It has been found by experience that a good assortment for the average
retailer to carry consists of Santos, because of price; a natural
unwashed Maracaibo or Bucaramanga, because of full body and general
blending values; and a washed coffee, preferably a Bogota, which gives
quality and character to a blend. In stocking up with these coffees, the
practical merchant avoids Santos with a strong or Rioy flavor, bitter or
"hidey" Maracaibos, and acidy or thin Bogotas.[339]

A grocer equipped with these coffees has the Santos for his low-priced
seller. For his medium grade he blends Santos and Maracaibo,
half-and-half. The next higher grade is made up of one-third each of the
three coffees; while the best blend consists either of half-and-half
Bogota and Maracaibo, or three-quarters Bogota and one-quarter
Maracaibo.

The chief advantage of these three coffees is that they blend well in
any way they are mixed; and the dealer with a little experience, and
working with the two necessary ideas in mind--satisfactory coffee and
price--can make up various combinations.

In view of the fact that the United States imports coffee from more than
a hundred different sections of the world, and that there are wide
variations in flavor among the coffees produced in each of the hundred,
it is easy to understand that the blender has an almost unlimited supply
from which to make up a blend with a distinctive individuality.
Practically all coffee importers, and most wholesalers, are thoroughly
acquainted with the relative trade values of the different coffees, and
help their customers make up desirable blends.

_Small Roasters for Retail Dealers_

While the wholesale coffee roaster is obliged to instal a large and
somewhat complex equipment, the retailer must use a small, compact,
self-contained unit that does not take up much space in his store, and
that is easily operated. Retail roasting machines are constructed on the
same general principle as the wholesale roaster. The roasting cylinder
is generally revolved by electric power, and the heat is derived from
gas or gasoline fuel. Cooling is by air suction in a box attached to the
roaster. The capacities of the machines range from ten to three hundred
pounds, the operating cost running from approximately eight cents per
hundred pounds for gas fuel and ten cents for electric power. The
roasters cost from three hundred dollars for the smaller sizes, to
fifteen hundred for the one-bag