Posted Sun Nov 4, 2012, 7:21pm Subject: Re: Egg shells for a smoother cup
I have a collection of over 180 books on the Civil War, and have read most of them (some are reference materials). I have never read about the soldiers being supplied with green coffee. There was mention of them preferring whole-bean because the preground was often "cut" for more profit to the suppliers. They would grind the whole beans, mix it with their sugar allowance and carry it in a small pouch. When they had a break on teh march they would boil water by the side of the road, often in a pan made from a canteen half (heated over a fire, the canteen's solder would melt making separating the halves easy). It was so common of an occurrence that the Southern soldiers referred to the Yankees as "coffee boilers."
Posted Mon Nov 5, 2012, 9:36am Subject: Re: Egg shells for a smoother cup
frcn Said:
I have a collection of over 180 books on the Civil War, and have read most of them (some are reference materials). I have never read about the soldiers being supplied with green coffee. There was mention of them preferring whole-bean because the preground was often "cut" for more profit to the suppliers. They would grind the whole beans, mix it with their sugar allowance and carry it in a small pouch. When they had a break on teh march they would boil water by the side of the road, often in a pan made from a canteen half (heated over a fire, the canteen's solder would melt making separating the halves easy). It was so common of an occurrence that the Southern soldiers referred to the Yankees as "coffee boilers."
The first time I recall this was before my coffee hobby obsession. I was told this by a few Civil War reenactors many years ago during a reenactment - along with a demonstration of them burning (yep - burning. They called it "roasting") green coffee in a frying pan over a fire. Then, they proceeded to grind and boil it in a tin pot - like you said - with sugar.
I was maybe 15 or 16 years old - and remember thinking "I'm NEVER going to roast my own coffee..." especially after tasting it. LOL
According to the reenactors, the soldiers were allotted some XXlbs of green coffee per man, which was pooled and which the company cook would typically roast, grind, and apportion with sugar for the soldiers supply upcoming marches, maneuvers or missions. Apparently the union had also a failed attempt at making "instant" coffee - so I don't doubt that there was deliberate attempts to eliminate the time required to roast coffee.
I thought I poked around enough on the internet to figure there was some truth to this. Big batch roasters had a hard time getting up to speed in the mid 1800's, because the majority of households oven-roasted their own green coffee. Pretty sure I read that in Ukers' book. IIRC, commercial roasting and the purchase of roasted coffee didn't really begin to replace green coffee until well after the civil war.
I defer to your research, though. Sounds like you have a lot more knowledge with the Civil War than I ever will...
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KLIX Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2012 Posts: 16 Location: Basingstoke, UK Expertise: Professional
Posted Tue Nov 6, 2012, 3:11am Subject: Re: Egg shells for a smoother cup
Just a little tip, if you bake the egg shells first for 10 minutes they dry out and become more brittle. It reduces the taste and makes them easier to crush into finer pieces... Just thought I'd share that!
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,683 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Tue Nov 6, 2012, 6:56am Subject: Re: Egg shells for a smoother cup
Coffee was an important part of the rations. There were even some rifles that had coffee grinders in the buttstock, they are not common and are sought after and I don't think the grinder was a very high quality one but it had to be better than crushing the beans between a rock and the butt of the rifle.
I have had a lot of cowboy coffee and for the people I hang with that make it this way at blacksmithing and western gatherings, the egg shells were not alone, whole eggs were stirred into the coffee (broken and mixed) to settle and trap the grounds in the bottom of the pot, for these people the main purpose was to get a cleaner cup but then......... YMMV!
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
yakster Senior Member Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 1,006 Location: San Jose, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Factory / La Peppina... Grinder: Vario / Kyocera Vac Pot: Yama 8 + Pyrex Lox-in Rod Drip: Brazen / Kalita / Chemex /... Roaster: Behmor
Posted Tue Nov 6, 2012, 12:12pm Subject: Re: Egg shells for a smoother cup
I remember a post by a civil war reenactor who mentioned that they cool their roasted coffee with muslin to be more historically accurate. Being a home roaster and occasional campfire roaster, I was interested in the coffee roasting part but can't vouch for any of the historical accuracy. History was one of my worst subjects in school.
Posted Tue Nov 6, 2012, 4:50pm Subject: Re: Egg shells for a smoother cup
calblacksmith Said:
Coffee was an important part of the rations. There were even some rifles that had coffee grinders in the buttstock, they are not common and are sought after and I don't think the grinder was a very high quality one but it had to be better than crushing the beans between a rock and the butt of the rifle.
I have had a lot of cowboy coffee and for the people I hang with that make it this way at blacksmithing and western gatherings, the egg shells were not alone, whole eggs were stirred into the coffee (broken and mixed) to settle and trap the grounds in the bottom of the pot, for these people the main purpose was to get a cleaner cup but then......... YMMV!
My mom claims that the shells themselves helped the grounds precipitate out. She tells me that when she was a girl (in the 40s) her folks would just put a pot of water on the burner with some coffee grounds thrown in. After a few minutes they'd throw eggshells in to get the grounds to settle and then pour themselves a cup. When the inevitable company would come by, they'd just add more water and more coffee, and throw more eggshells in.
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,683 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Wed Nov 7, 2012, 7:17am Subject: Re: Egg shells for a smoother cup
There are lots of ways to skin a cat and the same is true for this method of "brewing" Do what works for you, try other things and in the end, stick to what works, that is all that counts anyway.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
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