Coffee: A Comprehensive Guide to the Bean, the Beverage, and the Industry

by Robert W. Thurston, Jonathan Morris (Editor), Shawn Steiman (Editor)

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Business, History

428 pages, Hardcover

First published March 16, 2013

Reviews

[Sicofonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggests, this is truly a comprehensive guide on the coffee industry. I have to say that I was left very impressed by this work. It's mostly a collection of essays and articles that have been published over the years by people who belong to the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Some chapters have even been written ex profeso for the book, in an attempt to fill the gaps. However, the disparity of authors affects the cohesiveness of the content.
One example that comes to mind is the chapter dedicated to producing countries. Each country is depicted by a different author, and these chapters are just a compilation of previous essays published in different magazines. Some people focused on the current state of affairs, whereas other highlighted the quality and variety of beans of the country they had to talk about.
This fact does not take away from the end result. This is a solid book, with good references, written by people who are knowledgeable about coffee and there's ton of things to learn about it.
Not so much for coffee connosseurs as for the regular Joe willing to learn more about the inner workings of everything related to coffee.

[Ziyad Khesbak · Rating 3 out of 5]

With some brief allowances for technical aspects of coffee, focuses primarily on the history, culture, and social issues surrounding coffee.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surely a must have book for every coffeeperson, lover, enthusiast!

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like coffee a lot. Unlike most of my other passions, my interest in coffee has only grown over time. While the internet is a great resource, it's also a bit schizophrenic. Naturally, I turn to books.

In delving into coffee literature, I wanted a single book that would maximally cover all of the topics and subtopics of coffee, e.g., cultivation, processing, history, taste science, etc. This book was my best hope. It has thus far delivered. The essays are varied, well-researched (works cited in the back), written by experts, and acknowledging of shortcomings (for example, in essay 48, "Why Does Coffee Taste That Way" by Shawn Steiman, he readily acknowledges that no one yet knows, explains the challenges in this task, and establishes the current framework of knowledge).

On the whole, this is an excellent reference for anyone looking for a deeper knowledge of all aspects of the industry. It does not investigate any topic exhaustively, but rather provides an efficient overview -- a jumping off point.

Note that I've not technically read this cover-to-cover, as I have with all other books in my library. It's a reference book and I will treat it as such.

[John Stinebaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok book that serves as nice guide to complex industry information. Not a must read but a good investment for aficionados.

[Erick · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's some good information in this book, but boy howdy...you best be ready for the dry sections, because there are a few Sahara sized patches.

[Lloyd Downey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This looked like being the ultimate reference book on coffee. And, as a consumer of coffee, I'm mildly interested in finding out more about it. When I started reading it, I realised that two of the main editors were historians and, whilst this does not disqualig=fy them from writing about coffee, it does not mean that they are experts. In fact, in the introduction they admit to writing several sections of the book where they could not identify an expert to write the section ....."And learning a lot about the subject while they were doing the writing". Well, OK, I guess this happens but it also made me a bit wary about the accuracy and authority of the book.
As I got into it, I was disappointed at the depth of coverage. For example, in a section with some commentary about Robusta vs Arabica coffee, it's mentioned that Cafea arabica has 4 sets of chromosomes but we are given no more detail. I would really have liked to have known that the reason it has 4 sets (44 Chromosomes and is a tetraploid) is because it is actually a natural hybrid between Robusta (Cafea canephora) and Cafe eugenioides. It's this lack of depth that is my main concern about the book.
The three main authors have assembled a really wide cross section of writers and experts from across the coffee trade spectrum, From academics and researchers, to people involved in marketing and quality control, growers and managers of coffee shops. Generally, I think that is a good thing. But rarely did I find myself happy with the quality of the articles. Generally, they seemed a bit too superficial for a book like this. Maybe it was because each of the articles was fairly short and some of the longer articles were better in this respect. For example the article "The Espresso Menu: An International History", was longer and more in depth. Though even here I was disappointed in the fact that there was virtually no mention of the coffee culture in Australia. I live in an inner suburb of Sydney and Starbucks opened a branch in a prime location but quickly closed down because (as explained by the Starbucks head in Australia) they hadn't appreciated the sophisticated coffee culture in Australia. They were just not getting customers whilst the cafes nearby were doing a roaring trade.
Clearly the whole book is very focused on the American Market. Yes there are a few articles about the Italian coffee scene but I think European consumers will also be disappointed by the coverage from a European perspective.
Did I learn a lot. Well yes. I think I did learn quite a lot so i shouldn't be too negative about the book. The I was coming from a position of very little knowledge. Though I have tasted the most expensive coffee in the world: Kopi luwak ........ (after it's passed its way through the digestive system of the civet cat).Though I think I prefer the soy latte at my local coffee shop.
I was also interested to realise that my preference for having milk with my coffee makes a mockery of all the quality assessments. Obviously, a true aficionado will have their coffee black and unsullied by milk.
I also liked the section giving the breakdown of the costs of delivering a cup of coffee to the consumer in a developed country. Significant mark ups at every stage. And, of course the usual comparison is th the grower gets a very modest price (say $US 0.50 per pound) whilst the consumer is paying $3 for a cup (these days in Sydney it's more like $AUD 5.50 a cup). But when you look at the reason for all the mark ups, they all seem reasonable and justified. I'm reminded of the same complaint that was being made about tomatoes when i lived in a tomato growing area. and the Chief of the Research Station where I worked made the (accurate) observation that you could give the tomatoes away at the farm gate and it would have negligible impact on the final price. Even if you get involved in direct trade, you still have most of the same steps involved in getting the beans from the tree to the cup of coffee in a far country.
Overall, I thought the book was ok but not great......and it could have been great. (maybe needed colour and better quality photos. but certainly needed a bit more depth and interesting detail. Three stars from me.

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent, but in my opinion much too brief, coverage of coffee's ecological impacts, re: forest conversion, surrounding forests, animal and plant communities within coffee plantations, and so on. Must instead glean info from, e.g., producer chapters, such as Indian coffee plantations having a wide mix of other crops within them. Also rather out of date, still strongly impacted by the 2008 recession and missing the continued explosive growth in coffee culture and the many studies on ecological impacts that have appeared in the last decade.

Still, worthwhile overall, and much better than the abridged version by the same author, which is missing many of the most important parts of this.

[Allisonperkel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts of this book were awesome: Section 3 on history and parts of section 4 and 5. Much of section 1 and 2 read life adverts for various groups. The writing is also hit or miss in some of the essays which may be why some essays felt more like adverts.

This book is comprehensive and if you really want to know more about coffee this should be higher on your list - especially if you are willing to slog through some of the writing styles on display.

[Rachel Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read somewhere that this was the 'Moby Dick' of coffee, and it certainly was lengthy. It is a collection of journal articles and essay that cover the entire spectrum of coffee -- its history, impact on culture, changes over time, relationships, coffee houses, role in different cultures, methods on brewing, all the way to how to brew a good cup of coffee.

Because it is a collection fo essays, the chapters felt complete and interesting on their own.

I do recommend it! I learned a ton!

[Matt Veilleux · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to read this, but it was a huge letdown. The first 3/4 of the book was essays about perceived social issues in the coffee industry i.e. global warming, women's pay. It was very dull. The final 1/4 actually had some interesting stories about coffee history and brewing methods. But that was the only redeeming factor.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great repository of information around coffee production and industry, but way too detailed to be treated as a a straight read even for non-casual readers. An excellent academic reference text, or a scary warning tale for those tempted to get into the coffee business.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very like a text book. A must read for one looking to further their coffee education.

[Grant McMeekin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very comprehensive.

[Carmelle Racine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful 👏 Definitely a book I would refer back to in my little coffee journey.

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been great. However, a number of things kept me from being able to recommend it at all. First, the print was entirely too small. It's aesthetic detail but it's pretty important. Second, any logical organization was completely missing from what I've discovered later was a series of essays on the coffee topic. The title states that it's a guide and know where mentions that it's forms of over 50 different essays. That was a big turn off. Back to the organization, the author/editor chose to start the book with a series of essays all about the injustice/ill-treatment up for workers. He then ends the book with a section on history and how coffee is roasted. Not only is that a logical but by the time the raise their reaches that point they are probably turned off of the topic in general. I know I was. Want those history essays were better it was not enough to make up for everything that's already been mentioned. I don't recommend this book and hope that there are better books about coffee in the world.

[Mills College Library]

338.47663 C674 2013