introduction into Arabia. A certain Sheikh, notorious for his piety and

knowledge, named Jemal-Eddin, brought it from Persia to Aden. He was wont to take it as a medicine relieving the headache, enlivening the heart, and preventing drowsiness. This last attribute at once recommended it to the various imams, muftis, and dervishes, who wished to remain awake for the performance of religious exercises at night. The examples of these holy persons had its usual influence upon the people, and coffee drinking soon became a common custom. Not, however, without considerable opposition did this fashion come into vogue; there were many long and animated disputes about the legitimacy of drinking coffee. Its defenders alleged its medicinal virtues, its opponents declared it to be like wine, of an inebriating nature—indeed, a sort of wine itself; and went so far, in the heat of argument, as to say that all who drank it would appear at the general resurrection with faces blacker than the bottoms of their coffee-pots. An insult of this sort was surely sufficient to justify a prompt adoption of the severest rejoinder by the other side, and, in replying, they became poetic. Said one:— “It is a dear object of desire to the collector of knowledge; It is the drink of the people of God, and in it is health, It’s odour is Musk, it’s colour Ink: The wise man and the good will sip it pure as milk in its innocence, And differing from it but in blackness.” And another sang— “Courtesy is the coat of the customers in a Coffee-house. The Coffee-house itself is as Paradise in its carpets, its company and its tender delights. When the waiter comes with the Coffee in its cup of porcelain, sorrow disappears, and all anguish sinks under its dominion. In its water we wash away our impurities, and burn out our solicitudes in its fire. The man who has looked only on its chafing dish will say, ‘Fie upon the Wine and the Wine Vats.’” Coffee won the day. There is, however, another story of its introduction—how in the far-off past a poor dervish, who lived in the deserts of Arabia, noticed that his goats came home every evening in a state of hilarity. Unable to account for this, he watched them, and found them feeding on the blossoms and berries of a tree which he had never before noticed. He experimented upon himself by eating them, and soon became as jocund as his goats, so much so, that he was accused of having partaken of the accursed juice of the grape. But he soon convinced his maligners that the source of his high spirits was harmless, and they, tasting, became converts, and the berry became of general use. From Abyssinia, the use of coffee spread to Persia and Arabia, thence to Aden, Mecca, Cairo, Damascus, Aleppo and Constantinople, whence it found its way to Venice in 1615. But it is hard to say exactly when its use was introduced into England. Robert Burton mentions it in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_, but not in the 1621 edition. He says,[142] “The Turks have a drink called Coffee (for they use no wine), so named of a berry, as black as soot, and as bitter (like that black drink which was in use among the Lacedæmonians, and perhaps the same), which they sip still of, and sup as warm as they can suffer; they spend much time in those coffee houses, which are somewhat like our alehouses or taverns, and there they sit, chatting and drinking, to drive away the time, and to be merry together, because they find by experience that kind of drink, so used, helpeth digestion, and procureth alacrity.” Anthony à Wood says that the first coffee-house was kept in 1650 in Oxford, by Jacobs, a Jew; and it seems generally recognised that the first coffee-house in London was opened in St. Michael’s Alley, Cornhill, in 1652, by one Pasqua Rosee, a Greek, servant to Mr. Edwards, a Turkey merchant. In “A Broadside against COFFEE, or the Marriage of the Turk” (1672), he is thus mentioned:— “A Coachman was the first (here) _Coffee_ made, And ever since the rest _drive on_ the trade; _Me no good Engalash!_ and sure enough, He plaid the Quack to salve his Stygian stuff; _Ver boon for de stomach, de Cough, de Ptisick_, And I believe him, for it looks like Physick.” Here is Rosee’s handbill:— “THE VERTUE OF THE COFFEE DRINK. “First publiquely made and sold in England, by _Pasqua Rosee_. “The grain or berry called _Coffee_, groweth upon little Trees, only in the _Deserts of Arabia_. “It is brought from thence, and drunk generally throughout all the Grand Seignior’s Dominions. “It is a simple innocent thing, composed into a Drink, by being dryed in an Oven, and ground to Powder, and boiled up with Spring water, and about half a pint of it to be drunk, fasting an hour before, and not Eating an hour after, and to be taken as hot as possibly can be endured; the which will never fetch the skin off the mouth, or raise any Blisters, by reason of that Heat. “The Turks drink at Meals and other times, is usually _Water_, and their Dyet consists much of _Fruit_; the _Crudities_ whereof are very much corrected by this Drink. “The quality of this Drink is Cold and Dry; and though it be a Dryer, yet it neither _heats_, nor _inflames_ more than _hot Posset_. “It so closeth the Orifice of the Stomack, and fortifies the heat within, that it’s very good to help digestion; and therefore of great use to be taken about 3 or 4 o’clock afternoon, as well as in the morning. “It much quickens the _Spirits_, and makes the Heart _Lightsome_. “It is good against sore Eys, and the better if you hold your Head over it, and take in the Steem that way. “It suppresseth Fumes exceedingly, and therefore good against the _Head-ach_, and will very much stop any _Defluxion of Rheums_ that distil from the _Head_ upon the _Stomack_, and so prevent and help _Consumptions_, and the _Cough of the Lungs_. “It is excellent to prevent and cure the _Dropsy_, _Gout_ and _Scurvy_. “It is known by experience to be better than any other Drying Drink for _People in years_, or _Children_ that have any _running humors_ upon them, as _the King’s Evil_, etc. “It is very good to prevent _Mis-carryings in Child-bearing Women_. “It is a most excellent remedy against the _Spleen_, _Hypocondriack Winds_, or the like. “It will prevent _Drowsiness_, and make one fit for busines, if one have occasion to _Watch_; and therefore you are not to drink of it _after Supper_, unless you intend to be _watchful_, for it will hinder sleep for three or four hours. “_It is observed that in Turkey, where this is generally drunk, that they are not trobled with the Stone, Gout, Dropsie, or Scurvey, and that their Skins are exceeding cleer and white._ “It is neither _Laxative_ nor _Restringente_. “Made and Sold in _St. Michael’s Alley_ in _Cornhill_, by _Pasqua Rosee_, at the Signe of his own Head.” That it met with opposition at its introduction, we have already seen in “A Broadside against Coffee;” but Hatton, in his “New View of London,” 1708, gives a case of clear persecution. “I find it Recorded that one _James Farr_, a barber, who kept the Coffee House which is now the _Rainbow_, was, in the year 1657, presented by the Inquest of St. Dunstan’s in the W. for Making and Selling a sort of Liquor, called Coffee, as a great Nusance and Prejudice of the neighbourhood, etc. And who would then have thought London would ever have had near 3000 such Nusances, and that Coffee should have been, as now, so much Drank by the best of Quality and Physicians.”[143] [Illustration] The coffee houses soon became popular, because they filled a social want. There were no clubs, as we know them, although there were limited social gatherings, under the name of club, held at stated periods—and the coffee house provided a convenient place for gossip and news. Here were served alcoholic drinks as well as coffee; here the newspapers might be seen; here, also, men could indulge in a pipe, and its advantages are well summed up by Misson,[144] who travelled in England in the reign of William and Mary. “These Houses, which are very numerous in London, are extreamly convenient. You have all Manner of News there; You have a good Fire, which you may sit by as long as you please; You have a dish of Coffee, you meet your Friends for the Transaction of Business, and all for a Penny, if you don’t care to spend more.” “THE RULES AND ORDERS OF THE COFFEE-HOUSE.[145] “_Enter Sirs, freely, But first, if you please,_ _Peruse our Civil-Orders, which are these._ “First, Gentry, Tradesmen, all are welcome hither, And may, without Affront, sit down Together: Pre-eminence of Place, none here should Mind, But take the next fit Seat that he can find: Nor need any, if Finer Persons come, Rise up for to assigne to them his Room; To limit Men’s Expence, we think not fair, But let him forfeit Twelve pence that shall Swear; He that shall any Quarrel here begin, Shall give each Man a Dish t’ Atone the Sin; And so shall he, whose Complements extend So far to drink in COFFEE to his Friend; Let Noise of loud Disputes be quite forborn, No Maudlin Lovers here in Corners Mourn: But all be Brisk, and Talk, but not too much; On Sacred things, Let none presume to touch, Nor Profane Scripture, or sawcily wrong Affairs of State with an Irreverent Tongue: Let mirth be Innocent, and each Man see, That all his Jests without Reflection be; To keep the House more Quiet, and from Blame, We Banish hence Cards, Dice and every Game: Nor can allow of Wagers, that Exceed Five Shillings, which, oft-times, much Trouble Breed; Let all that’s Lost or Forfeited be spent In such Good Liquor as the House doth Vent, And Customers endeavour to their Powers, For to observe still seasonable Howers. Lastly, Let each Man what he calls for _Pay_, And so you’re welcome to come every Day.” To know of coffee-houses in their prime, we must turn to the pages of Addison and Steele, to the _Guardian_, the _Spectator_, the _Tatler_, etc., but they are well epitomised in the following poem, which bears date 1667:— “NEWS FROM THE COFFEE-HOUSE. “In which is shewn their several sorts of Passions, Containing Newes from all our Neighbour _Nations_. “A POEM. “You that delight in Wit and Mirth, And long to hear such News, As comes from all Parts of the _Earth_, _Dutch_, _Danes_, and _Turks_, and _Jews_, I’le send yee to a Rendezvouz, Where it is smoaking new; Go, hear it at a _Coffee-house_, _It cannot but be true_. There Battles and Sea-Fights are Fought, And bloudy Plots display’d; They know more things than ’ere was thought Or ever was betray’d: No Money in the Minting House Is halfe so Bright and New; And, comming from a _Coffee-House_ _It cannot but be true_. Before the _Navyes_ fall to Work, They know who shall be Winner; They there can tell ye what the _Turk_ Last Sunday had to Dinner; Who last did cut _Du Ruitter’s_ Corns, Amongst his jovial Crew; Or Who first gave the _Devil_ Horns. _Which cannot but be true._ A _Fisherman_ did boldly tell, And strongly did avouch, He Caught a Shoal of Mackarel, That Parley’d all in _Dutch_, And cry’d out, _Yaw, yaw, yaw, Myne Here_; But as the Draught they Drew, They Struck for fear that _Monck_ was there, _Which cannot but be true_. Another Swears by both his Ears, _Mounsieur_ will cut our Throats; The _French King_ will a Girdle bring, Made of Flat-bottom’d Boats; Shall compas _England_ round about, Which must not be a few, To give our _Englishmen_ the Rout; _This sounds as if ’twere true_. There’s nothing done in all the World, From _Monarch_ to the _Mouse_, But every Day or Night ’tis hurl’d Into the _Coffee-house_. What _Lillie_ or what _Booker_ can By Art, not bring about At _Coffee-house_ you’l find a Man, _Can quickly find it out_. They’l tell ye there, what Lady-ware, Of late is grown too light; What Wise-man shall from Favour Fall, What Fool shall be a Knight; They’l tell ye when our Fayling Trade Shall Rise again, and Flourish, Or when _Jack Adams_ shall be made Church-Warden of the Parish. They know who shall in Times to come, Be either made or undone, From great _St. Peter’s-street_ in _Rome_, To _Turnbull-street_ in _London_. And likewise tell, in _Clerkenwell_, What w⸺ hath greatest Gain, And in that place, what Brazen-face Doth wear a Golden Chain. At Sea their knowledge is so much, They know all Rocks and Shelves, They know all Councils of the _Dutch_, More than they know Themselves. Who ’tis shall get the best at last, They perfectly can shew At _Coffee-house_, when they are plac’d _You’d scarce believe it true_. They know all that is Good, or Hurt, To Dam ye, or to Save ye; There is the _Colledge_ and the _Court_, The _Country_, _Camp_, and _Navie_; So great a _Vniversitie_ I think there ne’re was any; In which you may a Schoolar be For spending of a Penny. A _Merchant’s Prentice_ there shall show You all and every thing, What hath been done, and is to do, ’Twix _Holland_ and the _King_; What _Articles_ of _Peace_ will bee He can precisely show, What will be good for _Them_ or _Wee_, He perfectly doth know. Here Men do talk of every Thing, With large and liberal Lungs, Like Women at a Gossiping, With double tyre of Tongues; They’l give a Broad-side presently, Soon as you are in view, With Stories that you’l wonder at, Which they will swear are true. The Drinking there of _Chockolat_, Can make a _Fool_ a _Sophie_, ’Tis thought the _Turkish Mahomet_ Was first Inspir’d with Coffee: By which his Powers did Over-flow The Land of _Palestine_; Then let us to the _Coffee-house_ go, ’Tis Cheaper farr than Wine. You shall know there, what Fashions are; How Perrywiggs are Curl’d; And for a Penny you shall heare All Novells in the World. Both Old and Young, and Great and Small, And Rich and Poore, you’ll see; Therefore let’s to the _Coffee_ all, Come All away with Mee. _Finis._” J. A. [Illustration] Different Sorts of Coffee—Its Enemies—Its Composition and Treatment—Methods of Making—Adulterations—Liberian Coffee—Date Coffee and other Substitutes. There are about twenty-two species of coffee, seven of them belonging to Asia, and fifteen to Africa, where it grows in districts widely apart, as in Angola and on the shores of the Victoria Nyanza; yet, although it is so widely disseminated, and comes from so many different places, it is getting commercially dearer without any present prospect of any reduction. Its value in the market is as follows—the first being the highest, and the last the lowest in price. Mocha, Jamaica, Ceylon, Honduras, Mysore, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, New Grenada, and divers East Indian growths; and its consumption per head in Europe, ranks thus: Holland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Austria, Greece, Great Britain, Italy and Russia. Unfortunately the coffee plant has its enemies, in the shape of two fungi which have devastated the plantations of Ceylon and Mysore, one the _Hemileia Vastata_, and the other the _Pellicularia Kolerota_, whilst an insect called the coffee bug (_Lecanium Coffeæ_) causes great destruction, as does also the coffee, or Golunda rat. Indeed, these enemies so prevailed in Ceylon as to render coffee growing not only unprofitable, but almost impossible, so the planters took to growing tea, with the good results which we have seen. Raw coffee has very little scent, and a bitter taste, and no one would credit it with the delicious aroma which is developed—like the tea leaf—by roasting, an operation which increases the bulk of the berry, whilst diminishing its weight. Its commercial value is in proportion to its aroma; and it is found that, by keeping the raw berry, a chemical change takes place, which very much improves inferior qualities. But this aroma is extremely volatile, and ground coffee should be kept in scrupulously air-tight cases. Indeed, so fugitive is it, that coffee to be drank in perfection should be made from berries roasted freshly every day, as is frequently done in France. Raw coffee contains an astringent acid, which does not stain iron black, like that of tea, but green; and it also embodies Theine, or, as it is called when applied to coffee, _Caffeine_. This alkaloid does not exist in large quantities as in tea, _i.e._, the drinker of an equal number of cups of both beverages would have less of the alkaloid if coffee was drunk. The berries, when roasted, and their flavour developed, are ground—coarse or fine according to taste, and are then ready to be made into a drink. It is here, in conjunction with the use of stale, and consequently, tasteless coffee, that we, in England, go to grief. Of coffee-making machines there are numbers; but if pure coffee is used, they might as well be dispensed with, whilst they are almost necessary if the coffee is adulterated. Another thing that our English housekeepers do not understand is, that coffee, in order to be productive of a good result, should be used large-handedly and generously, and not according to the time-honoured, grandmotherly, but parsimonious method applied to tea, of a teaspoonful for each person and one for the pot. The allowance of freshly ground coffee should be from 1½ to 2 oz. per pint of water, and any less does not make coffee, but only “water bewitched.” With this quantity excellent coffee can be made without the aid of any machine. Warm the coffee pot, or jug, put in the coffee, and then add the water, which, as with tea, should just have come to the boil, and after standing a little time, the coffee is fit to drink. If the coffee is boiled, the extremely volatile aroma is dissipated, and its exquisite flavour lost. But a good way of making coffee is to make it over night. Put the coffee in a jug, and pour cold water on it. The lighter particles soon get soaked and fall to the bottom. In the morning it has only to be warmed until it just boils, when it should be strained and served at once. This only applies to _pure_ coffee. There are too many adulterants used, and what “French Coffee” and “Coffee as in France” is made of, the Lord and their manufacturers only know. The chief of these offenders in England is the root of the succory, chicory, or wild endive (_Cichorium Intybus_), which, originally wild, is now extensively cultivated in England; whilst on the Continent it is very largely grown in France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland, and both home-grown and foreign chicory are largely in our market, the latter fetching the higher price. It does not taste like coffee, nor has it any aroma; but, when roasted, it gives a dark colour to water, and a bitter taste, as if a great deal of coffee had been used; and for this purpose it must have been first used in the old coffee-houses. But it is a question whether you buy pure roasted and ground chicory. In Germany it is adulterated largely with turnips and carrots, whilst Venetian red is used to give it a colour. Notice has already been made of the different kinds of coffee, but not the West African species—the Liberian coffee (_Coffea Liberica_)—which has not, as yet, come into common use in England. There are many substitutes for coffee, one of which developed a few years since into a large commercial undertaking, but eventually collapsed. It was Date Coffee, made out of date stones roasted and ground. Among other substances used in lieu of coffee, are the roasted seeds of the yellow water-lily (_Iris pseudocorus_); the seeds of a _Goumelia_, called in Turkey _Keuguel_; roasted acorns and beans, chick peas, rye and other grains, nuts, almonds, and dandelion roots (_Leontodon taraxacum_), whilst in Africa many berries are used in its stead. J. A. [Illustration] COCOA. Where Cocoa is Grown—Its Manufacture—Its Use Abroad and in England—Cocoa as a Drink—Chocolate, Edible and Otherwise—Substitutes for Cocoa. Linnæus was so fond of the drink made from the seeds of this plant that he gave it the name of _Cacao Theobroma_, or “Food of the Gods.” As a drink it cannot be classed among the infusions, like tea, nor is it roasted and ground to powder like coffee; but the seeds are crushed and mealed in a mill, and from this oily meal is made the thin gruel which we drink as cocoa. It seems to have been originally a native of Mexico, and is now cultivated there, in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, New Granada, Venezuela, Guiana, and most of the West India Islands. Commercially the different sorts rank in value as follow: Trinidad, Caraccas, Grenada, Guayaquil, Surinam, Bahia, Ceylon, and British West Indies. It grows, as we see in the illustration, somewhat like a melon, which contains some fifty or more seeds, in rows embedded in a spongy substance, from which the seeds are cleansed and then dried in the sun, when it becomes brittle and of a dark colour internally, eating like an oily nut, but with a decidedly bitter and somewhat astringent taste. To render it fit for food, it is gently roasted to develop the aroma, allowed to cool, deprived of its husk, and then crushed into small fragments called cocoa nibs, which is the purest form in which it is used, but also the one which entails the greatest trouble in making a drink therefrom. The granulated, rock, flake, and soluble cocoas are made by the beans being ground into a paste in a rolling mill; starch, flour, sugar, and other ingredients being used, according to the taste of different manufacturers. It was used by the Mexicans and Peruvians before their conquest by the Spaniards, and formed an article of barter among them. Columbus brought a knowledge of it to Europe; but those were not the days of non-alcoholic drinks, and it was some time before it came into vogue. Naturally, first of all in Spain, and to this day Spain is the greatest European consumer of cocoa in some shape or other. It was introduced into England about the same time as tea and coffee, but the chocolate houses, pure and simple, as such, were very few compared to the coffee houses. It was taxed as a drink by the same Acts as tea, and paid the same duty. In the eighteenth century it became a fashionable morning drink, especially for ladies, and is perpetually alluded to by the essayists; but it was so expensive as to be only a drink for the upper classes. [Illustration: CHOCOLATE DRINKING.] Cocoa as a drink is far more nutritious than either tea or coffee, and like those two substances it has a volatile oil which gives the delicious aroma, and an active principle resembling Theine or Caffeine—but not identical with them—called _Theobromine_. It has no tannic acid, but it has what the other two do not possess, it has a peculiar fatty matter, known as cocoa butter, which sometimes amounts to half the contents of the seed. It is this excess of fat which renders it liable to disagree with some susceptible stomachs, but the mixture of farinaceous matter and sugar tend in a great measure to obviate this inconvenience. In another method of manufacture it is known as Chocolate, which is simply the cocoa bean ground and flavoured with sugar, vanilla, almonds, cinnamon, or what not, according to taste. It is in a dry form the most popular of sweetmeats, although the adulterations practised by low class firms, in order to sell a cheap article, are many, owing to its high price; yet the goods of first-rate firms like Menier, Fry, Cadbury, and others, may be taken without suspicion, and are—good!!! There are pseudo cocoas, as there are pseudo coffees and teas. The Guarana, or Brazilian Cocoa (_Paullina sorbilis_); a ground nut, the _Arachis hypogeia_, used in South Carolina, Angola, and elsewhere; the _Cyperus esculentus_, or earth chestnut, in Spain, are the chief substitutes; but it is needless to say that none compare with the THEOBROMA. Alas! that it should be adulterated. J. A. [Illustration] [Illustration] AËRATED DRINKS. Ginger Beer—Old and New Methods of Manufacture—Lemonade—Chemicals in Non-Alcoholic Drinks—Fruit Syrups—Non-Alcoholic Cordials and Liquors—Natural Mineral Waters—Their Constituents—Artificial Aërated Waters—Their