Towns > Glasgow > 1828-1912 - Post-Office annual Glasgow directory > 1854-1855

ADVERTISEMENTS. 201
COJFEE-ROASTING, STTGAR-POTTNDING,
AND
GENERAL GRINDING WORKS,
29 M'PHERSON STREET (off HIGH STREET), GLASGOW.
She only Steam-power Roasting Establishment connected with the Trade in the City.
DMINTO begs leave to return thanks to the Grocers and Druggists of this Town
■ and Vicinity for past favours.
He also begs leave to intimate, that in connection with his Coffee-Roasting, and
Coffee and Spice-Grinding Works, he has fitted up an extensive Sugar-Pounding
Machine, offering to the Confectioners, and Trade in general, an advantageous oppor-
tunity of having their Sugar Pounded by Steam-power, far surpassing anything ever
yet offered to the Trade.
P.S. — All Orders punctually attended to, and delivered by his Vans at the proper time.
29 M'Pherson Street, off High Street,
Glasgow, May, 1854.
The Coffee Plant, " Coffea Arabica," of Linnaeus, is an evergeen, and, as may
be inferred from its scientific name, is a native of Arabia. It produces a pulpy berry
about the size of a small cherry, enclosing two seeds, which, separated from their pulpy
envelope, form the well-known Coffee Beans of commerce. It may be remarked, as
a singular fact, in reference to Coffee, that while all of the vegetable kingdom that
have been taken under the care of man have been improved, it alone asserts its inde-
pendence 4 for, although cultivation may greatly enlarge the crop, it as certainly, at
the same time, deteriorates the flavour, and the produce of the wild plant still main-
tains the highest figure in the market. It is well known that Coffee would be of no
real value were it not properly roasted — a process which, as it requires much skill, is
only to be acquired by experience. How man became acquainted with the fact, that
the tasteless seeds of a berry, when roasted, ground, and infused, would form a grate-
ful beverage, will most probably remain a secret to the end of time. That the deve-
lopment of its useful properties depends wholly upon the roasting, is evident. About
two hundred years ago, Coffee was first introduced into England, since which its con-
sumption has Steadily increased, and deservedly so, when its medicinal properties are
considered, it having been found useful in headaches arising from a particular state of
the stomach, and much benefit having been derived from its exhibition in cases of
Asthma.
A French scientific gentleman, who has directed his attention to this subject, says:
— " I have found that Coffee is better roasted, and more of the aroma retained, when
a double cylinder is used — the air between the interior and exterior cylinders acting
as a non-conductor of heat. It is done more uniformly, while the essential oil on
•which the aroma depends is less liable to be dispersed than when exposed to the fierce
heat of a fire in a single cylinder."
In the double rotatory globular method of roasting, as practised at Mr. Minto's
Works, 29 M'Pherson Street, off High Street, Glasgow, the above principle is acted
upon, inasmuch as the globe (which has superseded the cylinder since the application
of steam power to this branch) revolves in a medium of heated air, which, experience
has shown, best prevents the dispersion of the essential oil, or aroma.