ctise when it is
done to conceal inferiority or abnormally to reduce shrinkage. Some New
York coffee roasters, who made a thorough investigation of the matter,
found coating coffee with a wholesome material not injurious and the
coated coffee better in the cup. Dr. Harvey W. Wiley found, in the
celebrated Ohio case against Arbuckle Brothers, that coating coffee with
sugar and eggs produced beneficial results, and that the coating
preserved the bean. The Bureau of Chemistry has never issued any ruling
on the subject of coating coffee.

_Blending Roasted Coffee_

After cooling and stoning, unless it is to be polished or glazed, the
coffee is ready for grinding and packing if it has been blended in the
green state. Otherwise, the next step will be to mix the different
varieties before grinding, although some packers blend the different
kinds after they have been ground. To mix whole-bean roasted coffee
without hurting its appearance is rather difficult, and there is no
regular machine for such work.

[Illustration: BURNS SAMPLE-COFFEE ROASTER]

Rarely is a single kind of coffee drunk straight. The common practise in
all countries is to mix different varieties having opposing
characteristics so as to obtain a smoother beverage. This is called
blending, a process that has attained the standing of an art in the
United States. Most package coffees are blends. In addition to other
qualities, the practical coffee blender must have a natural aptitude for
the work. He must also have long experience before he becomes
proficient, and must be acquainted with the different properties of all
the coffees grown, or at least of those that come to his market.
Furthermore, he must know the variations in characteristics of current
crops; for in most coffees no two crops are equal in trade values.
Innumerable blends are possible with more than a hundred different
coffees to draw upon.

A blend may consist of two or more kinds of coffee, but the general
practise is to employ several kinds; so that, if at any time one can not
be obtained, its absence from the blend will not be so noticeable as
would be the case if only two or three kinds were used.

In blending coffees, consideration is given first to the shades of
flavor in the cup and next to price. The blender describes flavors as,
acidy, bitter, smooth, neutral, flat, wild, grassy, groundy, sour,
fermented, and hidey; and he mixes the coffees accordingly to obtain the
desired tast