The custom of adding cream or milk to tea and coffee doubtless originated in ignorance or bad brewing. The coffee-drinking nations and the tea-drinkers of the East do not know this custom. The Russians put in their tea a slice of lemon.

If the tea or coffee be good, the addition of milk spoils the taste. Furthermore, the tannic acid which is contained both in tea and in coffee changes the nature of the albuminous part of milk, and, so to speak, tans the globules of the milk, and renders them indigestible. Coffee and milk and tea and milk are difficult to digest. Pure cream is less objectionable, because pure cream is really butter or grease, and contains very little of the albuminous part of milk.

Tea and coffee both excite the nerves. Coffee acts more on the nerve-centre or brain; tea excites the peripteral nerves. Coffee, therefore, produces brain excitement, while tea provokes rather muscular excitement.

There are many ways of making coffee to suit the tastes of various nations. The English like a mixture of chicory and coffee, and also brew a horrible black liquid with artificial essence of coffee. In America some beat up an egg in the coffee to make it thick and rich. Various systems of filters and distillers have also been invented. But, after all, the simplest methods are the best. In order to make fine black coffee, you need first of all excellent berries, or a mixture of berries of different plantations. These berries ought to be freshly roasted and freshly ground, and put into the filter with all their aroma. The best filter is of earthenware, in two pieces, a pot with a spout surmounted by a perforated filter, in which the ground coffee is placed, and into which the boiling water is poured. Care should be taken not to have the coffee-berries too finely ground; otherwise the filter will become obstructed, and the coffee get cold by the time it is ready to drink. In order to preserve all the aroma, it is better to grind the coffee and put it into the filter when the water has reached a boiling-point. Then begin by pouring the water into the filter slowly, and only a little quantity at a time. Do not make the fatal mistake of filling up the filter and waiting until the water has passed through before you add any more; in this case you will have not only cold coffee, but poor coffee. As soon as you have poured the first small quantity into the filter, replace the water over the fire, and always have it at boiling-point when you pour it into the filter; thus, by gradually pouring a very small amount of boiling water at a time, it will pass through the ground coffee just quickly enough to extract all the strength and preserve all its heat. There are persons who first filter the coffee-grounds left over from the previous meal, and then pass this liquid, after bringing it to a boiling-point, over the freshly ground berries; but this method is not to be recommended, as it produces a strong, muddy mixture, without aroma. If you are a lover of very strong coffee, the best way to obtain it is to increase the amount of ground berries in the filter. For making moderately strong black coffee, a tablespoonful of ground coffee per cup is sufficient.

The only other way of making coffee worthy of our notice is that employed by the Turks. Byron's friend Trelawney has described the process in his "Adventures of a Younger Son," where he says that good Mussulmans can alone make good coffee ; for, being interdicted from the use of ardent spirits, their palate is more exquisite and their relish greater. "Thus it is," writes Trelawney. "A bright charcoal fire was burning in a small stove. Kamalia first took for four persons four handfuls of the small, pale Mocha berry, little bigger than barley. These had been carefully picked and cleaned. She put them into an iron vessel, where, with admirable quickness and dexterity, they were roasted till their color was somewhat darkened and the moisture not exhaled. The over-roasted ones were picked out, and the remainder, while very hot, put into a large wooden mortar, where they were instantly pounded by another woman. This done, Kamalia passed the powder through a cam-el's-hair cloth, and then repassed it through a finer cloth. Meanwhile a coffee-pot, containing exactly four cups of water, was boiling. This was taken off, one cup of water poured out, and three cups full of the powder, after she had ascertained its impalpability between her finger and thumb, were stirred in with a stick of cinnamon. When replaced on the fire, on the point of over-boiling it was taken off, the heel of the pot struck against the hob, and again put on the fire; this was repeated five or six times. I forgot to mention she added a very minute piece of mace, not enough to make its flavor distinguishable; and that the coffee-pot must be of tin, and uncovered, or it cannot form a thick cream on the surface, which it ought to do. After it was taken for the last time from the fire the cup of water which had been poured from it was returned. It was then carried into the room, without being disturbed, and instantly poured into the cups, where it retained its rich cream at the top. Thus made its fragrance filled the room, and nothing could be more delicious to the palate. So far from its being a long and tedious process, as it may appear in narrating, old Kamalia allowed herself only two minutes for each person; so that from the time of her leaving the 9 room to her return no more than eight minutes had elapsed."

For making coffee in the Turkish fashion the berries require to be ground to a very fine powder. The Turks have small hand-mills for private use, but in the cafes the berries are crushed in big iron mortars with long pestles, whose ringing sound is one of the characteristic noises of the streets of Stam-boul. Turkish mills and the dainty little tin pans containing one, two, three, or four cups are now easily obtainable in Western shops, and, with the aid of a spirit-lamp, Turkish coffee may be prepared on the table more expeditiously and with less trouble than black coffee made by the Western filter system. The refinements mentioned by Trelawney of stirring the coffee with a cinnamon-stick, and of adding a minute piece of mace, are not very commendable. The ideal in making tea and coffee, as in all delicate cookery, is to develop the taste peculiar to each article of food or drink. If the flavor of the coffee is fine in itself, it will not gain anything by the added suggestion of a spicy flavor.

Black coffee needs to be served piping hot, and the cups and even the spoons should be heated before the coffee is poured out. Nothing is more saddening after dinner than tepid coffee.

For sweetening both tea and coffee loaf-sugar is to be used. There is no objection against powdered sugar, provided it be free from adulteration. For sweetening cold coffee, which is sometimes a grateful beverage in hot weather, syrup of gum is more convenient than any form of sugar.

Finally, whatever method you employ to make your tea or coffee, start with good materials, manipulate them delicately and with care in every detail.