Roasting and Brewing Fresh Coffee in a Tides of Healing Scene
by Sandra Merville Hart
The final book in the Spies of the Civil War Series, Tides of Healing, shows that everyone had difficulty adjusting to Union occupation in Vicksburg after surrender.
In an early scene, Southern belle Savannah Adair wants to make coffee for the wounded men convalescing in her parlor. The feisty young woman, who has never even boiled an egg, makes a watered-down flavorless beverage unrecognizable as coffee. That prompts one of the wounded soldiers to demonstrate how to roast and brew the coffee.
It’s a lighthearted scene in the midst of one challenge after another.
But how many modern coffee drinkers would do any better when faced with handfuls of raw coffee beans?
The authors of an 1877 cookbook urged readers to buy raw coffee grains or small amounts of freshly roasted beans. They preferred Mocha and Java or a mix of the two flavors.
Place washed raw coffee beans in a skillet. Begin by roasting them in a moderate oven (probably about 350 degrees) and then increase temperature so they roast quickly, stirring often. The beans are ready when tender, brittle, and a rich dark brown color. Test for doneness by pressing one bean with your thumb—it will crumble if done.
Coffee beans can also be roasted on a stove burner but make sure to stir constantly.
Add a lump of butter to the hot, roasted beans or let them cool and stir in a beaten egg white. This clarifies the coffee beans.
Simmer a few minutes and then strain the beans.
Grind roasted coffee beans. Many people owned coffee grinders similar to the one in the photo. Turning the crank grinds the roasted beans. The grounds are collected in the drawer beneath the grinder. Some grinders attached to the wall.
Allow one heaping tablespoon of ground coffee per person and add “one for the pot.” Mix the grounds with an egg (part or all of the egg) with enough cold water to moisten it thoroughly.
Boil a pint of water per person less one pint. For example, if ten people are drinking coffee, use nine pints. (If you find this confusing, read the original recipe!)
Place the prepared coffee grounds into “a well-scalded coffee-boiler.” Then add half the boiling water to the coffee pot.
Stop up the spout with a rolled-up cloth to lock in the flavor. Boil for five minutes “rather fast,” stirring as the mixture boils up. Then simmer for ten to fifteen minutes.
Add the remaining boiled water to the coffee when time to serve.
Store the unused roasted coffee beans in a tightly-closed tin.
Read Tides of Healing to discover how they fare with coffee making and so many other challenges following the city’s surrender.
Sources
Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 2011.
