All about coffeeUkers, William H. (William Harrison)
History
All about coffee
Ukers, William H. (William Harrison)
Coffee; Coffee Industry; Drinking customs
The doctors were loath to let coffee escape from the mysteries of the
pharmacopoeia and become "a simple and refreshing beverage" that any
one might obtain for a penny in the coffee houses, or, if preferred,
might prepare at home. In this they were aided and abetted by many
well-meaning but misguided persons (some of them men of considerable
intelligence) who seemed possessed of the idea that the coffee drink was
an unpleasant medicine that needed something to take away its curse, or
else that it required a complex method of preparation. Witness "Judge"
Walter Rumsey's _Electuary of Cophy_, which appeared in 1657 in
connection with a curious work of his called _Organon Salutis: an
instrument to cleanse the stomach_.[73] The instrument itself was a
flexible whale-bone, two or three feet long, with a small linen or silk
button at the end, and was designed to be introduced into the stomach to
produce the effect of an emetic. The electuary of coffee was to be taken
by the patient before and after using the instrument, which the "judge"
called his _Provang_. And this was the "judge's" "new and superior way
of preparing coffee" as found in his prescription for making electuary
of cophy:
Take equal quantity of Butter and Sallet-oyle, melt them well
together, but not boyle them: Then stirre them well that they may
incorporate together: Then melt therewith three times as much
Honey, and stirre it well together: Then add thereunto powder of
Turkish Cophie, to make it a thick Electuary.
A little consideration will convince any one that the electuary was most
likely to achieve the purpose for which it was recommended.
[Illustration: THE FIRST NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENT FOR COFFEE--1657]
Another concoction invented by the "judge" was known as "wash-brew",
and included oatmeal, powder of "cophie", a pint of ale or any wine,
ginger, honey, or sugar to please the taste; to these ingredients butter
might be added and any cordial powder or pleasant spice. It was to be
put into a flannel bag and "so keep it at pleasure like starch." This
was a favorite medicine among the common people of Wales.
The book contained in a prefix an interesting historical document in the
shape of a letter from James Howell (1595-1666) the writer and
historiographer, which read:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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