Name/Title
Coffee The Story of a Good Neighbor ProductDescription
Coffee The Story of a Good Neighbor Product dated copyright 1954
This is a student lesson workbook from the Carnegie Library. It would make a good lesson for todays students also. I have provided the written part of the lesson book. I didn't add the work part as it can be printed by anyone wanting to use it for lessons.
Greetings, good friends and neighbors in the United States and Canada.
Although we live many miles apart, it is important that we be good friends. After all, we are all Americans, whether we live in North America or in Latin America. From time to time, like good friends everywhere, we should visit with one another.
This is our invitation to you to see for yourselves how we live and work .. . how we speak and dance and play. We know you want to learn more about us because you show in so many ways how interested you are in Latin America.
You dance to our rhythmic music. The rhumba, the conga and the samba are three of your most popular dances.
You admire our colorful clothes, and use them to design your own bright sandals and gay bandanas and costume jewelry.
You use our nitrates to make fertilizers for your farms and gardens, our tin to protect your foods in cans.
You eat and drink from our pottery, and use it to decorate your homes.
Coffee is one of the most popular beverages known to man. This, too, is a product of Latin America and it's just as popular here as in North America. We use it not only as a beverage but also as a flavoring for many of our favorite dishes.
So we're going to use coffee to tell our story. And now, "Hasta luego"t or "Ate logo"1: . . . until we meet you on the coffee plantation.
Your Good Neighbors to the South,
The Boys and Girls of Latin America
*sah-LOO-dohs ah-MEE-gohs (Spanish) AHS-tah loo-AY-go (Spanish)
**sah-00-day ah-MEE-gohs (Portuguese) .Alitee LOH-goh (Portuguese)
("Greetings, friends") ("See you later" )
History
Before we visit our good neighbors of Latin America and see for ourselves how a Coffee plantation operates, how many of us know, WHEN COFFEE WAS DISCOVERED ?
WHO WAS THE DISCOVERER? WHY COFFEE BECAME THE POPULAR BEVERGE?
Coffee is first reported to have been found growing wild in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), but the growing of coffee and its use as a beverage is believed to have started in Arabia.
The story goes that one day a goatherd noticed, quite by accident, how his goats became frisky after eating the wild berries of a plant that grew in that particular grazing region. The goats actually danced and frolicked. And the berries they were eating were coffee berries.
Long before the 14th century, coffee plants were grown in Arabia and coffee was brewed from the aromatic berries.
Even before Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, the fame of coffee had already spread to Egypt, Syria and Turkey.
Then, about 1600, the seafaring Venetians took coffee to Europe. By 1652, coffee drinking in Europe had spread to London. And in Paris the court festivities of Louis XIV were not complete without this cheering drink.
People liked the tasty brown liquid. They liked to visit the coffee houses, as they were called, and talk over the gossip of the day.
Coffee came to America in 1671. By 1700, there were coffee houses in most of the New World cities.
Of course this increasing popularity brought a new problem — the need for growing more coffee, preferably in the New World. Cultivation was tried in various places, but the soil and climate of Latin America were exceptionally favorable. The first coffee plant to reach the Western Hemisphere from Europe was brought to Martinique about 1720. From this single plant stemmed the great coffee plantations which spread over so many of the Latin American countries.
But let us see why this is so, and why Latin America produces almost all the coffee consumed in the United States and Canada.
Coffee Customs in Latin America.
People of all ages in Latin America drink coffee . . . anywhere, at any time. In practically all of these countries, it is considered the beverage of hospitality and is served on even more occasions than in this country.
For instance, it is a Latin American custom to serve coffee to friends and associates during business hours. In fact, no business discussion in any Latin American country would be complete without it.
In the home, coffee is the favorite drink of Latin America. Guests are always served coffee, no matter what the hour or the occasion. The family drinks coffee with every meal — and in many Latin American countries four or five meals a day is the rule. Even young children have coffee in their milk, and coffee is used to flavor all kinds of dishes —from baked beans to pudding.
Outside the home, too, coffee is the universal drink. In Latin American countries, the outdoor cafés are a social institution just as our soda fountains are here. In these cafés people sit and chat while sipping cup after cup of coffee.
Clubs, restaurants and hotels in Latin America serve coffee at all times and pay particular attention to its quality. The reputation of many a famous restaurant is due largely to its excellent coffee.
Latin Americans, it is true, differ somewhat from us in the way they like their coffee. For breakfast and during the morning, coffee made with milk (café con leche, or café com leite) is popular. At all other times, the typical Latin American drinks his coffee black, preferably in small cups (derni-tasse). And he ordinarily drinks many cups during the course of the day.
No wonder it's said that, in Latin America, meeting a friend is a signal for drinking coffee !
The Plantation
Like most crops, coffee is raised on both large and small plantations. Much of it grows on small plantations which compare to our small farms. Part of it comes from large plantations which are called fazendas in Portuguese (the language of Brazil) , or fincas in Spanish.
Since the large plantation needs the labor of so many to make it run, the owner must hire many workers and make provision for them to live there. He must see to it that his workers have a place to live, a church, a meeting place to discuss the business of the plantation from time to time, and a school for the children. The workers require amusement and they must have a place to hold fiestas (carnivals) . This, too, is provided.
So, you can see, a fazenda, or finca, is practically a little community in itself. The owner has his own home right on it. Often it is built in the low, rambling style so typical of Spanish or Portuguese architecture.
When you work and play and go to school and church in one place, it isn't hard to realize how the happiness and well-being of all on the fazenda or finca is closely connected with the success of the coffee crop.
The Coffee Plant
The leaves of the coffee trees are a beautiful green. They grow in pairs opposite each other.
The blossoms are white fragrant flowers with five petals. In the center of each flower are the long greenish stamens and pistils.
In some climates close to the equator, the trees blossom several times a year ; and often there are blossoms, green berries, and ripe berries on the tree all at the same time. In the sub-tropical climates, however, there is only one blossoming season.
The fruit of the coffee tree is called the "berry" or "cherry" and appears several months after the flower.
At first the cherry is green, then red and, when finally ripe, a blackish red.
The berry is made up of (1) an outer skin, (2) a sweet pulp like that of a cherry, (3) a thin parchment-like covering surrounding each of the two beans, (4) and a silvery skin around each bean. These beans, after much preparation, make the coffee we know.
Coffee Prodution
Coffee grows on a tree. Actually it is a large shrub from 5 to 15 feet high, depending on the country and method of pruning.
Coffee grows everywhere in the Torrid Zone, but thrives best in a moderate climate where there is a balance of sunshine and shade, good soil and rainfall.
Different coffees grow well under varying conditions. Some are raised on level ground while others are planted on hillsides.
In the countries close to the equator, coffee is raised in the shade of trees to protect it from the direct, strong rays of the sun.
Coffee trees are usually started in a nursery. After the seedlings are a foot high, they are transplanted . . . set out in orchards, just like apple trees.
They are planted about 12 feet apart. After the trees are pruned, they become so bushy that they seem to be closer together than they actually are.
COFFEE PRODUCTION PER TREE (AVERAGE)
I. One coffee tree yields an average of 5 lbs. of cherry.
II. 5 lbs. of cherry yield 1 lb. of clean green coffee. Green coffee loses weight in roasting, so .. .
III. One coffee tree yields slightly less than 1 lb. of roasted coffee a year.
Preparation
The coffee "berries" or "cherries" are picked by hand and then transported to processing plants. Here the coffee beans are separated from the cherries in one of two ways—by the "dry" method or the "wet" method. Regardless of which method is to be used, the berries are washed to free them of leaves, twigs, small stones, gravel and other foreign matter. Sometimes, before washing the berries, the cleansing process is started by "winnowing" or sifting.
DRY METHOD
This method is used for the most part in Brazil. It is also employed in other countries where water is scarce during harvesting time. After the initial washing, the coffee berries are :
1. Drained and spread on drying grounds in thin layers, usually for a period of two to three weeks.
2. Turned by rakes several times a day during the drying period to insure even drying ; heaped and covered at night to protect them from moisture. When thoroughly dry, they are
3. Transferred to milling machines for removal of the dried-up husk, parchment and inner silver skin. This leaves the "green" coffee of commerce.
The green coffee is :
4. Graded for size, type and quality. This is done by hand and by machine.
5. Sorted by hand to remove impurities and defective beans.
6. Packed in bags and shipped to the nearest seaport.
The Wet Method
This method is used in Colombia, Central America and countries where there is a plentiful supply of water. After the initial washing, the berries are :
1. Put into machines to remove the outside pulp, exposing a sticky substance which surrounds the parchment.
2. Placed in large, clean concrete tanks to ferment, usually for 12 to 24 hours, to facilitate removal of this sticky substance.
3. Poured into concrete sluiceways or washing machines to be thoroughly washed in constantly changing clear water.
4. Drained and spread out to dry as in the dry method although usually for a shorter period of time. On some plantations, machines are used to shorten the drying process.
5. Transferred to hulling machines for removal of the tough parchment-like skin and the thin silver inner skin. This leaves the "green" coffee of commerce.
The green coffee is :
6. Graded for size, type and quality. This is done by hand and by machine.
7. Sorted by hand to remove impurities and defective beans.
8. Packed in bags and transported to the nearest seaport.
Before The Exporting
Most coffee plantations are a distance from the coast, so the crop must be sent by mule, truck, rail, or river boat to the nearest seaport.
When the green coffee arrives at the marketing center or seaport, samples are taken and the coffee is classified before it is ready for shipment.
Then the green coffee is stored in warehouses until it is loaded in the ship.
NOTE : Since the Latin American countries produce such a large part of the world's supply of coffee, you can imagine how important these seaport cities are.
Can you locate these cities? In the activity part of this booklet, on page 23. is an outline map. It is suggested that you look up these seaport cities on a large wall map or in a geography book and put them in with a red circle or dot on the outline map.
Roasting in the U. S. A.
Coffee reaches the United States in its green state. Here it is prepared in the manner indicated below by coffee companies equipped to roast, blend and grind the beans to suit the tastes of the nation's coffee drinkers. Green coffee is dumped down a chute into :
(1) the cleaner where dirt and dust are removed. It is then elevated to
(2) the green coffee blender from which it is discharged to the boot of the elevator feeding into
(3) the roaster which discharges 500 lb. batches to
(4) the cooler. From here, after cooling, the roasted coffee is fed to
(5) the "stoner" boot. Pneumatic or air control raises the coffee, but leaves below stones and dirt which cannot rise with the air currents.
(6) The collector cleans the air used for cooling, so as not to discharge dust, etc. to the atmosphere.
(7) The distributor carries the coffee from the stoner hopper to
(8) the storage bins under the roasterman's control.
(9) A bucket elevator is the means by which coffee to be ground is fed to
(10) the granulators which grind the roasted coffee.
(11) Bins receive the ground coffee which is then fed to
(12) the packing department.
(13) A sample testing room is located close to the roasting operations.
Brewing Coffee at Home
Everyone should know how to brew coffee properly. Whatever type of coffee maker you use, there are a few simple rules you must follow if you want good coffee.
1. Start with a thoroughly clean coffee-maker. Rinse coffee-maker with hot water before using. Wash thoroughly after each use. Rinse with hot water and dry.
2. Fresh coffee is best. Buy coffee in the size of can or package which will be used within a week after opening.
3. Fresh water is important too. For best results start with freshly-drawn cold water.
4. For best results, use the full capacity of your coffee-maker. For lesser quantities use a smaller coffee-maker. Never in any case, brew less than 3/4 of the coffee-maker's capacity.
5. Consistent timing is important. After you find the exact timing to obtain the results desired with your coffee-maker, stick to it in order to get uniform results.
6. Coffee should never be boiled. When coffee is boiled an undesirable flavor change takes place.
7. Serve coffee as soon as possible after brewing. Freshly brewed coffee always tastes best. If necessary to let brewed coffee stand before serving, hold at serving temperature by placing the pot in a pan of hot water or over very low heat on an asbestos pad.
8. In brewing coffee, best results are obtained by using one Coffee Brewing Institute Standard Coffee Measure of coffee (or its equivalent, 2 level measuring tablespoons) to each 34 standard measuring cup (6 fl. ozs.) of water.
Ask your mother if she would like complete brewing instructions for specific types of coffee-makers.
To obtain this pamphlet, free of charge, write to the Educational Department, Pan-American Coffee Bureau, 120 Wall Street, New York 5, N. Y.
Farewell, Good Neighbors
hat's the story of coffee-one of the most inportant :good neighbor" products.
The time has come to say good-bye, but we hope we'll be seeing you soon. We hope you'll plan an actual visit to our countries not only to see our coffee plantations, but to see all the interesting, colorful sights of Latin America.
We want to thank you for the interest you've shown in our countries and our customs. And we want you to know that we in turn are learning all we can about our good neighbors to the North.
We too are reading and studying ; finding out about your big cities with their skyscrapers and subways . . . your giant industries making everything from pins to steam engines . . . your amazing progress in the fields of science and invention.
And we too look forward to paying a visit to North America and seeing these things for ourselves.
But right now its "Adios,"* or "Adeus"" — until our next good-neighborly meeting.
The Boys and Girls of Latin America
*Good-bye (Spanish) **Good-bye (Portuguese)e" RuhlandAcquisition
Accession
2011.0003Source or Donor
Leonard Richard DouglasAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Loenard Richard Douglas
