Great deal of work for a morning cup — San Antonio Light, 26 Aug 1923

Multi-part San Antonio Light explainer on 26 August 1923 (page 63): from blossom to parchment to roasting, with explicit tie-in to the H. and H. head roaster and “Great Care Taken in Roasting.” Same hosted page image as other page 63 1923-08-26 Light crops.

Transcription

Ripe Beans and Blossoms on Same Tree

The blossoms of the coffee trees are white and exceptionally fragrant and continue right along with the fruiting, which continues about nine months of each year. The fruit on the trees being in all different stages of development at the same time—green, etc.

Looks Like Cranberries

The fruit on the tree is very similar in appearance to our cranberry, although it is a little larger and a little darker in color. Each of these berries contains two seeds, or coffee beans, with their flat sides together wrapped in a film of silky substance. Outside of this film is a heavier wrapping, which is coated with a sort of gluey substance, and outside of that, next to the skin, is a pulpy fruit. All of this has to be removed before the coffee is ready for the market.

[Processing continues: fermentation, washing, parchment, drying, warehouse, preparation for the roaster.]

Great Deal of Work for Morning Cup

Years ago, before the world took strides in modern methods, the whole berry was dried in the sun, which caused the outer part of the berry to become hard, after which it was removed by a pounding process. However, this method was later abandoned and the method now used most largely is a process by which the freshly picked berries are put through a pulping machine, into which they are carried by a stream of fresh water. [Text continues; clip ends mid-sentence in the view.]

Great Care Taken in Roasting

The roasting process is of the very utmost importance. To the average roaster it means very little, but if you should talk to the head roaster of the H. and H. company you would find that the art of roasting is a science. Coffees contain a certain percentage of water. This must be taken into consideration by the head roaster. He must be able to decide the percentage of water contained in each roast placed in the roaster and roast accordingly—either by full heat at the start or by gradually heating the coffee to a point where all the water has been evaporated.

Roasting Process Must Be Seen

To try and explain all the different intricacies of the roasting process would be impossible here, but the above will give you a general idea of what is necessary.

This page also includes the “Cleaned six or seven times” callout; see the companion clip in this archive.

Source

• Newspaper: San Antonio Light (San Antonio, Texas) — 26 August 1923 — page 63
• Same hosted page image as other 1923-08-26 San Antonio Light page 63 crops — Newspapers.com (accessed 27 April 2026)
• Local PDF: 1923-08-26-san-antonio-light-great-deal-of-work-for-morning-cup.pdf