal Lungs,
Like Women at a Gossiping,
With double tyre of Tongues;
They’l give a Broad-side presently,
Soon as you are in view,
With Stories that you’l wonder at,
Which they will swear are true.
The Drinking there of _Chockolat_,
Can make a _Fool_ a _Sophie_,
’Tis thought the _Turkish Mahomet_
Was first Inspir’d with Coffee:
By which his Powers did Over-flow
The Land of _Palestine_;
Then let us to the _Coffee-house_ go,
’Tis Cheaper farr than Wine.
You shall know there, what Fashions are;
How Perrywiggs are Curl’d;
And for a Penny you shall heare
All Novells in the World.
Both Old and Young, and Great and Small,
And Rich and Poore, you’ll see;
Therefore let’s to the _Coffee_ all,
Come All away with Mee. _Finis._”
J. A.
[Illustration]
Different Sorts of Coffee—Its Enemies—Its Composition and
Treatment—Methods of Making—Adulterations—Liberian Coffee—Date
Coffee and other Substitutes.
There are about twenty-two species of coffee, seven of them belonging to
Asia, and fifteen to Africa, where it grows in districts widely apart,
as in Angola and on the shores of the Victoria Nyanza; yet, although
it is so widely disseminated, and comes from so many different places,
it is getting commercially dearer without any present prospect of any
reduction. Its value in the market is as follows—the first being the
highest, and the last the lowest in price. Mocha, Jamaica, Ceylon,
Honduras, Mysore, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, New Grenada, and divers
East Indian growths; and its consumption per head in Europe, ranks thus:
Holland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, France,
Austria, Greece, Great Britain, Italy and Russia.
Unfortunately the coffee plant has its enemies, in the shape of two
fungi which have devastated the plantations of Ceylon and Mysore, one
the _Hemileia Vastata_, and the other the _Pellicularia Kolerota_,
whilst an insect called the coffee bug (_Lecanium Coffeæ_) causes great
destruction, as does also the coffee, or Golunda rat. Indeed, these
enemies so prevailed in Ceylon as to render coffee growing not only
unprofitable, but almost impossible, so the planters took to growing tea,
with the good results which we have seen.
Raw coffee has very little scent, and a bitter taste, and no one would
credit it with the delicious aroma which is developed—like the tea
leaf—by roasting, an operation which increases the bulk of the berry,
whilst diminishing its weight. Its commercial value is in proportion to
its aroma; and it is found that, by keeping the raw berry, a chemical
change takes place, which very much improves inferior qualities. But
this aroma is extremely volatile, and ground coffee should be kept in
scrupulously air-tight cases. Indeed, so fugitive is it, that coffee to
be drank in perfection should be made from berries roasted freshly every
day, as is frequently done in France.
Raw coffee contains an astringent acid, which does not stain iron black,
like that of tea, but green; and it also embodies Theine, or, as it is
called when applied to coffee, _Caffeine_. This alkaloid does not exist
in large quantities as in tea, _i.e._, the drinker of an equal number
of cups of both beverages would have less of the alkaloid if coffee was
drunk.
The berries, when roasted, and their flavour developed, are ground—coarse
or fine according to taste, and are then ready to be made into a drink.
It is here, in conjunction with the use of stale, and consequently,
tasteless coffee, that we, in England, go to grief. Of coffee-making
machines there are numbers; but if pure coffee is used, they might as
well be dispensed with, whilst they are almost necessary if the coffee
is adulterated. Another thing that our English housekeepers do not
understand is, that coffee, in order to be productive of a good result,
should be used large-handedly and generously, and not according to the
time-honoured, grandmotherly, but parsimonious method applied to tea,
of a teaspoonful for each person and one for the pot. The allowance of
freshly ground coffee should be from 1½ to 2 oz. per pint of water, and
any less does not make coffee, but only “water bewitched.”