Tea.339-*—(No. 550.)
“The Jesuit that came from China, A.D. 1664, told Mr. Waller, that to a drachm of tea they put a pint of water, and[340] frequently take the yelks of two new-laid eggs, and beat them up with as much fine sugar as is sufficient for the tea, and stir all well together. He also informed him, that we let the hot water remain too long soaking upon the tea, which makes it extract into itself the earthy parts of the herb; the water must remain upon it no longer than while you can say the ‘Miserere’ psalm very leisurely; you have then only the spiritual part of the tea, the proportion of which to the water must be about a drachm to a pint.”—Sir Kenelm Digby’s Cookery, London, 1669, page 176.
Obs.—The addition of an egg makes the “Chinese Soup,” a more nutritious and substantial meal for a traveller.
Coffee.340-*
Coffee, as used on the Continent, serves the double purpose of an agreeable tonic, and an exhilarating beverage, without the unpleasant effects of wine.
Coffee, as drunk in England, debilitates the stomach, and produces a slight nausea. In France and in Italy it is made strong from the best coffee, and is poured out hot and transparent.
In England it is usually made from bad coffee, served out tepid and muddy, and drowned in a deluge of water, and sometimes deserves the title given it in “the Petition against Coffee,” 4to. 1674, page 4, “a base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking puddle water.”
To make Coffee fit for use, you must employ the German filter,—pay at least 4s. the pound for it,—and take at least an ounce for two breakfast-cups.
No coffee will bear drinking with what is called milk in London.
London people should either take their coffee pure, or put a couple of tea-spoonfuls of cream to each cup.
N.B. The above is a contribution from an intelligent traveller, who has passed some years on the Continent.