THE PREPARATION OF TEA AND COFFEE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8270, 31 May 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE PREPARATION OF TEA AND COFFEE.

As is the case with most articles of universal consumption, faulty preparation will spoil the best sorts of either tea or coffee. The teapot should be scrupulously cleansed of all leaves remaining from previous use ; it should be rinsed out with boiling water, in order that it may be thoroughly warmed before putting in fresh dry leaves ; next, care should be had that the water should be boiling (although it is best that it should not have been too long in that condition) before it is poured upon the leaves ; finally, let the infusion stand for six minutes ; then well stir the leaves, and let the infusion remain four minutes longer before pouring it out into the cup. Coffee should be freshly ground, and free from adulteration with chicory ; the only way to make sure of both these points is for the consumer to purchase the coffee berries, and to have them freshly ground as required. In a spirit of ignorance, or of obstinacy, the authorities permit the admixture of chicory with coffee, giving rise to much adulteration, especially in the so-':alled "French coffees." A ton of coffee costs six times as much in the market as a corresponding quantity of chicory would do; is there any room, then, for wonder that the former as freely adulterated with the latter, seeing that the authorities tolerate the admixture ? Besides chicory, other adulterants, such as locust beans, are frequently employed by unscrupulous manufactures. It is doubtless due to these circumstances that the consumption of coffee in this country is so small as compared with other countries. The average amount of coffee consumed per head of the population in England is looz ; in France, 2flb; in Germany 51b ; and in the United States 7f lb. On the other hand, according to some statistics given in a lecture at the Colonial Institute by Mr. J. Loudon Shand, Britain consumes 4ilb of tea per head of the population. Other countries mentioned range as follows :— Australian colonies (who, by the way, ever read a book about Australia in which " tea and dampers" kind of flour —did not often figure?), 71b lloz ; New Zealand, 71b 4oz ; the United States, lib 6oz ; and then a rapid decline, as regards other countries, until we reach, at the bottom of the list, Spain with an annual consumption of onesixth of an ounce per head. It is a noteworthy fact that the teas of our Eastern possessions, India and Ceylon, are rapidly displacing the imports from China. Only 17 years ago, in 1873, the amount of tea imported from Ceylon was not more than 231b —nob equal to the annual consumption of even a moderate-sized household. Gradually, or rather by progressive leaps and bounds, the imports from Ceylon have risen to something like 40,000,0001b. The quantity of tea grown in India has developed in a still greater degree. In 1803 the imports from India were 8,000,0001b ; in 1878 they were 36,000,000 and last year the total exceeded 100,000,0001b.