Coffee

I found this recipe for making coffee interesting, in part because of the author's reasons for doing this and that. I hope you gain some interesting tidbits from this piece as well. I remember seeing eggshells in coffee grains when I was a young child but never heard of the use of an egg in coffee before I came across this recipe.

Coffee.
I am now preparing to make some coffee, and for this I have procured a mixture of one-third Mocha and two-thirds Java. I presume this is the most popular of any mixture and I think most people want their coffee mixed. The Mocha having a strong flavor and the Java a mild flavor they make a pleasant combination. Perhaps many of you would prefer the proportions reversed, if stronger coffee is desired, and some even like a little Rio put in for the bitter flavor. For those who are not much accustomed to drinking coffee I think the pure Java suits best. The use of prepared coffee Is not objectionable if yon have it ground only in small quantities and keep It in a tight can, either a tin can or a glass can with a screwed top. Still, coffee has a finer flavor if it is perfectly fresh, and so if it is convenient it is nicer to grind it every morning or every few mornings, perhaps.

In making this coffee I will beat an egg lightly. That does not mean beating it light, but only a little. I put into it two tablespoonfuls of cold water. This makes a medium rich coffee. It can be made richer with more egg and the water left out, but for ordinary family use, especially where eggs have to be bought and are high, it is better to dilute the egg somewhat, as it will go a great deal farther. With this egg and two tablespoonfuls of water I will mix as much ground coffee as it will moisten. The amount depends somewhat on the egg and the fineness of the coffee. Then for each cup of coffee use a tablespoonful of this mixture, not a tablespoonful of the dry coffee, but a tablespoonful of the mixture. This proportion, of course, is not arbitrary, but can be varied to suit individual taste. It Is much easier to make a quantity for a family than for only one person, because you can add a little extra water to several cups of coffee and not make the difference that the extra amount added to one cup would make. The coffee should be put Into a hot coffee pot, and it is always a good rule to scald the pot out before the coffee Is made; while it may have been washed ever so clean the last time it was used, it certainly is not hurt, and is probably benefited by the scalding. The flavor of the coffee is very materially affected by the cleanliness of the coffee pot. Put the boiling water in the hot coffee pot and let the coffee boll up three times, stirring It down between. This amounts to about the same thing as the ordinary rule of letting It boil five minutes, but it does not boll all of that time. After the boiling is done set It back on the stove where It will not boil but will keep hot fifteen or twenty minutes. It Is also a wise precaution to pour into the coffee Just before serving a half cup of cold water, pouring It In gradually. The cold water settles Immediately to the bottom and carries down all particles that may be floating on the top.

Coffee is quite frequently made by using merely the shell of the egg; the shell of one egg will clear one cup of coffee very nicely. Of course this is only one way of making coffee, and I suppose there are almost as many ways as there are persons to make it some people never allow the coffee to boil at all, but merely to steep. Others put it in cold water the night before and bring it to a boil in the morning, while others make it in a French coffee pot—one that has a sort of bag inside, where the coffee does not mix with the water—and use no egg whatever. In making this drip coffee with a French coffee pot the coffee should be pulverized very thoroughly, and I think that is only prepared in the larger cities.

This coffee prepared with the egg and water can be covered up and kept three or four days. Perhaps I might say a word or two about the kind of coffee pot There are a great many kinds, all of them claiming to have superior points, but a plain granitelined one is as good as any I know of. I rather dislike a tin coffee pot because it is harder to keep clean. It is not so objectionable, however, as a tin teapot; that is decidedly objectionable because the action of the tea will not only discolor, but will corrode the tin.
Source: A Handbook for Agriculture ©1895