Reading is good.
I had a profesor in college (Lorainne Wild) who said once that you should read everything you can get your hands on… Well, here is a starting point. I’ll add things as I come across them.
William Uker’s: All About Coffee (70.2 meg)
Written in the 60’s, some of the information (particurally about origin characteristics) are a little out of touch with current perceptions, but none the les, it is still one of the best sources of information about coffee available - even if some of the information is a bit historical. The link is to a pdf of scans of the book, which sort of makes sense cause the copy I have is a bound facsimile from a printing. I can’t remember where I got this pdf from, but thanks goes to whoever made it. (If this came from you and you would like me to take it down, let me know.
ANACAFE: The History of Coffee in Guatemala
A beautiful and very informative book about coffee’s spread throughout Guatemala. Large beautiful photos - including some from farms you may know like El Injerto.
Francisco Illy: The Book of Coffee
A beautiful and very informative book about coffee’s spread throughout Guatemala. Large beautiful photos - including some from farms you may know like El Injerto.
Francisco Illy & Viano: Espresso Coffee: The Science of Quality
The Defacto resource for coffee science
Mark Pendergrast: Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How it Transformed theWorld
A pretty comprehensive history of coffee from as early as anyone knows to roughly late 1980’s. A very good and interesting read that covers the industry, especially the early years of coffee in the US and how corporate coffee developed into what it is today…
Harry Rolnick: Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and how it Transformed the World
David E. Lilienthalk: Brown Gold: The Amazing Story of Coffee
“Coffee… how and where it is grown, harvested and prepared for your consumption… its role in world commerce and finance… with many unusual recipes for coffee ___ and drinks that you can easily prepare in your own home.”
Andres Uribe C.: Brown Gold: The Amazing Story of Coffee
“Coffee… how and where it is grown, harvested and prepared for your consumption… its role in world commerce and finance… with many unusual recipes for coffee ___ and drinks that you can easily prepare in your own home.”
Kenneth Davids: Home Coffee Roasting: Romance and Revival
A great introduction to the ins and outs of roasting coffee.. what it means to roast to a degree such as City or Full City, and very basic basics on origins and theirs characteristics… I think that a lot of the general coffee information is out of touch with where specialty coffee is currently (remember this was written quite a long time ago) but I definitely recommend this a primer to understanding coffee
Joel Schapira & David Schapira & Karl Schapira: The Book of Coffee & Tea: A Guide to teh Appreciation of Fine Coffees, Teas and Herbal Beverges
A primer like Home Coffee Roasting, but I think it is more generally informative with a bit more general view - which is beneficial from my point of view. Still, it’s given that it was written in 1975, be aware that what we know of producing countries is much more nuanced than then…