Coffee library

Frans Goddijn

It could be helpful for users of this forum to find books (and e-books) about coffee.

In another thread there was mention, for instance of James Hoffman's recent publication:

http://www.jimseven.com/2014/08/06/coming-soon-world-atlas-coffee/

That book, which I held in my hands yesterday, seems very helpful for beginners who find the knowledge scattered over forums and websites a bit overwhelming to start with.

Yesterday evening I read a few chapters of another book:

Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry edited by Robert W. Thurston, Jonathan Morris & Shawn Steiman. I find this book very impressive. It does not tell you how to grind and tamp and extract a cup of coffee and make pretty latte patterns, but it digs deep into many aspects of coffee.

Quoting from the Amazon web page:

Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry offers a definitive guide to the many rich dimensions of the bean and the beverage around the world. Leading experts from business and academia consider coffee’s history, global spread, cultivation, preparation, marketing, and the environmental and social issues surrounding it today. They discuss, for example, the impact of globalization; the many definitions of organic, direct trade, and fair trade; the health of female farmers; the relationships among shade, birds, and coffee; roasting as an art and a science; and where profits are made in the commodity chain. Drawing on interviews and the lives of people working in the business—from pickers and roasters to coffee bar owners and consumers—this book brings a compelling human side to the story.

The authors avoid romanticizing or demonizing any group in the business. They consider basic but widely misunderstood issues such as who adds value to the bean, the constraints of peasant life, and the impact of climate change. Moving beyond simple answers, they represent various participants in the supply chain and a range of opinions about problems and suggested solutions in the industry. Coffee offers a multidimensional examination of a deceptively everyday but extremely complex commodity that remains at the center of many millions of lives. Tracing coffee’s journey from field to cup, this handbook to one of the world’s favorite beverages is an essential guide for professionals, coffee lovers, and students alike.

I bought it as a Kindle e-book so I can read it on my laptop & phone but the hardcover is nice to have around as well.

Maybe others can add their recommendations for other books in this thread. I will add some when I get home.

George Van Wagner

Two favorites of mine have been:

Uncommon Grounds: The HIstory of Coffee and How It Transformed the World by Mark Pendergrast

and

All About Coffee by William Ukers

The latter is a little dated in it's look at the economics of coffee as it was written during the 1920s, but Ukers, who was the editor of the Coffee and Tea Journal, sums up the state of knowledge at the time very well. Interesting from both a sociological and historical viewpoint. It's also available as a free e-book through Project Gutenberg.