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Book Reviews

Book Review: Where the Wild Coffee Grows by Jeff Koehler

July 6, 2018 By Michael 1 Comment

Where the Wild Coffee Grows Almost every specialty coffee lover, whether professional or enthusiast, can remember the cup that changed everything. Coffee is just coffee, until you encounter berries, flowers, and a multitude of other sensory experiences you never expected from your morning cup. Talking with other coffee lovers, I’ve found, more often than not, that life-changing cup came from Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is the motherland of Coffea arabica. The plant is indigenous to the country and it’s still home to 99% of the plants’s genetic diversity. Ethiopia is also home to the oldest coffee culture. While in many places coffee is simply a cash crop, in Ethiopia it’s a central part of life.

Yet, in spite of this, information about Ethiopian coffee is not readily available. You might have a region, the process, a grade, and if you’re lucky, a washing station. Even less information is available about the forests of Kafa, where wild coffee trees still grow.

That was until Jeff Koehler wrote Where the Wild Coffee Grows: the Untold Story of Coffee from the Cloud Forests of Ethiopia to Your Cup. Koehler set out to write a book about the original coffee drinking culture, but he discovered a story that in many ways holds the keys to coffee’s future as well….

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Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: books

Book Review: The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers

May 22, 2018 By Michael Leave a Comment

Dave Eggers has always been connected with specialty coffee in my mind. I purchased my first Eggers’s novel from Quills Coffee and Books on Kentucky St. in Louisville’s Paristown neighborhood. (Due to a bad landlord situation the shop closed. When it reopened on nearby Baxter Avenue, the “and Books” was dropped from everything but legal documents). The book was What is the What, a novel based on the true story of a Sudanese refugee who barely escapes his village being slaughtered by rebels and eventually gets to America, where he encounters hardships of a different kind. To this day, whenever someone mentions Eggers I’m transported back to that small corner café, with Quills’s distinctive red mug and a coffee-stained book.

It turns out the association between Eggers and coffee was misguided but strangely prescient. Eggers latest book, The Monk of Mokha, chronicles the true story of Mokhtar Alkhanshali, the founder of …

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Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Dave Eggers, Mokhtar Alkhanshali, Yemen

Five Things I Learned From Scott Rao’s The Coffee Roaster’s Companion

July 4, 2015 By Michael 17 Comments

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There are few things as humbling as trying to learn how to roast coffee. It might seem simple enough, but it’s a complex skill that very few people have mastered. Thankfully, coffee legend Scott Rao has finally published his magnum opus, The Coffee Roaster’s Companion. The book is the culmination of over 20 years of coffee roasting experience. Don’t be misled by the slim profile, the content is dense enough to engage a seasoned professional while the style is approachable enough for hobbyists. Over the last 9 months, I’ve read and re-read this book. Sometimes with eager curiosity, other times with frustrated desperation. The book is nicely balanced between technical theory and practical advice. Years ago, Rao’s The Professional Barista’s Handbook was formative for my  barista career.  The Coffee Roaster’s Companion has already proved to be as influential.

Coffee Roaster's Companion

Unequivocally, if you have any interest in roasting your own coffee, you should buy this book. You may not agree with everything Rao has to say, but you will find your own opinions sharpened and informed by Rao’s careful thinking. Here are the top five things I learned from Scott Rao about coffee roasting….

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Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Coffee Roasting, Scott Rao

James Hoffmann Announces World Atlas of Coffee

August 6, 2014 By Michael Leave a Comment

World Atlas of Coffee HoffmannAt The Compass we have a simple approach to coffee: do whatever James Hoffmann says. Thankfully, that’s about to get a lot easier now. Today on his blog Hoffmann announced he’s publishing his first book, The World Atlas of Coffee. Considering the burgeoning growth of specialty coffee, there’s a surprising dearth of reliable books on coffee. With Hoffmann’s new book, we’re optimistic we’ve finally found a single authoritative tome on coffee. Hoffmann comments,

The book isn’t about me, or about Square Mile Coffee, but just about coffee. The book is divided into three sections: an introduction to coffee in general, a section on brewing techniques (aimed at making professional standards accessible and worthwhile to home users) and then the atlas section, with individual countries divided by continent.

We already pre-ordered our copy, and we intend to read every word. If you find yourself unable to wait until October, you can check out our list of 3 Coffee Books Every Barista Should Read .

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: books, James Hoffmann

3 Coffee Books Every Barista Needs to Read

October 21, 2013 By Michael 7 Comments

Although baristas at craft coffee shops tend to be inordinately educated for a service industry job, last time we checked there’s no Coffee Preparation and Extraction Theory major at your local state university. Which means if you want to be a competent barista or home brewer, you need to do your own research. Lucky for you, we’ve compiled a list of coffee books to supplement your coffee education.

Espresso Extraction: Measurement and Mastery 

Scott Rao

Coffee books Scott RaoScott Rao’s latest book builds on the foundation laid in his classic books The Professional Barista’s Handbook and Everything But Espresso. Whether it be extraction percentages, pressure profiling, or portafilter design, Rao leaves no stone unturned in this concise but weighty volume. Perhaps James Hoffmann’s endorsement says it best….

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Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Danny Meyer, Espresso Extraction, God in a Cup, Michaele Weissman, Scott Rao, Setting the Table

Book Review: Coffee Encounters

August 8, 2013 By Michael Leave a Comment

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Every barista dreams of making a pilgrimage to origin, to retrace the journey from seed to cup. For those of us who have yet to have the opportunity to visit a coffee farm, a new book, Coffee Encounters: Adventures to Origin by Jonette George and Tyson Hunter offers an intimate look at …

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Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Australia, Coffee Encounters, Matt Perger, Proud Mary, St. Ali, WBC

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