Books about coffee. For all the coffee nerds out there, delving into books on the subject is an inevitable hobby. There are, as it turns out, quite a lot of books out there about coffee. But some are more approachable – and more useful – than others. If you’re interested in reading more about the world of coffee, but don’t know where to begin, then perhaps this guide can help!
These five books are all excellent points of entry for building your very own coffee library. We cover a variety of approaches to the subject, from history to tasting to where coffee comes from. So whether you’re ready to jump into the deep end of coffee origins or just need something short and sweet to get you started, there’s something here for you.
The New Rules of Coffee, by Jordan Michelman & Zachary Carlsen
By far the shortest book in this guide, The New Rules of Coffee: A Modern Guide for Everyone is a succinct breakdown of the state of coffee today. Michelman and Carlsen, who are also the founders of the long-running coffee blog Sprudge, split their “rules” into four categories: rules for coffee around the world, coffee at home, coffee for the cafe, and rules for a new coffee future.
Rules range from statements as simple as “coffee is a fruit” to menu hacks like “iced coffee and cold are sisters, not twins” to hot takes like “the flat white does not exist.” Michelman and Carlsen have far from the last word on topics like these, but it’s hard to find a more accessible first step into the world of coffee today. If you’re looking to get a brief, easily digestible introduction to specialty coffee, then this is the book. You find The New Rules of Coffee for sale here.
Uncommon Grounds, by Mark Pendergrast
Maybe you’ve decided to learn a little bit more about the history of coffee. How exactly did coffee go from a cheap commodity to the artisan product it is now? Mark Pendergrast’s Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World would be an excellent place to start. Pendergrast traces the development of the coffee trade from its mythic origins in Ethiopia all the way to the modern specialty coffee industry.
Uncommon Grounds is especially notable for detailing the economics of coffee, both from the producer and consumer side of the trade. If you’re the kind of coffee fan who’s interested in coffee’s history as both beverage and product, then this may be the book for you. You can find the book, which is on its second edition, for sale here and here.
How to Taste Coffee, by Jessica Easto
For all the coffee fans out there looking to develop their palates, How to Taste Coffee: Develop Your Sensory Skills and Get the Most Out of Every Cup by Jessica Easto may just do the trick. Easto was already well known for writing Craft Coffee: A Manual, an excellent primer on brewing quality coffee at home. But we would give an even stronger recommendation for her second book How to Taste Coffee.
Coffee tasting has long been thought of as a practice exclusive to coffee professionals. After all, they’re the ones who decide what flavor notes to put on bags of beans you buy at the café or supermarket. But tasting can be your practice too. Easto provides a pathway for novice tasters, beginning with basics like the science of smell and taste and including a number of palate exercises along the way. If you’re looking to get serious about coffee tasting, then Easto’s latest is the book for you. You can find copies of it here.
The New Art of Coffee, by Ryan Castelaz
Perhaps you’re the kind of person who already knows a lot about coffee and you really want to have a coffee cookbook for the shelf. Look no further than The New Art of Coffee: From Morning Cup to Caffeine Cocktail by Ryan Castelaz. The newest book on this list, The New Art of Coffee is filled with coffee recipes, including flavored lattes, coffee-based alcoholic beverages, and more.
If you’re the sort of person who’s never satisfied with regular ol’ black coffee, then there’s a strong chance that something in this book will tickle your fancy. And the photography by Kevin Miyazaki is gorgeous to look at. Whether you’re a coffee professional looking to seriously boost your home barista game, or you’re a home chef wanting to expand into the world of coffee, The New Art of Coffee has something to offer you. You can buy it here.
The World Atlas of Coffee, 3rd ed., by James Hoffmann
Finally, we recommend The World Atlas of Coffee for anyone wanting to learn more about coffee’s origins. We actually already mentioned this book in our budget-friendly coffee gift guide. Brewing champion and roaster James Hoffmann first published the World Atlas in 2015. Since then it has proven to be one of the most reliable resources for learning where coffee comes from. Hoffmann’s atlas covers how coffee goes from bean to cup as well as some basic guidance of brewing and buying coffee for the home. But the bulk of the book is a survey of the world’s coffee-producing countries.
In The World Atlas, you can find information on how, for example, Costa Rican coffee is grown and what beans harvested in Costa Rica tend to taste like. Hoffmann’s most recent edition of the book, which released this year, expands the survey, now including sections on newer players on the producing scene like Australia. Not only is The World Atlas an excellent resource for coffee knowledge, it looks great on both your bookshelf and your coffee table. After all, what’s a better coffee table book than a book about coffee itself? Copies can be found here.
Conclusion
No matter what interests you about coffee, there’s a book out there for you. These four books are only a handful of the literature available on coffee’s economics, origins, history, and taste. So if one of your resolutions for the new year is reading more about coffee, then you can get your library started with these. Happy reading, and happy exploring!