it will be easy to have it so. When it has been stored for any length
of time it will be much freshened and improved by being gently
heated through, either in the oven or in a stewpan held high above
the fire. It should be often turned while it is warming, and ground
as soon as it is cold again. Never purchase it ready ground unless
compelled to do so. When no proper mill for it is fitted up in the
house, a small portable one, which may be had at a trifling expense,
will answer tolerably well for grinding it, though it cannot be used
with quite the same facility as those which are fastened firmly to a
wall ; but whatever form of mill may be used it should be arranged
so as to reduce the berries to a moderately fine powder ; for if it be
too coarse the essence will be only partially extracted from it by
filtering ; and if it be extremely fine the water will not percolate
through it, and it will not be clear.
We say nothing about mingling chicory with it. Our directions
are for making pure coffee ; which, when not taken in excess, is, we
believe, a wholesome as well as a most agreeable beverage. The
effect of chicory is, we believe, to impart a slight bitter flavour to the
infusion, and to deepen its colour so much as to make it appear much
stronger than it really is True connoisseurs, however, do not attach
any importance to the dark hue of coffee, the very choicest that can
be tasted being sometimes of quite a pale tint.
Always serve hot milk or cream, or hot milk and cold cream, if
preferred, with breakfast coffee. In the evening, when milk is served
at all with it, it should likewise be boiling.
Do not, in any way, make use of the residue of one day’s coffee in
preparing that of the next ; you would but injure the purity of its
liavour by doing so, and effect next to nothing in the matter of
economju*
EXCELLENT BREAKFAST COFFEE.
A simple, well-made English filter, or percolater, as it is called,
will answer perfectly for making coffee ; but from amongst the many
of more recent invention which are on sale, the reader who prefers
one of ornamental appearance, and of novel construction, will easily
be suited. The size of the filter must be adapted to the number
of persons for whom the coffee is to be prepared ; for if a large
quantity of the powder be heaped into an insufficient space for it,
there will not be room for it to swell, and the water will not pass
through. Put three ounces of coffee into one which will contain in
the lower compartment two pints and a half✪ Excellent Breakfast Coffee; shake the powder
quite level and press it closely down ; remove the presser, put on the
top strainer, and pour round and round, so as to wet the coffee
* When the coffee has been filtered in a proper manner, water poured after-
wards on the “ grounds ” as they are termed, will have scarcely any taste or
colour : this is not the case when it has been boiled.
Chap, xxx.]
COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, ETC.
591
Page 509 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
it will be easy to have it so. When it has been stored for any length of time it will be much freshened and improved by being gently heated through, either in the oven or in a stewpan held high above the fire. It should be often turned while it is warming, and ground as soon as it is cold again. Never purchase it ready ground unless compelled to do so. When no proper mill for it is fitted up in the house, a small portable one, which may be had at a trifling expense, will answer tolerably well for grinding it, though it cannot be used with quite the same facility as those which are fastened firmly to a wall ; but whatever form of mill may be used it should be arranged so as to reduce the berries to a moderately fine powder ; for if it be too coarse the essence will be only partially extracted from it by filtering ; and if it be extremely fine the water will not percolate through it, and it will not be clear.
We say nothing about mingling chicory with it. Our directions are for making pure coffee ; which, when not taken in excess, is, we believe, a wholesome as well as a most agreeable beverage. The effect of chicory is, we believe, to impart a slight bitter flavour to the infusion, and to deepen its colour so much as to make it appear much stronger than it really is True connoisseurs, however, do not attach any importance to the dark hue of coffee, the very choicest that can be tasted being sometimes of quite a pale tint.
Always serve hot milk or cream, or hot milk and cold cream, if preferred, with breakfast coffee. In the evening, when milk is served at all with it, it should likewise be boiling.
Do not, in any way, make use of the residue of one day’s coffee in preparing that of the next ; you would but injure the purity of its liavour by doing so, and effect next to nothing in the matter of economy.*
EXCELLENT BREAKFAST COFFEE.
A simple, well-made English filter, or percolater, as it is called, will answer perfectly for making coffee ; but from amongst the many of more recent invention which are on sale, the reader who prefers one of ornamental appearance, and of novel construction, will easily be suited. The size of the filter must be adapted to the number of persons for whom the coffee is to be prepared ; for if a large quantity of the powder be heaped into an insufficient space for it, there will not be room for it to swell, and the water will not pass through. Put three ounces of coffee into one which will contain in the lower compartment two pints and a half; shake the powder quite level and press it closely down ; remove the presser, put on the top strainer, and pour round and round, so as to wet the coffee
* When the coffee has been filtered in a proper manner, water poured afterwards on the “ grounds ” as they are termed, will have scarcely any taste or colour : this is not the case when it has been boiled.
[chap. xxx.]
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Excellent Breakfast Coffee