All About Coffee Part 65

can do the "shimmy" when lying at anchor in quiet waters.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MARACAIBO BEANS--ROASTED]

Merida and Tachira coffees are considered the best of the Maracaibo grades, Tovars and Trujillos being cla.s.sed as lower in trade value.

Though Cucuta coffee is grown in the Colombian district of that name, it is largely shipped through Maracaibo; and hence is cla.s.sed among the Maracaibo types. It ranks with Meridas and fine grade Boconos, and somewhat resembles the Java bean in form and roast, but is decidedly different in the cup. Washed Cucutas are noted for their large size, roughness, and waxy color. They make a good-appearing roast, splitting open, and showing irregular white centers. New-crop beans are sometimes sharply acid, though they mellow with age and gain in body.

Until recent years, Tachira coffee was always sold as Cucuta; but now there is a tendency to ship it under the name Tachira-Venezuela, while true Cucuta is marked Cucuta-Colombia. Tachiras closely resemble the true Cucutas, grade for grade. Up to about 1905 the coffees grown near Salazar, in Colombia, came to market under the name of Salazar; but since then, they have been included among the Cucuta grades and are sold under that name.

The state of Tachira lies next to the Colombian boundary, and its mountains produce much fine washed coffee. This has size and fair style, as a rule, but does not possess cup qualities to make it much sought. It ages well and, being of good body, the old crops, other things being equal, frequently bring a tidy premium.

The Rubio section of Tachira produces the best of its washed coffees.

Here are several of the largest and best-equipped estates in all Venezuela. Washed when fresh, the coffees from these estates are usually sold somewhat under the fancy Caracas; but the trillados of the Tachira rank with the best of the country, owing to their large bean, solid color, and good quality. They roast well, and cup with good body, though not much character. Good Tachira trillados are sold on the same basis as the Cucutas, which they resemble.

The Meridas are raised at higher alt.i.tudes than Cucutas, and good grades are sought for their peculiarly delicate flavor--which is neither acidy nor bitter--and heavy body. They rank as the best by far of the Maracaibo type. The bean is high-grown, of medium size, and roundish. It is well knit, and brings the highest price while it still holds its bluish style, as it then retains its delicate aroma and character. The trillados of Merida run unevenly.

Tovars rank between Trujillos and Tachiras. They are fair to good body without acidity; make a duller roast than Cucutas, but contain fewer quakers. They are used for blending with Bourbon Santos. Boconos are light in color and body. They are of two cla.s.ses; one a round, small to medium, bean; and the other larger and softer. Their flavor is rather neutral, and they are frequently used as fillers in blends. Trujillos lack acidity and make a dull, rough roast, unless aged. They are blended with Bourbon Santos to make a low-priced palatable coffee. Some coffees of merit are produced at Santa Ana, Monte Carmelo, and Bocono in Trujillo.

_Other South American Countries_

The coffees from other South American countries, even where there is an appreciable production, are not important factors in international trade. The coffee of Ecuador, shipped through the port of Guayaquil, goes mostly to Chile, a comparatively small quant.i.ty being exported to the United States. The bean is small to medium in size, pea-green in color, and not desirable in the cup. The coffee is about equal to low-grade Brazil, and is used princ.i.p.ally as a filler. Peru produces an ever-lessening quant.i.ty of coffee, the bulk of the exports in pre-war years going to Germany, Chile, and the United Kingdom. It is a low-alt.i.tude growth, and is considered poor grade. The bean ranges from medium to bold in size, and from bluish to yellow in color. Bolivia is an unimportant factor in the international coffee trade, most of its exports going to Chile. The chief variety produced is called the Yunga, which is considered to be of superior quality; but only a small quant.i.ty is grown. Guiana's coffee trade is insignificant. The three best-known types are the Surinam, Demerara, and Cayenne, named after the ports through which they are shipped.

_The West Indies_

Coffee either is, or can be, grown practically everywhere in the West Indies; but the chief producing districts are found on the islands of Porto Rico, Haiti (and Santo Domingo), Jamaica, Guadeloupe, and Curacao.

Coffees coming from these islands are generally known by the name of the country of production, and may be further identified by the names of the districts in which they are grown.

PORTO RICO. Since the United States took possession of Porto Rico, soil experts have endeavored to raise the quality of the coffee grown there, especially the lower grades, which had peculiarly wild characteristics.

Today, the superior grades of Porto Rican coffees rank among the best growths known to the trade. The bean is large, uniform, and stylish; ranging in color from a light gray-blue to a dark green-blue. Some of these are artificially colored for foreign markets. The coffee roasts well, and has a heavy body, similar to the fanciest Mexicans and Colombians. Its cup is not as rich, but it makes a good blend. Porto Rican coffees command a higher price in France than in the United States, which accounts for the larger proportion of exports to Europe, excepting when the French market was cut off during the World War.

JAMAICA. Jamaica produces two distinct types of coffee, the highland and the lowland growths. Among the first-named is the celebrated Blue Mountain coffee, which has a well developed pale blue-green bean that makes a good-appearing roast and a pleasantly aromatic cup. It is frequently compared with the fancy Cobans of Guatemala. The lowland coffee is a poorer grade, and consists largely of a mixture of different growths produced on the plains. It is a fair-sized bean, green to yellow in the "natural", and blue-green when washed. In the cup it has a gra.s.sy flavor, but is flat when drunk with cream. It is used chiefly as a filler in blends, and for French roasts.

HAITI AND SANTO DOMINGO. The coffees of these two republics have like characteristics, being grown on the same island and in about the same climatic and soil conditions. Careless cultivation and preparation methods are responsible for the generally poor quality of these coffees.

When properly grown and cured, they rank well with high-grade washed varieties, and have a rich, fairly acid flavor in the cup. The bean is blue-green, and makes a handsome roast.

GUADELOUPE. Guadeloupe coffee is distinguishable by its green, long, and slightly thick bean, covered by a pellicle of whitish silvery color, which separates from the bean in the roast. It has excellent cup qualities.

MARTINIQUE. This island formerly produced a coffee closely resembling the Guadeloupe; but no coffee is now grown there, though some Guadeloupe growths are shipped from Martinique, and bear its name.

OTHER WEST INDIAN ISLANDS. Among the other West Indian islands producing small quant.i.ties of coffee are Cuba, Trinidad, Dominica, Barbados, and Curacao. The growths are generally good quality, bearing a close resemblance to one another. In the past, Cuba produced a fine grade; but the industry is now practically extinct.

_Asia_

ARABIA. For many generations Mocha coffee has been recognized throughout the world as the best coffee obtainable; and until the pure food law went into effect in the United States, other high-grade coffees were frequently sold by American firms under the name of Mocha. Now, only coffees grown in Arabia are ent.i.tled to that valuable trade name. They grow in a small area in the mountainous regions of the southwestern portion of the Arabian peninsula, in the province of Yemen, and are known locally by the names of the districts in which they are produced.

Commercially they are graded as follows: Mocha Extra, for all extra qualities; Mocha No. 1, consisting of only perfect berries; No. 1-A, containing some dust, but otherwise free of imperfections; No. 2, showing a few broken beans and quakers; No. 3, having a heavier percentage of brokens and quakers and also some dust.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOCHA BEANS--ROASTED]

Mocha beans are very small, hard, roundish, and irregular in form and size. In color, they shade from olive green to pale yellow, the bulk being olive green. The roast is poor and uneven; but the coffee's virtues are shown in the cup. It has a distinctive winy flavor, and is heavy with acidity--two qualities which make a straight Mocha brew especially valuable as an after-dinner coffee, and also esteemed for blending with fancy, mild, washed types, particularly East Indian growths.

As in other countries, the coffees grown on the highlands in Yemen are better than the lowland growths. As a rule, the low alt.i.tude bean is larger and more oblong than that grown in the highlands, due to its quicker development in the regions where the rainfall, though not great, is more abundant.

While Mocha coffees are known commercially by grade numbers, the planters and Arabian traders also designate them by the name of the district or province in which each is grown. Among the better grades thus labeled are, the Yaffey, the Anezi, the Mattari, the Sanani, the Sharki, and the Haimi-Harazi. For the poorer grades, these names are used: Remi, Bourai, Shami, Yemeni, and Maidi. Of these varieties, the Mattari, a hard and regular bean, pale yellow in color, commands the highest price, with the Yaffey a close second. Harazi coffee heads the market for quant.i.ty coupled with general average of quality.

INDIAN AND CEYLON. Coffees from India and Ceylon are marketed almost exclusively in London, little reaching the American trade. Of the Indian growths, Malabars, grown on the western slope of the Ghaut mountains, are cla.s.sed commercially as the best. The bean is rather small and blue-green in color. In the cup it has a distinctive strong flavor and deep color. Mysore coffee ranks next in favor on the English market. It is mountain grown, and the bean is large and blue-green in color.

Tellicherry is another good grade coffee, closely resembling Malabar.

Coorg (Kurg) coffee is an inferior growth. It is lowland type, and in the cup is thin and flat. The bean is large and flat, and tends toward dark green in color. Travancore is another lowland growth, ranking about with Coorg, and has the same general characteristics. See the Complete Reference Table for details.

Ceylon, although it once was one of the world's most important producers, has been losing ground as a coffee-producing country since 1890. Ceylon coffees are cla.s.sified commercially as "native", "plantation", and "mountain". The native is a poor-grade, lowland growth, with large flat bean and low cup quality. The plantation, so named because more carefully cultivated on highland plantations, is a stylish roaster, and gives a rich flavor and strong fragrance in the cup. The mountain, grown at high alt.i.tudes, is a small, steel-blue bean, and is considered by British traders as equal to the best varieties grown anywhere. It was formerly shipped to Aden to be mixed with Mocha.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Coffee Map of Africa and Arabia_

_Showing the Princ.i.p.al Coffee-Producing Countries on the Continent and Adjacent Islands._

Copyright 1922 by The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Co.]

FRENCH INDO-CHINA. The coffee of French Indo-China is highly prized in France, where the bulk of the exports goes. The coffee tree grows well in the provinces of Tonkin, Annam, Cambodia, and Cochin-China. Tonkin is the largest producer, and grows the best varieties. In the cup, Tonkin coffee is thought by French traders to compare favorably with Mocha. Of the several varieties of _Coffea arabica_ grown in Indo-China, the _Grand Bourbon_, _Bourbon rond_, and the _Bourbon Le Roy_, are the best known. The first-named is a large bean of good quality; the second is a small, round bean of superior grade; and the third is a still smaller bean of fair cup quality.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JAVA (Washed)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SUMATRA (Mandheling)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARABIAN (Mocha)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: COLOMBIAN (Bogota)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GUATEMALA (Washed)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MEXICAN (Washed)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: COSTA RICA (Washed)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SANTOS (Peaberry)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: VENEZUELA (Maracaibo)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SANTOS (Flat Bean)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SANTOS (Bourbon)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: RIO (Natural)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PRINc.i.p.aL VARIETIES OF GREEN COFFEE BEANS, NATURAL SIZE AND COLOR]

_Africa_