Coffee

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

By: Robert W. Thurston, Jonathan Morris, Shawn Steiman

Narrated by: Dan Kassis

Length: 18 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2013 Robert W. Thurston (P)2014 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“This comprehensive guide to the coffee bean and the beverage itself includes contributions from leading experts in business and academia... By tracing coffee's journey from field to cup, the editor’s work to create a guide for professionals, coffee lovers, and students to help them better understand their favorite beverage.” ( Specialty Coffee Retailer)

“A gift to every coffee lover and scholar: this monumental guidebook takes the reader from seed to cup, with stops in every time and place where coffee is significant. Even coffee fanatics will find many stories and details to savor in this rich and rewarding collection.” (Richard Wilk, Indiana University)

Everything you need to know about coffee

in 18,5 hours I got a crash course on coffee. I am trying to start my own coffee business and need to learn all I can about coffee. I might want to get a hard copy of this book and keep it as a reference for everything from science, agriculture, farming concerns and socioeconomics of coffee.

informative

all chapters written by different people great info and I will reference often. am a coffee roaster and a drinker of specialty coffee

This is the Moby Dick of books on coffee.

Many will say they know the book, but few can claim the prize of reading every page. If you want to KNOW coffee, read this book. The contributions made by so many different writers to complete this work are valuable. The creators of the book prove that coffee is more than a hot, black and sweet substance. The livelihood of many rest in the success of coffee. Thank you authors, editors and publishers for your contribution. Read this book if you take coffee seriously.

Wey detailed

This book definitely went into a level of detail I wasn’t prepared for beforehand but what a pleasant and welcome surprise. The authors were very thorough technically and even pyschosocially when portraying both individuals’ and groups’ experiences.

Good book for coffee nerds...

This book is lengthy, but definitely thorough. Recommended for coffee enthusiasts and coffee nerds :)

Fun Information

While I am glad I listened this is my first experience with a book that would have been better in print taken is small sips on a coffee table.

An extremely interesting book

This book is THOROUGH! But I learned so much from it. I'm most likely going to have to listen to it once again but I really felt I got an in depth look at coffee and how it is viewed, bought, revered, feared and dealt with on a global AND local level. If you have EVER wondered about coffee, this is the book to listen to.

great academic work

this is an amazing academic collection. lots of great information. remember, this is not a story. it is a collection of academic essays.

extremely informative, and interesting

This, as you may have noticed is a VERY long book, as someone just starting to take up an interest in specialty coffee I found it to be really interesting. I learned a lot about the plant that coffee comes from and really gained a new appreciation for the beverage and the industry. you probably won't like this book if youre not an overall curious and detail oriented person. There's a mix of science and history in this book. the book is a few years old so some of the info may no longer be relevant. overall though, definitely worth listening through.

One of the best books about coffee

This book is unusual among books dealing with coffee, because it is a volume with separate articles by diverse authors. It covers a wider range of topics than most books on coffee, and in more detail. I read it over a long period, cover to cover, and got a lot out of it. If you are seriously interested in knowing more about coffee around the world and in the United States, including specialty coffee and the entire process from farm to table, you may find this book worthwhile. As an audiobook, it works well, among other reasons because it is not one of those coffee books where beautiful color pictures are the main attraction. Well read nonfiction for the coffee enthusiast and would-be expert.