Cool Beans: 7 Books About Coffee to Help You Get Your Buzz On
My partner and I have six different coffee-making contraptions in our home. Six! Granted, we only use three of them on the regular, but if we suddenly have 50 people storm our old farmhouse demanding coffee, we’ve got them covered, and if somehow, someday, someway, just one of us wants to have a single cup of coffee, we’re covered there too. We love coffee and coffee contraptions, is what I’m trying to tell you.
We got books and we got coffee. Cats too. Lots and lots of cats.
Either you do too or you had a hand spasm and accidentally clicked on this article so either way, here you go, here are seven books about coffee to check out if you want to know more about your morning cuppa.
1. Life is Espresso by Katsu Tanaka
Katsu Tanaka, one of the most famous international coffee experts in the world, brings us a book as informative as it is lovely. It can be a bit challenging to get your hands on a copy, but for those who want to understand coffee from a global perspective, it’s a must-have.
2. The Infinite Emotions of Coffee by Alon Y. Halevy
Travel the world with author Alon Y. Halevy, a computer scientist who visits dozens of countries to learn about the various practices of preparing, consuming, and growing coffee, as well as the coffee history and culture that’s unique to various regions.
3. The Birth of Coffee by Linda Rice Lorenzetti and Daniel Lorenzetti
It’s hard to say what’s more captivating about The Birth of Coffee by wife and husband duo Linda Rice Lorenzetti and Daniel Lorenzetti: The pictures he snaps or the stories she tells, both of which cover coffee growers, producers, sellers, and consumers. At times funny, at times touching, but always fascinating, the black and white photos add a depth that would seem cliché if it didn’t work so well.
4. Coffee Flavor Chemistry by Ivon Flament
$300+ for a book about coffee? Yep, if that book is Coffee Flavor Chemistry by Ivon Flament. More a textbook than casual reading, this is the book for those serious about educating themselves on the chemistry behind brewing the perfect cup of joe.
5. The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee by Caitlin Freeman, Tara Duggan, and James Freeman.
If you don’t have three bills to throw down on a book about making coffee, The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee makes a good (and more affordable) substitute. Essentially an encyclopedia of the craft of coffee, there are also a wealth of recipes that can make a coffee-brewing expert out of most anyone.
6. Uncommon Grounds by Mark Pendergrast
As we’ve recently covered at length here at Book Riot, everything is political – including coffee. To learn more about how your brewing habits affect foreign policy, check out Uncommon Grounds by Mark Pendergrast.
7. Coffee: A Dark History by Antony Wild
For further reading on the politics of coffee, I’d recommend Coffee: A Dark History by Antony Wild, which deals with the economics, ethics, and a whole bunch of other factors that affect the future and present world of coffee growing and consumption.
There you go – the best books about coffee. Before you know it you’ll be off in that brave new world, annoying everyone around you with pretentious facts about coffee and journaling about every cup of coffee you drink – or at least the next 33 Cups of Coffee.
What are your favorite books about coffee? And, want even more coffee and books? We got you.
