Coffee

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

79274

Title

Coffee

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

Joseph M. Walsh's "Coffee" offers a comprehensive guide to the beverage's history, chemistry, and preparation. This authoritative text details the roasting process, chemical changes during torrefaction, and various brewing methods, aiming to educate readers on achieving the perfect cup while distinguishing pure coffee from adulterated substitutes.

Summary up to 500 words

Joseph M. Walsh's "Coffee: Its History, Classification and Description" serves as an exhaustive manual for connoisseurs and home enthusiasts, detailing the science and art of coffee production. The work begins by analyzing the raw coffee bean's structure, noting its tough exterior and internal vesicles containing aromatic oils like Caffeone and crystalline substances such as caffeine and caffeic acid. Walsh meticulously describes the roasting process, explaining that heat volatilizes these oils to create aroma while converting sugars into caramel. He notes that beans lose 12-16% of their weight during roasting, swelling in volume but risking flavor loss if over-roasted or exposed to summer heat. The text provides precise instructions for commercial and domestic roasting, emphasizing the use of steam-powered cylinders with perforated surfaces to ensure even heat distribution. Walsh details the critical timing required to achieve light cinnamon-brown or dark chocolate-brown colors without burning, which would destroy flavor. He advocates for rapid cooling to preserve aroma and warns against storing ground coffee too long. Beyond roasting, the book catalogs numerous preparation techniques, including the "Cold-water process" to extract active principles without bitterness, and specific recipes for French styles like Café de Paris (using raw eggs) and Café au Lait. Walsh also addresses common misconceptions, such as the belief that dark color indicates strength, clarifying that burnt sugar often creates false darkness. The latter sections provide extensive economic data, including tables on roasting losses by season, historical price fluctuations from 1846 to 1885, and conversion rates for Brazilian and London market prices into U.S. currency. Ultimately, Walsh argues that understanding coffee's natural properties allows consumers to appreciate its true value and avoid inferior decoctions made from chicory or other substitutes.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

Download URL

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79274.epub.noimages

Local file path

data/epubs/pg79274.epub

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Downloaded at

2026-08-19 02:52 UTC

Categories

• Coffee