Across the face is the following:

All deliveries on such future contracts must be made from licensed warehouses. There is a separate "to arrive contract"; but this likewise requires delivery at a licensed warehouse, unless the buyer and the seller have a mutual understanding to deliver the coffee from dock or ex-ship. Margins to protect the contract may be called for by either party. The largest deposit for margins was made in 1904, when $22,661,710 was deposited with the superintendent as required by the Exchange rules.

The basic grade in a future sale is No. 7; but variations are provided as follows: 30 points for Rio, Victoria, and Bahia of all grades between 7 and 1, and of 50 points between 7 and 8; 50 points is allowed on Santos and all other coffees except between grades 1 and 2 and 2 and 3 Santos, which are allowed 30 points. Thus the buyer and the seller when entering upon a transaction know exactly what the difference will be between the standard No. 7 and the coffee that can be delivered. The right to deliver any grade in a future transaction has done much to lessen the probability of corners in coffee; but this protection is further given by the stringent rule that the maximum fluctuations on the Exchange can be only two cents a pound on coffee in one day and one cent on sugar. If greater changes should threaten, the Exchange operations would automatically cease.

False or fictitious sales are prohibited, and all contracts must be reported to the superintendent. All contracts are binding and call for actual delivery.

The future contract, besides being used for the delivery of coffee during stated months in the future at a given price, is also used for hedging purposes. As in the grain and cotton markets, dealers protect themselves against price fluctuations by hedging in the future market. Importers, for instance, when purchasing coffee abroad, frequently sell an equal amount for future delivery on the Exchange. When the time for delivery arrives, it is simply a question of calculation of the market conditions whether it is more advantageous to repurchase the sales made as a hedge, or as a kind of insurance to protect themselves against loss, and free the coffee so engaged, or to make delivery of the coffee as it comes in.

The board of managers has power to close the Exchange or to suspend trading on such days or parts of days as would in their judgment be for the Exchange's best interest.

The Clearing Association is a recent outgrowth of the Exchange, and is composed exclusively of Exchange members. Every member has to bring his contracts up to market closing every night, either by making a deposit with the Association to cover his balances, or by withdrawing in case he should be over. Members deposit $15,000 at the time of joining as a guaranty fund; and if the surplus is not sufficient to take care of balances, the bylaws provide for the levying of assessments.

The daily quotations on the coffee exchanges of New York, Havre, and (before the war) of Hamburg, determined to a large extent the price of green coffee the world over. The prices prevailing on the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange are studied by coffee traders in all countries, the fluctuations being reflected in foreign markets as the reports come from the United States. Quotations are cabled from one great market to another; and as each must heed those of the others to some extent, the coffee trade thus obtains a world price, and the effect on supply and demand is universal rather than local, as would be the case if quotations were not exchanged.

In 1921 the Exchange adopted an amendment to the trade rules, and abolished the one day transferable notice for both coffee and sugar.

Foreign Coffee Quotations

Brazil coffee cable quotations are the market prices, in Rio or Santos, of ten kilograms of coffee, the price being stated in milreis, the monetary unit of Brazil money. The basic grade of coffee at Rio is the No. 7 of the New York Coffee Exchange; and at Santos, the international standard of good average ("g. a.") Santos. One kilogram (often written kilo, or abbreviated to K.) is equal to two and one-fifth pounds; and the ten-kilogram standard of quantity is, therefore, equivalent to twenty-two pounds, or just one-sixth of a standard Brazil bag.

The money value is not so simple, since Brazilian paper currency is unstable; and the milreis quotation means nothing unless it is considered in connection with the rate of exchange for the same day, i.e., the current gold value of the milreis. This gold value is always given with the daily quotations from Brazil, and is expressed in British pence. The par value of the milreis (1000 reis) is 54.6 cents (gold) of United States money; but its present actual value is only about 15 cents, and it has been as low as 111⁄4 cents. Our dollar sign is used to denote milreis, placing it after the whole number, and before the fractional part expressed in one-thousandths. Thus, 81⁄4 milreis would be written 8$250 RS.

Suppose, for example, a Rio quotation is given at 8$400, with exchange at 71⁄2 d. This means that 22 pounds of coffee have a gold value of 63 British pence (8.4 × 71⁄2 = 63.0), or 5⁄3, as the Englishman would write it, which is equal to $1.271⁄2, making the coffee worth 5.8 cents per pound. Of course the person familiar with Brazil quotations will not need to make this reduction to the pound-cent term in order to understand the figures. They will have a proper relative meaning to him in their original form; and it must not be overlooked that it is in this form only that they express correctly the value of the coffee in Brazil. It may make a great difference to the Brazilian planter or exporter whether an increased gold value of his coffee arises through a higher milreis bid or an appreciated exchange, simply on account of local currency considerations. That is to say, the purchasing power of a milreis in Brazil will not necessarily vary exactly as the rate of exchange on London.

London quotations are made in shillings and pence, on one hundred-weight (cwt) of coffee. This "cwt" is not 100 pounds but 112 pounds, one twentieth of the English ton (our long ton) of 2,240 pounds. And in all English coffee statistics the coffee quantities are expressed in this ton. A London quotation of 30/9 (30 shillings and 9 pence) for example, is equivalent to $7.44 for 112 pounds of coffee, or 6.64 cents per pound at the normal rate of exchange, $4.80 to $4.86 the pound sterling.

At Havre, the coffee price is given in francs, on a quantity of 50 kilograms. This is 110 pounds and almost as much, therefore, as the British cwt. In normal times the franc is equal to 19.3 cents. A French quotation of 371⁄2, for instance, means, therefore, $7.19 for 110 pounds of coffee, or 6.53 cents per pound.

The Hamburg quotation (formerly from Brazil per fifty kilos) is made on one pound German, equal to 1⁄2 kilogram, and is expressed in pfennigs. One pfennig is one-hundredth of a mark, and the mark once was equal to 23.8 cents. A German quotation of, say, 31, means, therefore, 7.38 cents (31 × .238 = 7.378) for 1.1 pounds, or 6.71 cents per pound.

Three Kinds of Brokers

In the coffee trade there are three kinds of brokers—floor, spot, and cost and freight.

Floor brokers are those who buy and sell options on the Coffee Exchange for a fixed consideration per lot of 250 bags. The coffee commission rate put into effect June 8, 1920, for round term (buying and selling) by the New York Coffee Exchange was as follows:

There is at present (1922) a stamp tax of two cents on each hundred dollars value, or fraction thereof, figured on each separate lot.

Spot brokers are those who deal in actual coffee, selling from jobber to jobber, or representing out-of-town houses; the seller paying a commission of about fifteen cents a bag in small lots, and half of one percent in large lots.

Cost and freight brokers represent Brazilian accounts, and generally receive a brokerage of one and one-quarter percent. On out-of-town business, they usually split the commission with the out-of-town or "local" brokers. The out-of-town brokers sometimes, however, deal direct with the importer. All brokers except floor brokers are sometimes called "street brokers." Most of the large New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco brokerage houses also do a commission business, handling one or more Brazilian or other coffee-producing-country accounts.

Important Rulings Affecting Coffee Trading

The United States have no coffee law as they have a tea law—prescribing "purity, quality and fitness for consumption"—but buyers and sellers of green coffees are required to observe certain well defined federal rules and regulations relating specifically to coffee. Up to the year 1906, when the Pure Food and Drugs Act became law, the green coffee trade was practically unhampered; and several irregularities developed, calling into existence federal laws that were designed to protect the consumer against trade abuses, and at the same time to raise the standards of coffee trading.

Under these regulations it is illegal to import into this country a coffee that grades below a No. 8 Exchange type, which generally contains a large proportion of sour or damaged beans, known in the trade as "black jack," or damaged coffee, as found in "skimmings." "Black jack" is a term applied to coffee that has turned black during the process of curing, or in the hold of a ship during transportation; or it may be due to a blighting disease.

Another ruling is intended to prevent the sale of artificially "sweated" coffee, which has been submitted to a steaming process to give the beans the extra-brown appearance of high grade East Indian and Mocha coffees which have been naturally "sweated" in the holds of sailing vessels during the long journey to American ports. Up to the time that the Pure Food and Drugs Act went into effect, artificial "sweating" was resorted to by some coffee firms; and out of that practise grew a suit[320] that resulted in a federal court decision sustaining the Pure Food Act, and classifying the practise as adulteration and misbranding.

The Act also is intended to prevent the sale of coffees under trade names that do not properly belong to them. For example, only coffees grown on the island of Java can properly be labeled and sold as Javas; coffees from Sumatra, Timor, etc., must be sold under their respective names. Food Inspection Decision No. 82, which limited the use of the term Java to coffee grown on the island of Java, was sustained in a service and regulatory announcement issued in January, 1916. Likewise the name Mocha may be used only for coffees of Arabia. Before the pure-food law was enacted, it was frequently the custom to mix Bourbon Santos with Mocha and to sell the blend as Mocha. Also, Abyssinian coffees were generally known in the trade as Longberry Mocha, or just straight Mocha; and Sumatra growths were practically always sold as Javas. Traders used the names of Mocha and Java because of the high value placed upon these coffees by consumers, who, before Brazil dominated the market, had practically no other names for coffee.

One of the most celebrated coffee cases under the Pure Food Act was tried in Chicago, February, 1912. The question was, whether in view of the long-standing trade custom, it was still proper to call an Abyssinian coffee (Longberry Mocha) Mocha. The defendant was charged with misbranding, because he sold as Java and Mocha a coffee containing Abyssinian coffee. The court decided that the product should be called Abyssinian Mocha;[321] but since then, general acceptance has obtained of the government's viewpoint as expressed in F.I.D. No. 91, which was that only coffee grown in the province of Yemen in Arabia could properly be known as Mocha coffee.

Another important ruling, concerning coffee buyers and sellers, prohibits the importation of green coffees coated with lead chromate, Prussian blue, and other substances, to give the beans a more stylish appearance than they have normally. Such "polished" coffees find great favor in the European markets, but are now denied admittance here.

The Board of Food and Drug Inspection decided in 1910 against a trade custom that had prevailed until then of calling Minãs coffee Santos when shipped through Santos, instead of Rio.[322]

For years a practise obtained of rebagging certain Central American growths in New York. In this way Bucaramangas frequently were transformed into Bogotas, Rios became Santos, Bahias and Victorias were sold as Rios, and the misbranding of peaberry was quite common. A celebrated case grew out of an attempt by a New York coffee importer and broker to continue one of these practises after the Pure Food Act made it a criminal offense. The defendants, who were found guilty of conspiracy, and who were fined three thousand dollars each, mixed, re-packed and sold under the name P.A.L. Bogota, a well known Colombian mark, eighty-four bags of washed Caracas coffee.[323]

After an exchange of views with the United States Board of Food and Drug Inspection, the New York Coffee Exchange decided that, after June 1, 1912, it would abolish all grades of coffee under the Exchange type No. 8.

The practise in Holland of grading Santos coffees—by selecting beans most like Java beans, and polishing and coloring them to add verisimilitude—known as "manipulated Java," became such a nuisance in 1912 that United States consuls refused to certify invoices to the United States unless accompanied by a declaration that the produce was "pure Java, neither mixed with other kinds nor counterfeited."

The United States Bureau of Chemistry ruled in February, 1921, that Coffea robusta could not be sold as Java coffee, or under any form of labeling which tended either directly or indirectly to create the impression that it was Coffea arabica, so long and favorably known as Java coffee. This was in line with the Department of Agriculture's previous definition that coffee was the seed of the Coffea arabica or Coffea liberica, and that Java coffee was Coffea arabica from Java. Coffea robusta was barred from deliveries on the New York Coffee Exchange in 1912.

During the greater part of the year 1918, the United States government assumed virtually full control of coffee trading. It was a war-time measure, and was intended to prevent speculation in coffee contracts and freight rates, to cut down the number of vessels carrying coffee to this country so as to provide more ships for transporting food and soldiers to Europe, and to put the coffee merchants on rations during the stress of war. On February 4, 1918, importers and dealers were placed under license; and two days later, rules were issued through the Food Administration fixing the maximum price for coffee for the spot month in the "futures" markets at eight and a half cents, prohibiting dealers from taking more than normal pre-war profits, or holding supplies in excess of ninety days' requirements, and greatly limiting resales. On May 8, the United States Shipping Board fixed the "official" freight rate from Rio de Janeiro to New York at one dollar and fifty cents per bag, which, without control, had risen to as high as four dollars and more, as compared with the ordinary rate of thirty-five cents before the war. On January 12, 1919, two months after the armistice was signed, the rules were withdrawn, and the coffee trade was left to carry on its business under its own direction.

Some Well Known Green Coffee Marks

Practically every bag of good quality green coffee is imprinted with a brand which indicates by whom it was shipped. These imprints are known in the trade as "green coffee marks." Many of them, through long usage, have become celebrated in international trade. One of the most famous was HLOG. This stood for "Heaven's Light Our Guide," and was owned by John O'Donohue's Sons. For many years it was used on Mocha coffee, but it is now out of existence. Other well-known Mocha marks are M R (Maurice Ries) with the figure of a camel, a star, or deer's head between the letters; L F or L B (Livierato Frères); C F or C B (Caracanda Frères).

Bogota marks includes PAL (in triangle) Bogota (P.A. Lopez & Co.); Camelia; Pinzon & Co.; Salazar; AOL (in triangle) Bogota; and Carmencita Manizales Excelso (Steinwender, Stoffregen & Co.).

Among the best known Medellin marks are FAC & H (F.A. Correa & Sons): PEC & C (Pedro Estrado Co.); LMT & C (Louis M. Torro & Co.); A & C (A. Angel & Co.); E C S Medellin Excelso (Eppens, Smith Co.); Balzacbro Medellin Excelso (Balzac Bros.); La Rambla (Banco Lopez); and Don Carlos Medellin Excelso (Steinwender, Stoffregen & Co.).

Caracas marks show J P P & H (Juan Pablo Perez & Sons); HLB & C (H.L. Boulton & Co.); FST & C (Filipe S. Toledo & Co.); JLG (J.L. Garrondona); and many others. Kolster (Kolster & Co.) is a well known Puerto Cabello mark.

Maracaibos bear numerous marks, chief among which are: M & C (Menda & Co.); Cogollo (Cogollo & Co.); Fossi (Fossi & Co.); B M & C (Breur. Moller & Co.); B & C (Blohm & Co.); FST & C (Filipe S. Toledo & Co.); V D R & C (Van Dessel, Rodo & Co.); and J E C & C over R G E (J.E. Carret & Co.).

A prominent Mexican mark is P A N (Rafael del Castillo & Co.).

Brazil coffee is usually marked merely with the initials of the firm or bank financing the shipment. Some representative Brazilian marks are: Aronco (in rectangle) Brazil; J A & Co (in rectangle) Brazil Rosebud; J A & Co (in rectangle) Brazil Bourbona—all used by J. Aron & Company; S S C (in circle) Rio; S S C (in triangle) Santos; both used by Steinwender, Stoffregen & Co.; Sions M/M Bourbns (Sion & Co.); and Nossack V S S C (in swastika), used by Nossack & Co.

There are hundreds of other marks. In most countries they change so often that one rarely stands out above the rest.

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Chapter XXIV

GREEN AND ROASTED COFFEE CHARACTERISTICS

More than a hundred different kinds of coffee are bought and sold in the United States. All of them belong to the same botanical genus, and practically all to the same species, the Coffea arabica; but each has distinguishing characteristics which determine its commercial value in the eyes of the importers, roasters, and distributers.

The American trade deals almost exclusively in Coffea arabica, although in the latter years of the World War increasing quantities of robusta and liberica growths were imported, largely because of the scarcity of Brazilian stocks and the improvement in the preparation methods, especially in the case of robustas. Considerable quantities of robusta grades were sold in the United States before 1912, but trading in them fell off when the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange prohibited their delivery on Exchange contracts after March 1, 1912.

All coffees used in the United States are divided into two general groups, Brazils and Milds. Brazils comprise those coffees grown in São Paulo, Minãs Geraes, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Victoria, and other Brazilian states. The Milds include all coffees grown elsewhere. In 1921 Brazils made up about three-fourths of the world's total consumption. They are regarded by American traders as the "price" coffees, while Milds are considered as the "quality" grades.

Brazil coffees are classified into four great groups, which bear the names of the ports through which they are exported; Santos, Rio, Victoria, and Bahia. Santos coffee is grown principally in the state of São Paulo; Rio, in the state of Rio de Janeiro and the state of Minãs Geraes; Victoria, in the state of Espirito Santo; and Bahia in the state of Bahia. All of these groups are further subdivided according to their bean characteristics and the districts in which they are produced.

Brazil Coffee Characteristics

Santos. Santos coffees, considered as a whole, have the distinction of being the best grown in Brazil. Rios rank next, Victorias coming third in favor, and Bahias fourth. Of the Santos growths the best is that known in the trade as Bourbon, produced by trees grown from Mocha seed (Coffea arabica) brought originally from the French island colony of Bourbon (now Réunion) in the Indian Ocean. The true Bourbon is obtained from the first few crops of Mocha seed. After the third or fourth year of bearing, the fruit gradually changes in form, yielding in the sixth year the flat-shaped beans which are sold under the trade name of Flat Bean Santos. By that time, the coffee has lost most of its Bourbon characteristics. The true Bourbon of the first and second crops is a small bean, and resembles the Mocha, but makes a much handsomer roast with fewer "quakers". The Bourbons grown in the Campinas district often have a red center.

As regards flavor, a good Bourbon Santos is considered the best coffee for its price, and is the most satisfactory low-cost blending coffee to be obtained. It is used with practically any of the high-priced coffees to reduce the cost of the blend. When properly made, this coffee produces a drink that is smooth and palatable, without tang or special character, and is suitable to the average taste. When aged, Bourbon Santos decreases in acidity, and increases somewhat in size of bean.

The Santos coffee described as Flat Bean usually has a smooth surface, varying in size from small to large bean, and in color from a pale yellow to a pale green. The cup has a good and smooth body of neutral character, and the bean can be used straight or in a blend with practically any Mild coffee.

Another Santos growth, known in the trade as Harsh Santos, grows near the boundary between São Paulo and Minãs Geraes. It often has some of the Rio characteristics, and commands a lower price than other Santos coffees.

Some trade authorities are of the opinion that Santos coffees are an exception to the rule that most green coffees improve with age. They argue that careful cup-testing will reveal that a new crop Santos is to be preferred to an old crop.

Rios. Rio coffee is not generally liked in the United States, though in former years it had some following even in the better trade. The demand for all grades of Rios has been decreasing, Santos taking their place in the United States. Rio coffee has a peculiar, rank flavor. It has a heavy, pungent, and harsh taste which traders do not consider of value either in straight coffee or in blends. However, its low price recommends it to some packers, and it is often found in the cheapest brands of package coffees and also in many compounds. In color, the bean runs from light green to dark green; but when it is stored for any length of time—a common practise in the past—the color changes to a golden yellow; and the coffee is then known as golden Rio. The bean also expands with age.

All Rio coffee is described by the name Rio; but the American trade recognizes eight different grades, designated by numerals from one to eight. These grades are determined by standards adopted by the New York Coffee and Sugar Exchange, and are classified by the number of imperfections found in the chops exported. No. 1 Rio contains no imperfections, such as black beans, shells, stones, broken beans, pods or immature beans ("quakers"). Such a chop is rarely found. No. 2 has six imperfections. No. 3 has thirteen. No. 4 has twenty-nine, No. 5 has sixty, No. 6 has one hundred and ten, No. 7 has two hundred, and No. 8 has about four hundred, although on the Exchange these last two are graded by standard types.

Victorias. Up to about the year 1917, Victoria coffees were held in even less favor by American traders than were Rios. As a rule the bean was large and punky, of a dark brown or dingy color, and its flavor was described as muddy. Then, the coffee growers began to introduce modern machinery for handling the crops, with the result that the character of the produce has been much improved, and the demand for it has been steadily growing. Many roasters who formerly used Rios straight for their lower grades, have changed to Victorias, not only to improve the appearance of the roast, but to soften the harsh drinking qualities of the low-grade Rios.

Bahias. Until recent years Bahia coffee has been decidedly unpopular in the United States, largely because of its peculiar smoky flavor, due to drying the coffee by means of wood fires, instead of by the usual sun method. This practise has been abandoned; Bahia coffee has shown a marked improvement in quality; and importations into the United States have increased. The Bahia coffee produced in the Chapada district is considered to be the best of the group. The bean is light-colored and of fair size. Other types are Caravella and Nazareth, both of which are below the standards demanded by the majority of the American trade.

Maragogipe. This is a variety of Coffea arabica first observed growing near the town of Maragogipe on All Saints Bay, county of Maragogipe, Bahia, Brazil, where it is called Coffea indigena. The green bean is of huge size, and varies in color from green to dingy brown. It is the largest of all coffee beans, and makes an elephantine roast, free from quakers, but woody and generally disagreeable in the cup. However, Dr. P.J.S. Cramer of the Netherlands government's experimental garden in Bangelan, Java, regards it very highly, referring to it as "the finest coffee known", and as having "a highly developed, splendid flavor." This coffee is now found in practically all the producing countries, and shows the characteristics of the other coffees produced in the same soil.

The Characteristics of Mild Coffees

Among the Mild coffees there is a much greater variation in characteristics than is found among the Brazilian growths. This is due to the differences in climate, altitude, and soil, as well as in the cultural, processing, storage, and transportation methods employed in the widely separated countries in which Milds are produced.

Mild coffees generally have more body, more acidity, and a much finer aroma than Brazils; and from the standpoint of quality they are far more desirable in the cup. As a rule they have also better appearance, or "style", both in the green and in the roast, due to the fact that greater care is exercised in picking and preparing the higher grades. Milds are important for blending purposes, most of them possessing distinctive individual characteristics, which increase their value as blending coffees.

Not All Coffees Improve with Age

Although it has long been held that green coffee improves with age, and there is little doubt that this is true in so far as roasting merits are concerned; the question has been raised among coffee experts as to whether age improves the drinking qualities of all coffees alike.

Rio coffees should improve with age, as they are naturally strong and earthy. Age might be expected to soften and to mellow them and others having like characteristics. If, however, the coffee is mild in cup quality in the first instance, then it may be asked if age does not weaken it so that in time it must become quite insipid. Several years ago, a New York coffee expert pointed out that this was what happened to Santos coffees. The new crop, he said, was always a more pleasant and enjoyable drink than the old crop, because it was a more pronounced mild coffee in the cup.

Mexicans. Considering those coffees grown nearest the American market first, we come to the coffees of Mexico. All coffees grown in this republic are known as Mexicans. They are further divided according to the states and districts in which they are produced, and as to whether they are prepared according to the wet or the dry method. The types best known in the American market are Coatepec, Huatusco, Orizaba, Cordoba, Oaxaca, and Jalapa. The lesser known are the Uruapan, Michoacan, Colima, Chiapas, Triunfo, Tapachula, Sierra, Tabasco, Tampico, and Coatzacoalcos. Some of these are rarely seen in the markets of the United States.

The coffee most cultivated in Mexico is supposed to have come from Mocha seed. Of this species is the Oaxaca coffee, which is valued because of its sharp acidity and excellent flavor, two qualities that make it desirable for blending. The bean of the Sierra Oaxaca (common unwashed) is not large, nor is the appearance stylish. The Pluma Oaxaca (washed) coffee, however, is a fancy bean and good for blending purposes.

Coatepec coffees are among the finest grown in Mexico, and take rank with the world's best grades. They are quite acidy, but have a desirable flavor; and when blended with coffees like Bourbon Santos, make a satisfactory cup.

The Orizaba, Huatusco, and Jalapa growths resemble Coatepecs, of which they are neighbors in the state of Vera Cruz. They are thin in body but are stylish roasters, and have a good cup qualities. As a class they do not possess the heavy body and acidity of genuine Coatepecs. Some Huatuscos are exceptions. Orizaba is superior to Jalapa. Chiapas and Tapachula coffees are generally more like Guatemalan growths than any others produced in Mexico, which is natural in view of the proximity of the districts to the northern boundary of Guatemala. The Sierra, Tampico, Tabasco, and Coatzacoalcos coffees are uncertain in quality; mostly they are low grade, some of them frequently possessing a groundy, flat, or Rioy flavor.

Cordoba coffees lack the acidity and tang of the Oaxacas, but make a handsome roast. They are considered too neutral to form the basis of a blend, but can be used to balance the tang of other grades.

Central Americans. Central American coffee is the general trade name applied to the growths produced in Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, the countries comprising Central America.

Guatemala. This country sends the largest quantity to the United States, and also produces the best average grades of the Central American districts. Guatemalas are mostly washed and are very stylish. The bean has a waxy, bluish color. It splits open when roasting and shows a white center. Low-grown Guatemalas are thin in the cup, but the coffees grown in the mountainous districts of Cobán and Antigua are quite acidy and heavy in body. Some Cobáns border on bitterness because of the extreme acidity. The Antiguas are medium, flinty beans; while Cobáns are larger. Both grades are spicy and aromatic in the cup, and are particularly good blenders. Properly roasted to a light cinnamon color, and blended with a high-grade combination, Cobáns make one of the most serviceable coffees on the American market.

Guatemalas are generally classified as noted in the Complete Reference Table.

Honduras. While the upland coffee of Honduras is of good quality, the general run of the country's production seldom brings as high a price as Santos of equal grade. Nearly all Honduras coffee consists of small, round berries, bluish green in color. Very little of this growth comes to the United States; the bulk of the exports going to Europe, where it commands a high price, especially in France.

Salvador. Salvador coffee is inferior to Guatemala's product, grade for grade. Only a small proportion is washed; and the bulk of the crops is "naturals"; that is, unwashed. The bean is large and of fair average roast. The washed grades are fancy roasters, with very thin cup. The largest part of the production goes to Europe; some twenty-five percent of the exports are brought into the United States through San Francisco.

Nicaragua. The ordinary run of Nicaragua coffee (the naturals) is looked upon in the United States as being of low quality, though the washed coffees from the Matagalpa district have plenty of acid in the cup and usually are fine roasters. Matagalpa beans are large and blue-tinged. Germany, Great Britain, and France take about all the Honduras coffee exported, only about six percent of the total coming to the United States. These coffees are described more in detail in the Complete Reference Table.

Costa Rica. Good grades of Costa Rican coffee, such as are grown in the Cartago, San José, Alajuela, and Grecia districts at high altitudes, are highly esteemed by blenders. They are characterized by their fine flavor, rich body, and sharp acidity. It is frequently declared that some of these coffees are often acidy enough to sour cream if used straight. Due to careless methods of handling, sour or "hidey" beans are sometimes found in chops of Costa Ricans from the lowlands.

Panama. Panama grows coffee only for domestic use, and consequently it is little known in foreign markets. The bean is of average size and tends toward green in color. In the cup it has a heavy body and a strong flavor. The coffee grown in Boquette Valley is considered to be of fine quality, due no doubt to the care given in cultivation by the American and English planters there.

South America

Colombians. Colombia produces some of the world's finest coffees, of which the best known are Medellins, Manizales, Bogotas, Bucaramangas, Tolimas, and Cucutas. Old-crop Colombians of the higher grades, when mellowed with age, have many of the characteristics of the best East Indian coffees, and in style and cup are difficult to distinguish from the Mandhelings and the Ankolas of Sumatra. Such coffees are scarce on the American market, practically all the shipments coming to the United States being new crop and lacking some of the qualities of the mellowed beans. Compared with Santos coffee, good grade Colombians give one-fourth more liquor to a given strength with better flavor and aroma. They are classed and graded as noted in the Complete Reference Table.

Medellins are a fancy mountain-grown coffee, and are esteemed for their good qualities. The beans vary in size, and the color ranges from light to dark green, making a rather rough roast. In the cup they have a fine, rich, distinctive flavor, and in the American grading are regarded as the best of the Colombian commercial growths.

Manizales rank next to Medellins, and have nearly the same characteristics.