Coffee in this country is rarely well roasted; and in this consists
its chief excellence. Dr. Moseley long since observed--"The roasting
of the berry to a proper degree requires great nicety: the virtue and
agreeableness of the drink depend upon it; and both are often injured
by the ordinary method. Bernier says, when he was at Cairo, where coffee
is so much used, he was assured by the best judges, that there were
only two people in that great city who understood how to prepare it in
perfection. If it be underdone, its virtues will not be imparted, and,
in use, it will load and oppress the stomach; if it be overdone, it will
yield a flat, burnt, and bitter taste, its virtues will be destroyed,
and, in use, it will heat the body, and act as an astringent." The
desirable colour of roasted coffee is that of cinnamon. Coffee-berries
readily imbibe exhalations from other bodies, and thereby acquire an
adventitious and disagreeable flavour. Sugar placed near coffee will, in
a short time, so impregnate the berries as to injure their flavour. Dr.
Moseley mentions, that a few bags of pepper, on board a ship from India,
spoiled a whole cargo of coffee.
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