FEW good things for the table are more easily made than a bright cup of tea, yet few are rarer. The expla- nation is found in the common feeling that anybody can make a pot of tea, which leads to carelessness in doing the slight work required. Proper treatment of a poor quality of tea will give a better result than improper use of a fine brand. It is astonishing that so many people are satisfied with that coarse green tea called " Japan." This kind would be bad enough, even if it were infused, or steeped, in the most approved manner; and generally the steeping is far from perfect, making the drinker — if accustomed to black or Oolong tea of good quality — wonder how any- body can be willing to adopt it permanently. Still, it is not always the Japan tea which produces a poor drink. At some tables, where everything else may be excellent, the tea is poor, though the dry article may have cost a dollar or more a pound. Such tea will not injure the consumers so much as improperly drawn Japan tea will, yet it certainly cannot cheer them. In making tea always use an earthen, china, or silver teapot, — never tin or granite ware. Pour boiling water into the pot, and let it stand long enough to heat the pot thoroughly ; then pour out every drop of the water, and put in the dry tea. Cover the pot, and let it stand for BEVERAGES. 819 five minutes on a part of the stove where it will keep hot. At the end of the five minutes pour in some boiling water, and send the tea to the dining-room. There will be time for a sufficient steeping while the pot is being carried from the stove to the table. This method of preparing tea insures a fresh, bright, invigorating drink. Remember that the tea-pot must be free of moisture and old leaves when the fresh tea is put in ; that the water used must be boiling so rapidly in the kettle that steam comes from the spout in a dense vol- ume ; and that fresh water should be put into the kettle whenever tea is to be made. These directions apply to all kinds of tea, save that English breakfast tea should be allowed to stand on the stove for five or eight min- utes after the water is put with it, and almost, yet not quite, be allowed to boil. The quantity of dry tea to be used for each person depends, of course, upon individual tastes ; nevertheless, the old rule, " a teaspoonful for each person and one for the teapot," is a good one, and by following it, and allow- ing a generous half-pint of water to each spoonful of tea, one gets a moderately strong cup. COFFEE. To the lover of coffee nothing can surpass a perfect cup of this beverage. Tastes differ as to the proper degree of strength of this drink, but there is little differ- ence in opinion as to the flavor of the coffee, which should be smooth and "bright." A great deal depends upon the berry and the way it is roasted. Comparatively few people roast their own coffee in these days, the work being done so well by large establishments. Mocha and Java mixed — one-third Mocha and two-thirds Java — are considered to be the best combination. Still, many other kinds, when properly roasted and made, give very satisfactory results, 820 MISS PARLOA'S KITCHEN COMPANION. *To Roast Coffee.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

FEW good things for the table are more easily made than a bright cup of tea, yet few are rarer. The explanation is found in the common feeling that anybody can make a pot of tea, which leads to carelessness in doing the slight work required. Proper treatment of a poor quality of tea will give a better result than improper use of a fine brand. It is astonishing that so many people are satisfied with that coarse green tea called " Japan." This kind would be bad enough, even if it were infused, or steeped, in the most approved manner; and generally the steeping is far from perfect, making the drinker — if accustomed to black or Oolong tea of good quality — wonder how anybody can be willing to adopt it permanently. Still, it is not always the Japan tea which produces a poor drink. At some tables, where everything else may be excellent, the tea is poor, though the dry article may have cost a dollar or more a pound. Such tea will not injure the consumers so much as improperly drawn Japan tea will, yet it certainly cannot cheer them. In making tea always use an earthen, china, or silver teapot, — never tin or granite ware. Pour boiling water into the pot, and let it stand long enough to heat the pot thoroughly ; then pour out every drop of the water, and put in the dry tea. Cover the pot, and let it stand for five minutes on a part of the stove where it will keep hot. At the end of the five minutes pour in some boiling water, and send the tea to the dining-room. There will be time for a sufficient steeping while the pot is being carried from the stove to the table. This method of preparing tea insures a fresh, bright, invigorating drink. Remember that the tea-pot must be free of moisture and old leaves when the fresh tea is put in ; that the water used must be boiling so rapidly in the kettle that steam comes from the spout in a dense volume ; and that fresh water should be put into the kettle whenever tea is to be made. These directions apply to all kinds of tea, save that English breakfast tea should be allowed to stand on the stove for five or eight minutes after the water is put with it, and almost, yet not quite, be allowed to boil. The quantity of dry tea to be used for each person depends, of course, upon individual tastes ; nevertheless, the old rule, " a teaspoonful for each person and one for the teapot," is a good one, and by following it, and allowing a generous half-pint of water to each spoonful of tea, one gets a moderately strong cup. COFFEE. To the lover of coffee nothing can surpass a perfect cup of this beverage. Tastes differ as to the proper degree of strength of this drink, but there is little difference in opinion as to the flavor of the coffee, which should be smooth and "bright." A great deal depends upon the berry and the way it is roasted. Comparatively few people roast their own coffee in these days, the work being done so well by large establishments. Mocha and Java mixed — one-third Mocha and two-thirds Java — are considered to be the best combination. Still, many other kinds, when properly roasted and made, give very satisfactory results, *To Roast Coffee.

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