Coffee books. The best?

[campbell Member Find all posts View Profile Close campbell]

Ive done a search and I couldnt find a thread, so forgive me if this has indeed been done to death before.

Just wondering what coffee books people have most enjoyed? Im thinking "coffee journey" books as much as the technicalities of coffee books ... if that makes sense.

Are there any good coffee reads out there?

cheers!

cm

[Blue_House Member Find all posts View Profile Close Blue_House]

Re: Coffee books. The best?

I have found The Professional Baristas Handbook by Scott Rau to be very helpful.  Lots of percolation science and extensive, if quirky, discussion of milk texturing.

[Bullitt Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bullitt]

Re: Coffee books. The best?

Suggest you have a look in the "other stuff" section or Green or Brown Bay, where you will find a couple of excellent offerings.

[campbell Member Find all posts View Profile Close campbell]

Re: Coffee books. The best?

Thanks Bullitt. Im aware of what is for sale - more interested in what coffee books coffee lovers have enjoyed reading.

cm

[nick_stevens Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close nick_stevens]

Re: Coffee books. The best?


Im almost finnished Java Trekker, a great insight to the farmers side of coffee trading and well written.
The Espresso Quest is also a very good lots of cool photos too

[madpierre06 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close madpierre06]

Re: Coffee books. The best?

"God in a Cup"...story of wild men of specialty coffee out there tracking down the next big thing, developing relationships with growers in the wild areas of some of the producing countries. An enjoyable read.

[Big_Steve Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Big_Steve]

Re: Coffee books. The best?

My library is full of coffee books (amongst some philosophy  : ) some of my favs to date:-

Home Coffee Roasting - Romance and Revival
God in a cup (really easy to read)
Black Gold
Uncommon Grounds
And...
Walking the Tightrope of Reason: The Precarious Life of a Rational Animal <- OPPS!! how did that get in there  :P

[campbell Member Find all posts View Profile Close campbell]

Re: Coffee books. The best?


Excellent. Thanks for the suggestions.

God in a Cup - is that the one by Michaele Weissman?

cm

[luca Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close luca]

Re: Coffee books. The best?

Hi,

I posted a roundup of some books that I read here: http://pourquality.blogspot.com/2008/12/books-books-and-books.html That post included some criticisms of Scott Raos book, to which Scott responded.

If you read one book on coffee, make it God in a Cup. I think that it is by far the best written and most enjoyable book on coffee. Weissman brings the ethics of an old-school journalist to the book, most of which is based on first-hand observation.

In addition to the above ...

If you want a really comprehensive, agronomy-focussed book, get your hands on the latest version of Wintgens. Its dense, but not bad.

George Howells article "The Long Road To Coffee Quality" is well worth a look. I would pay more for that than I would pay for most books on coffee.

Ukers "All About Coffee" is apparently now out of copyright, and worth skimming through.

... and thats just for starters.

Cheers,
Luca

[codlocks Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close codlocks]

Re: Coffee books. The best?

"All About Coffee" by William Ukers is available as a free download from Project Gutenberg. The link should work or from the Projects main page you go to "The Online Catalog" then to "Top 100 Books and Authors" and yesterday it was at number 14. Download times are pretty good. It was published in 1922 and has some very nice botanical drawings of the plant and bean etc. Also plenty of great photos of old coffee houses, estates and equipment etc. Worth browsing over a morning cuppa or downloading as a reference book.

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/28500