coffe...?

[uspackmule]

Hi all, I was wandering wear I could find unroasted coffee beans, as in green beans so I can roast for a living history over the fire.

Thanks for all the help,
Matt Rennier

[TimKindred]

Comrade,

A simple google earch of unroasted coffee beans turned up over 17,000 hits, with a multitude of sources. :rolleyes:

[Slickrick214]

Here's a few sites that sell green unroasted coffee beans.

http://www.greencoffees.com/?gclid=CM2kierTgZICFQERPAodKX6F-Q

http://www.ccmcoffee.com/index.php?cPath=21&gclid=CLayqI7UgZICFShMGgodgHiOUw

http://www.burmancoffee.com/coffeelist/

[pvt_jb]

Here is another source. The coffee is near the bottom of the page.

http://turkeyfootllc.com/driededibles.html


Jeremy Bevard

[Radar]

Bents, (who does period hardtack) carries it.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

G.H. Bent, the hardtack purveyor, has recently been sold and their website was down when I tried to order some hardtack.

[Abrams]

G.H. Bent, the hardtack purveyor, has recently been sold and their website was down when I tried to order some hardtack.

Tell me it isn't so! :(

Their "common crackers" are very good also. I am glad I got a Hard Tack crate with a recent order from them recently instead of waiting to get it later.

[Craig L Barry]

This is great to see again. Both Camp Chase Gazette and Civil War Historian have run recent articles on roasting your own beans for an authentic cup of coffee. Be sure to keep the beans stirred in the skillet so they don't burn and wait for the second "pop" to be sure they are ready for crushing.

The beans themselves are not quite the same as what was imported and issued then, but a close enough facsimile to get a sense of the drink created from fresh coffee beans roasted on an open campfire.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

The beans themselves are not quite the same as what was imported and issued then, but a close enough facsimile to get a sense of the drink created from fresh coffee beans roasted on an open campfire.

Craig,

I understand that these green coffee beans aren't exactly what they had back then...but what exactly were they using in the 1850s/1860s???

I know that Richmond, VA was importing beans directly from Central/South America during this time...but have no idea exactly what type of beans they were importing...it would take some time for me to put my hands on Newspapers detailing where the beans were coming from.

Paul B.

[FloridaConfederate]

Seems coffee was coming from Rio and Laguayra (my reaearch indicates Venezula)....Coffee is my drug of choice so I got a heap o' coffee research.


Parks & Miner, Wholesale Grocers and Provision Dealers. offer for sale
100 bags Laguayra and Rio Coffee.

Out the Secrege. Richmond Dispatch July 18, 1861

--We received a letter, some days ago, from the vicinity of Norfolk, giving an account of the capture of an expedition to secure a cargo of coffee in a wrecked vessel on the North Carolina coast, which the Lincolnites were said to be watching. We deemed it prevalent to suppress the information; but now learn that the cargo, consisting of some 4,400 bags, was secured without difficulty. A portion of it will be brought to Richmond.


The coffee Crop in Brazil.

--The circular of Messrs. Maxwell, Wright &Co., Rio de Janeiro, dated the 7th of May 1861 contains the following in relation to an insect among the coffee plant:
We are sorry to say the coffee plant has been attacked in several districts by an insect which, blighting the leaves, causes them to fall off, thus seriously affecting the immature fruit. The cause may to some extent effect the out-turn of the now growing crop, but we hope and believe it will not permanently affect the plant, as we learn that in some cases where the plants have been stripped of their leaves, new ones are beginning to appear. The matter, however, is considered sufficiently serious to command the attention of the Government, and a commission has been appointed to investigate the nature of the disease and to suggest a remedy.




The Baltimore Exchange, June 1861 Friday :

The news from Fortress Monroe by yesterday morning's boat contained but little interest, except the capture of the bark Sally McGee, from Rio, with 3,000 bags of coffee , by the Quaker City. She is owned in Richmond A prize crew was placed on board, and she was sent to New York



To the women of Richmond. May 22, 1862

--The time has come when every woman should do her duty in this struggle for our country's independence. There are many things her hands can do, which will as materially aid our cause as if she were a soldier with musket in hand. The battle will be brought right to our doors. Let every woman, then, in this city, who possesses the ability, prepare coffee , bread, and whatever else she may have to give, for our dear loved ones, who offer their precious bodies a wall of defence for our homes.
One-third pure coffee , the rest wheat or rye, rightly prepared, will furnish strengthening drink, which will add greatly to their comfort. Let the coffee be browned a little, then add the wheat or rye, toasting them together. In this way the taste of the coffee is imparted to the grain. Grind or pounder well. To one measure of coffee add eight of boiling water. Let it boil well, stirring it down until the entire scum disappears, when it will look clear. Add a little cold water, let it stand until it settles, and you have quite nice coffee .
Now, will not every woman at once toast her coffee , grind it, and have it ready for use? Surely all the milk carts, molasses barrels on carts, and any conveyance one may think of, can carry it to some places designated; when some persons, whose business it shall be, may portion it out. If a regiment were detailed for this business, it would do good service.--But as one begrudge her little mile of coffee. Their are some persons who have not the material, but who would gladly prepare it. Let, then, any more fortunes neigh her, who can spare of her little, pass it over is willing hands, longing to do something for our noble cause. Did the men go — the courageous and fear not." A Wife and Movers.

[Matt_Wright]

G.H. Bent, the hardtack purveyor, has recently been sold and their website was down when I tried to order some hardtack.

Really? I just ordered (and received) a large order of hardtack right before Olustee.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/09/a_history_of_cookies/ Here's a link to the article about the sale of G.H. Bent. Their website is back up this afternoon, but I couldn't get on it this morning.

[FloridaConfederate]

You could always demonstrate known, substantiated period coffee substitutes as well

corn meal
acorns
sweet potatoe
okra seed
rye seed
toast crust
hardtack crust
asparagus
peanuts

[Craig L Barry]

It is worth doing a US impression just so you don't have to gag down that horrid chickory concoction the poor Johnnies had to drink. Plus chickory is a real pain to root, roast and grind for what it ends up tasting like. No wonder General Lee sued for peace. Okra probably makes the most acceptable coffee alternative. As far as the type coffee beans used for rations, my understanding is that the Brazilian coffee bean,"Rio" which is more bitter and has 50% more caffeine was predominant. For starters it was cheaper, and would grow in a wider variety of conditions, while today 75% of the coffee beans grown are arabicas (milder) a/k/a Colombian. Sam Watkins (Company Atych) makes mention of "Rio" as "genuine coffee", and this Rio bean which is rounder seems closest to the cheaper "robusta" beans from Brazil.

If you put enough effort into it, you could probably locate the "right" coffee bean in the raw, but whatever the type bean used there are few pleasures to compare with a good cup of campfire brewed coffee. Make is stout as they used to say, "use a handful of grounds for each cup and one for the pot." Some of my comrades lovingly call my fresh brew "the corpse reviver" which I consider a compliment whether intended as such or not.

[Craig L Barry]

I like Bent hardtack, too and it is a sad day indeed; but hardly tragic. It is not particularly difficult to make hardtack yourself. It is a little trickier to make decent hardtack yourself, but still not insurmountable. My last batch got a little thick on me despite my best efforts with the rolling pin, those were some true "bullet stoppers" but still edible if one was hungry enough. An added benefit is nobody bums hardcrackers off me after tasting the ones I produced. This is kind of like my coffee, which if you handle a cup of that with one of my crackers you never have to prove your courage in any other way.

[FloridaConfederate]

My experience taught me beans are most effectively roasted in a canteen. which keeps the heat better.

Just as modern beans are roasted in a drum.

Be careful not to melt your solder out.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

My experience taught me beans are most effectively roasted in a canteen. which keeps the heat better.

Just as modern beans are roasted in a drum.

Be careful not to melt your solder out.
One fellow who I met early on in my reenacting career who was instrumental in turning my outlook around to quality research and events always carried a nasty looking heavy tin drum canteen that was blackened all the way around. I had completely forgotten until you mentioned it that he said it was used only to roast his coffee beans. He'd place that canteen over the heat of a fire, not directly in it as to not melt the solder, and just turn it over and over for about 10 minutes and he had some beautiful brown beans. Thanks for bringing that memory back, Chris.

[Ephraim_Zook]

G.H. Bent, the hardtack purveyor, has recently been sold and their website was down when I tried to order some hardtack.

Bent's has a brand-new website (just checked, 9:45 EDT on 11 March), featuring the same products. They may have been sold -- there's nothing to say they were or weren't, but they are still in business.

[vmescher]

Craig,

I understand that these green coffee beans aren't exactly what they had back then...but what exactly were they using in the 1850s/1860s???

I know that Richmond, VA was importing beans directly from Central/South America during this time...but have no idea exactly what type of beans they were importing...it would take some time for me to put my hands on Newspapers detailing where the beans were coming from.

Paul B.

I went through my store ledger database _Historic Accounts_ (1859-1861, a rural general store in south central VA) and found the following information on the coffee that was sold.

I did not add the number of pounds of coffee sold for each type of coffee sold but some people purchased as much as 100# at a time and others purchased just a pound. Rio - 312 purchases; Java - 49; Laguayra - 26; Santos - 72; Cape Coast - 21, Mocha - 12 and purchases listed just as coffee 327. [Note, if you are looking for Laguaryra coffee today, check for La Guaira, as that is the modern spelling or might be just know as Caracas.]

During the time period of the ledger, the prices ranged from $ .17 to .20 for Rio; .20 to .22 for Java, Laguara was .17; Santos from .17 to .19, Cape Coast from .15 to .17, and Mocha .22 to .25 per pound.

Rio coffee came from the state of Rio de Janerio and Santos coffee came from the state of San Paulo, both in Brazil. Java was the original arabica coffee, first exported by the Dutch in 1711 and came from the island of Java. Laguayra coffee came from Valencia near Caracas, the capital of Venezula. Mocha coffee came from Arabia. Cape Coast coffee came from Liberia.

Coffee was also imported from Cuba, Porta [sic] Rico, St. Domingo, Costa Rico, British West Indies, Ceylon, Malabar and Mysore, French West Indies, Philippines, Sumatra, and Celebes. (Debow's Review 1851)

I think most of these coffees are still available in the green bean form but I haven't checked lately. You might have the best luck with Santos, Mocha, and Java.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Bent's has a brand-new website (just checked, 9:45 EDT on 11 March), featuring the same products. They may have been sold -- there's nothing to say they were or weren't, but they are still in business.
I had posted in a later thread that the site was back up with the link to the sale info. They are indeed still in business for now according to the woman I talked to yesterday when I got the site back up.

[PVT.THIB]

I made some acorn coffee at one event and it was bitter and thick. I cracked each acorn, browned them with alittle sugar in the fire, and then ground them with a few coffee beans. It was horrible but I guess if I had to make do with what I had, it would be passable.
Thanks,
Jason Thibodeaux
Independent Rifles

[FloridaConfederate]

I made some acorn coffee at one event and it was bitter and thick. I cracked each acorn, browned them with alittle sugar in the fire, and then ground them with a few coffee beans. It was horrible but I guess if I had to make do with what I had, it would be passable.




ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, January 9, 1862,

We have received a letter from a friend stating that he had tried acorns as a substitute for coffee. He complains of an unripe taste which will be got rid of by cutting the acorns and letting them dry. In other respects he thinks the substitute is admirable, and says that if coffee could be had for ten cents a pound and acorns for fifteen cents, he would prefer to buy the acorns. He adds that he has been an habitual coffee drinker for fifteen years, and unless he drank two cups of coffee in the morning, had a headache all day. But one cup of good acorn coffee has the happy effect of freeing him from headache and he thinks the acorn equal to that of Mocha.—Let our readers gather a few acorns, cut them up, dry them, parch like coffee and try them. White oak mast is preferred by some. The different oaks yield acorns that make coffee different in its astringent properties and flavors.

ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, January 16, 1862

Several weeks ago we stated that acorns were a good substitute for coffee, and since gave the substance of letters from a friend who had tried it. The Gazette republishes this and commenting upon it, says:
If the writer be not mistaken, and we hope he is not, the oak mast will be of additional importance. We have heard of persons having sheet iron stomachs, which we always doubted, but it does seem to us that the continued use of acorn coffee would have the effect of tanning the stomach, and making it as tough as leather. Let some one try the experiment and see what is in it.
The tannic or tanning properties of the oak is strongly exhibited in the bark, but it by no means follows that the acorns contain it in any considerable quantity. The bark of the chinquapin tree is fully as astringent and contains as much tannin, but the chinquapin nut does not have the effect of tanning the stomach. Let the Captain taste the bark of an apple tree or of a peach tree, and see how widely they differ in taste and other properties from the apple or peach which grew on them.
Some fifteen years ago we were acquainted with a wealthy man who drank acorn coffee in preference to any other kind. Several of the planters in the "up country" of Carolina used it altogether. It was often a subject of conversation, and a scientific man who married in the family of one of Carolina's most distinguished sons, made an analysis of the acorn and coffee berry. His capabilities for the task will be admitted, when it is known that he was regarded in the schools of Paris as one of the best analytical chemists there, and upon his return to this country was engaged in several scientific enterprises of great importance. We have not the formula now of his analysis, and it would be, perhaps, too technical for the general reader. We remember that the acorn and the coffee berry had certain constituents in common, and upon these depended the effects produced by coffee, such as wakefulness, gentle stimulation, and others. This also gave a similarity in flavor. In fact, the acorn from the white oak, afforded a softer beverage than the coffee and those who used it greatly preferred it. The black oak, red oak and other different varieties of the quercus have acorns that make a stronger or more astringent coffee, but not so strong as the common kinds of coffee often sold.
We find the following in a late number of the Memphis Avalanche, and reproduce it to show that we are not alone in our estimate of acorn coffee.
A correspondent, writing to the Picayune, gives the following interesting account of a substitute for coffee, which is so different from any we have yet heard of, that we give it for the benefit of those who wish to experiment in supplying what has been an article of necessity with us in the South, and which is now placed beyond our reach for a time. He says:
At a Medico-Botanical society of London, in 1837, the President introduced to the notice of the members a new beverage which very much resembled the real coffee. It was made from acorns, peeled, chopped and roasted. The acorn, which gives out this fragrant drink, is well known to be the fruit of the oak of our forests, of which there are a great variety and abundance in almost all of the States. Whether the white, the black, or the red species of quercus acorn is used for this purpose, is not stated. The experiment, however, is simple and easy, and ought to be tried. There are reasons why it should prove to be a better substitute than any yet offered for the real berry. The chincapin tree, I think, belongs to the same genus, though of much smaller growth, produces a similar, but smaller acorn, and from its peculiar flavor, I am much inclined to think the chincapin, properly prepared, will make a first rate cup of coffee.
We suppose it is too late to try it this season but let any of our readers make the experiment. We have seen old coffee drinkers, who professed to be connoissieurs and gourmands, tried with a cup of it without knowing it was made from acorns, who smacked their lips over it and pronounced it excellent.

[PVT.THIB]

It states that they let the acorns dry after peeling them. That may be why mine was so bad!
Jason Thibodeaux
Independent Rifles

[Craig L Barry]

I bet it would not have been too tasty regardless. Acorns?