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Main
Date: 13 Jun 2007 10:32:07
From: Joe
Subject: Natural Sweating Brown Beans
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Greeting coffee folks, I've been lurking here for a while. Just
getting into roasting my own coffee and trying different green beans
from Sweet Marias.
In doing some reading on Coffee I found this in" All About Coffee" by
William H. Ukers 2nd ed. 1935:
Mr Ukers said in the sailing ship delivery days cargo holds will
induce a natural sweating affect on the coffee. As a result, the
coffee will turn a rare shade of brown that brings a premium. It is
believed that this browning greatly improves the flavor and body of
coffee. In the old days Captains that brought in "extra brown" were
given a bonus. Coffee brought by sail was termed "ex-sailing ships."
After the turn of the century, there were attempts to duplicate the
browning process by steam heating coffee brought in by steamships but
it was never the same.
My question is ...Do you think it was it the heat of the cargo holds
in tropical locations that caused the sweating or is it just the
biomass breaking down... or maybe something else?
Thanks
Joe
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Date: 15 Jun 2007 03:18:48
From: IMAWriterRobJ
Subject: Re: Natural Sweating Brown Beans
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On Jun 13, 11:28 pm, i840cof...@optonline.net wrote:
> "OLD BROWN JAVA"
>
> In the age of sail, the "estate" coffees (those farms owned by white
> colonialists) in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) were kept on
> island not in closed warehouses but in go-downs, platforms with
> thatched roofs and no sides on which the coffee was stored awaiting
> shipment. The coffee weathered in the tropics waiting for the sailing
> ship captains to arrive and bid for the the choicest lots. The ships,
> at the mercy of the vagueries of wind and weather, did not keep
> arrival and departure schedules as we understand them today.
>
> The coffees of the islands were sold under the accepted name "Java"
> regardless of the Island on which they were grown. Of these Sumatra
> "Java" was the most prized in the generation in which we speak.
>
> There were "Java" coffees even from places that grew no coffee.
> "Singapore Javas" (named for the port-o-call where they were sold,
> having been trans-shipped from a pacific origin island) was a
> rfesource for "Javas". Singapore, at southern tip of the Malay
> Peninsula, became a British Crown Colony after being colonized by the
> East India Company in 1819. It was a convenient pick-up point saving
> additional travel to the Dutch ports further on, and it lay along the
> trade-route home to London.
>
> Once on board a wooden bottom, the bags packed tight in the holds,
> often with other odorous goods, were subject to the close unventilated
> salt air, and oppressive heat down below. The coffee foamed and
> sweated. Some molded, and decomposed.
>
> Often on arrival at destination the ruined top layer of beans had to
> be "skimmed" off and discarded revealing the old browns below.
>
> Old Brown Java was a feature of the New York Trade in the 19th Century
> when heavy smooth non-acidic coffees brought the highest premiums. As
> in every generation there were those who tried to duplicate the item
> without going to the trouble. The twentieth Century saw the rise of
> the "bright" acidy washed profile coffees of east Africa and Central
> America.
>
> Things change. The advent of regular scheduled steam service between
> Northern Europe, America and Asia picked goods up on a set schedule
> instead of haphazardly when the ships arrived. Steam and later oil
> brought Asian goods to destination faster. The canals at Panama and
> Suez shortened time between origin and destination. The advent of
> steel bottoms and in the last generation containers changed the way
> goods traveled en route.
>
> The rust fungus (Hemileia vastatrix) wiped out the arabica coffee in
> the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In Dutch eat Indies (now
> Indonesia) arabica coffee was first to replaced with rubber and later
> with Robusta (only about 10% of Indonesian coffee is arabica today)
> changed everything. World War Two cost the suspension of production.
> The birth of the specialty coffee movement has seen new interest in
> arabica coffee in Indonesia (where all new plantings are mandated to
> be arabica).
>
> The Americas were untouched by leaf rust which gave the Western
> Hemisphere produce a decisive edge over its Asian rivals in addition
> to its advantage as tastes changed toward a brighter cup, and
> transportation costs were lower between the American producers New
> York, San Francisco and New Orleans the largest North American import
> centers for coffee in the era prior to World War II. The rust was
> discovered in the Americas at Bahia Brazil about 37 years ago.
>
> The espresso evolution is changing the blending and roasting habits of
> North American roasters, by pointing up the depth, character, lack of
> acidity and flavor complexity in the arabica coffees of Sumatra, and
> Sulawesi and other Asian coffee regions and districts. It has not
> brought back the old brown Javas of old, except as an exotic rarity.
> Holland Coffee Group does bring in a very limited number of bags of
> 4-5 year aged "Old Brown Javas". Jack is also right, Indian Monsooned
> Malabar (I speak of an arabica item) is as close as we get today to
> the brown Javas of old.
>
> -Donald Schoenholt
>
> P.S. This is a re-post. I posted the above several hours ago, but it
> did not show up in the thread. I beleive the original post went
> astray. I appologize now should the original post turn up later on. -
> DNS
Awesome post, Donald!
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Date: 13 Jun 2007 21:28:26
From:
Subject: Re: Natural Sweating Brown Beans
|
"OLD BROWN JAVA"
In the age of sail, the "estate" coffees (those farms owned by white
colonialists) in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) were kept on
island not in closed warehouses but in go-downs, platforms with
thatched roofs and no sides on which the coffee was stored awaiting
shipment. The coffee weathered in the tropics waiting for the sailing
ship captains to arrive and bid for the the choicest lots. The ships,
at the mercy of the vagueries of wind and weather, did not keep
arrival and departure schedules as we understand them today.
The coffees of the islands were sold under the accepted name "Java"
regardless of the Island on which they were grown. Of these Sumatra
"Java" was the most prized in the generation in which we speak.
There were "Java" coffees even from places that grew no coffee.
"Singapore Javas" (named for the port-o-call where they were sold,
having been trans-shipped from a pacific origin island) was a
rfesource for "Javas". Singapore, at southern tip of the Malay
Peninsula, became a British Crown Colony after being colonized by the
East India Company in 1819. It was a convenient pick-up point saving
additional travel to the Dutch ports further on, and it lay along the
trade-route home to London.
Once on board a wooden bottom, the bags packed tight in the holds,
often with other odorous goods, were subject to the close unventilated
salt air, and oppressive heat down below. The coffee foamed and
sweated. Some molded, and decomposed.
Often on arrival at destination the ruined top layer of beans had to
be "skimmed" off and discarded revealing the old browns below.
Old Brown Java was a feature of the New York Trade in the 19th Century
when heavy smooth non-acidic coffees brought the highest premiums. As
in every generation there were those who tried to duplicate the item
without going to the trouble. The twentieth Century saw the rise of
the "bright" acidy washed profile coffees of east Africa and Central
America.
Things change. The advent of regular scheduled steam service between
Northern Europe, America and Asia picked goods up on a set schedule
instead of haphazardly when the ships arrived. Steam and later oil
brought Asian goods to destination faster. The canals at Panama and
Suez shortened time between origin and destination. The advent of
steel bottoms and in the last generation containers changed the way
goods traveled en route.
The rust fungus (Hemileia vastatrix) wiped out the arabica coffee in
the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In Dutch eat Indies (now
Indonesia) arabica coffee was first to replaced with rubber and later
with Robusta (only about 10% of Indonesian coffee is arabica today)
changed everything. World War Two cost the suspension of production.
The birth of the specialty coffee movement has seen new interest in
arabica coffee in Indonesia (where all new plantings are mandated to
be arabica).
The Americas were untouched by leaf rust which gave the Western
Hemisphere produce a decisive edge over its Asian rivals in addition
to its advantage as tastes changed toward a brighter cup, and
transportation costs were lower between the American producers New
York, San Francisco and New Orleans the largest North American import
centers for coffee in the era prior to World War II. The rust was
discovered in the Americas at Bahia Brazil about 37 years ago.
The espresso evolution is changing the blending and roasting habits of
North American roasters, by pointing up the depth, character, lack of
acidity and flavor complexity in the arabica coffees of Sumatra, and
Sulawesi and other Asian coffee regions and districts. It has not
brought back the old brown Javas of old, except as an exotic rarity.
Holland Coffee Group does bring in a very limited number of bags of
4-5 year aged "Old Brown Javas". Jack is also right, Indian Monsooned
Malabar (I speak of an arabica item) is as close as we get today to
the brown Javas of old.
-Donald Schoenholt
P.S. This is a re-post. I posted the above several hours ago, but it
did not show up in the thread. I beleive the original post went
astray. I appologize now should the original post turn up later on. -
DNS
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Date: 15 Jun 2007 01:31:56
From: Ed Needham
Subject: Re: Natural Sweating Brown Beans
|
I guess if I save enough of these, I'll eventually have a Schoenholt 'book'
on coffee.
Thanks
--
*********************
Ed Needham
"to absurdity and beyond!"
http://www.homeroaster.com
(include [FRIEND] in subject line to get through my SPAM filters)
*********************
<i840coffee@optonline.net > wrote in message
news:1181795306.106742.28870@z28g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> "OLD BROWN JAVA"
>
> In the age of sail, the "estate" coffees (those farms owned by white
> colonialists) in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) were kept on
> island not in closed warehouses but in go-downs, platforms with
> thatched roofs and no sides on which the coffee was stored awaiting
> shipment. The coffee weathered in the tropics waiting for the sailing
> ship captains to arrive and bid for the the choicest lots. The ships,
> at the mercy of the vagueries of wind and weather, did not keep
> arrival and departure schedules as we understand them today.
>
> The coffees of the islands were sold under the accepted name "Java"
> regardless of the Island on which they were grown. Of these Sumatra
> "Java" was the most prized in the generation in which we speak.
>
> There were "Java" coffees even from places that grew no coffee.
> "Singapore Javas" (named for the port-o-call where they were sold,
> having been trans-shipped from a pacific origin island) was a
> rfesource for "Javas". Singapore, at southern tip of the Malay
> Peninsula, became a British Crown Colony after being colonized by the
> East India Company in 1819. It was a convenient pick-up point saving
> additional travel to the Dutch ports further on, and it lay along the
> trade-route home to London.
>
> Once on board a wooden bottom, the bags packed tight in the holds,
> often with other odorous goods, were subject to the close unventilated
> salt air, and oppressive heat down below. The coffee foamed and
> sweated. Some molded, and decomposed.
>
> Often on arrival at destination the ruined top layer of beans had to
> be "skimmed" off and discarded revealing the old browns below.
>
> Old Brown Java was a feature of the New York Trade in the 19th Century
> when heavy smooth non-acidic coffees brought the highest premiums. As
> in every generation there were those who tried to duplicate the item
> without going to the trouble. The twentieth Century saw the rise of
> the "bright" acidy washed profile coffees of east Africa and Central
> America.
>
> Things change. The advent of regular scheduled steam service between
> Northern Europe, America and Asia picked goods up on a set schedule
> instead of haphazardly when the ships arrived. Steam and later oil
> brought Asian goods to destination faster. The canals at Panama and
> Suez shortened time between origin and destination. The advent of
> steel bottoms and in the last generation containers changed the way
> goods traveled en route.
>
> The rust fungus (Hemileia vastatrix) wiped out the arabica coffee in
> the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In Dutch eat Indies (now
> Indonesia) arabica coffee was first to replaced with rubber and later
> with Robusta (only about 10% of Indonesian coffee is arabica today)
> changed everything. World War Two cost the suspension of production.
> The birth of the specialty coffee movement has seen new interest in
> arabica coffee in Indonesia (where all new plantings are mandated to
> be arabica).
>
> The Americas were untouched by leaf rust which gave the Western
> Hemisphere produce a decisive edge over its Asian rivals in addition
> to its advantage as tastes changed toward a brighter cup, and
> transportation costs were lower between the American producers New
> York, San Francisco and New Orleans the largest North American import
> centers for coffee in the era prior to World War II. The rust was
> discovered in the Americas at Bahia Brazil about 37 years ago.
>
> The espresso evolution is changing the blending and roasting habits of
> North American roasters, by pointing up the depth, character, lack of
> acidity and flavor complexity in the arabica coffees of Sumatra, and
> Sulawesi and other Asian coffee regions and districts. It has not
> brought back the old brown Javas of old, except as an exotic rarity.
> Holland Coffee Group does bring in a very limited number of bags of
> 4-5 year aged "Old Brown Javas". Jack is also right, Indian Monsooned
> Malabar (I speak of an arabica item) is as close as we get today to
> the brown Javas of old.
>
> -Donald Schoenholt
>
> P.S. This is a re-post. I posted the above several hours ago, but it
> did not show up in the thread. I beleive the original post went
> astray. I appologize now should the original post turn up later on. -
> DNS
>
>
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Date: 14 Jun 2007 13:01:38
From: Coffee for Connoisseurs
Subject: Re: Natural Sweating Brown Beans
|
>P.S. This is a re-post. I posted the above several hours ago, but it
>did not show up in the thread. I beleive the original post went
>astray. I appologize now should the original post turn up later on. -
>DNS
Don't bother apologizing, Don, I save all your posts anyway, as do a number
of other long time alties. Don't want to lose any nuggets of wisdom if I can
avoid it.
--
Alan
alanfrew@coffeeco.com.au
www.coffeeco.com.au
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Date: 14 Jun 2007 09:11:35
From: Bertie Doe
Subject: Re: Natural Sweating Brown Beans
|
wrote in message
> "OLD BROWN JAVA"
<snip.
> Once on board a wooden bottom, the bags packed tight in the holds,
> often with other odorous goods, were subject to the close unventilated
> salt air, and oppressive heat down below. The coffee foamed and
> sweated. Some molded, and decomposed.
>
> Often on arrival at destination the ruined top layer of beans had to
> be "skimmed" off and discarded revealing the old browns below.
>
> It has not
> brought back the old brown Javas of old, except as an exotic rarity.
> Holland Coffee Group does bring in a very limited number of bags of
> 4-5 year aged "Old Brown Javas". Jack is also right, Indian Monsooned
> Malabar (I speak of an arabica item) is as close as we get today to
> the brown Javas of old.
>
> -Donald Schoenholt
Top post Donald and a nice bit of history there. Monsooned and OBJ are my
staple diet. I new that the modern 'monsooning' in cool damp conditions is
hardly a substitute, for the hot damp fermenting in a sailing ship. It would
be nice to try the aged OBJ's from Holland Group, it'll be expensive and
probably not available unroasted.
BD
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Date: 13 Jun 2007 18:12:03
From: Joe
Subject: Re: Natural Sweating Brown Beans
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On Jun 13, 3:50 pm, "Bertie Doe" <montebrasi...@ntl.com > wrote:
> "Joe" wrote in message
>
> > My question is ...Do you think it was it the heat of the cargo holds
> > in tropical locations that caused the sweating or is it just the
> > biomass breaking down... or maybe something else?
>
> Cool and moist conditions, rather than hothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsooned_Malabar
>
> Bertie
Thanks Bertie.
Joe
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Date: 13 Jun 2007 17:04:21
From: Jack Denver
Subject: Re: Natural Sweating Brown Beans
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In modern times this effect is duplicated by "monsooning", as in Monsooned
Malabar. Ship voyages were once upon a time believed to benefit/mellow a lot
of food/beverage items - sherries, ports, etc. But modern taste in most
things tends more toward "fresh" than mellow.
"Joe" <steelredcloud@yahoo.com > wrote in message
news:1181755927.274384.264250@i38g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> Greeting coffee folks, I've been lurking here for a while. Just
> getting into roasting my own coffee and trying different green beans
> from Sweet Marias.
>
> In doing some reading on Coffee I found this in" All About Coffee" by
> William H. Ukers 2nd ed. 1935:
>
> Mr Ukers said in the sailing ship delivery days cargo holds will
> induce a natural sweating affect on the coffee. As a result, the
> coffee will turn a rare shade of brown that brings a premium. It is
> believed that this browning greatly improves the flavor and body of
> coffee. In the old days Captains that brought in "extra brown" were
> given a bonus. Coffee brought by sail was termed "ex-sailing ships."
> After the turn of the century, there were attempts to duplicate the
> browning process by steam heating coffee brought in by steamships but
> it was never the same.
>
> My question is ...Do you think it was it the heat of the cargo holds
> in tropical locations that caused the sweating or is it just the
> biomass breaking down... or maybe something else?
>
> Thanks
>
> Joe
>
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Date: 13 Jun 2007 21:50:19
From: Bertie Doe
Subject: Re: Natural Sweating Brown Beans
|
"Joe" wrote in message
>
> My question is ...Do you think it was it the heat of the cargo holds
> in tropical locations that caused the sweating or is it just the
> biomass breaking down... or maybe something else?
>
Cool and moist conditions, rather than hot
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsooned_Malabar
Bertie
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