=Coffee=: Green coffee beans break with a clean fracture, and if the break is ragged or spongy there has been mold or heating. Roasted beans should show one-half very dark brown, the other half black but not scorched. Crack between the teeth; you can taste scorching. Fresh-ground coffee is stronger and more flavorous than that ground in bulk. Also there is less chance of adulteration. To test for adulteration, stir a pinch of ground coffee into a glass of cold water. Pure coffee settles to the bottom, leaving hardly a trace of color. Chicory will rise to the top, also making a kind of scum. Adulteration with roasted grain or bread or the artificial beans will color the water more or less deeply. Keep coffee in bright tin or glass, tightly closed, away from light, where it is dry and cool. =Tea=: Tea is largely a matter of taste and brands, also prices. Very cheap tea is undesirable, being commonly adulterated with spent tea leaves. Tests vary as much as brands. A safe and easy one is to infuse a pinch of tea one minute in boiling water, pour off one-half, and let the other half stand, keeping at almost boiling heat for ten minutes. Pour off and compare in smell and taste with the first. Artificial color, if present, will show as dregs in the long steeping and reveal itself further in a faint metallic taste. Various copper salts are the commonest coloring matters, and, though the quantities are too small to be immediately dangerous, constant use may develop stomach trouble. Tea is best kept air-tight, dark, dry, and warm. =Butter=: Beware butter too yellow, especially if winter-packed. Butter colors are harmless in the main, but some constitutions are intolerant of them. Look for firm texture slightly grained and a lively, agreeable smell. A sour smell and white specks show something to let alone. Keep tightly covered, dark, and cool, away from any possibility of taints. =Lard=: If you do not know, experimentally, good fresh lard, get leaf fat, try it out, taking care not to scorch it, and use the product as a standard. Lard must be firm, but not hard, even-textured throughout, and with almost no smell. Your nose, if permitted, will tell you if it is either scorched or rancid—the two unpardonable faults. From grain-fed pork it is clear white, with now and then a faint cream tinge. Keep in glass or bright tin, tightly closed, where it is cool and dark.