Product Description

Put your local coffee bar to the test with Coffee Basics!

With thousands of coffee bars and restaurants serving an endless variety of blends, roasts, and brews, ordering a specialty coffee drink has become as daunting a task as selecting a fine wine. How can you distinguish between great coffee and great hype? Read Coffee Basics.

Kevin Knox and Julie Sheldon Huffaker have filled this handy reference with hundreds of industry truths and trade secrets. You'll learn the fundamentals of coffee buying, brewing, and tasting; and develop an aficionado's ability to see beyond the expensive trappings of today's coffee explosion. You'll discover:
* The basic coffee facts: its origin, history, and many varieties
* Step-by-step methods for selecting, roasting, blending, and flavoring coffee "to taste"
* A coffee taster's glossary
* Simple charts showing grind progression, relative grinding times, and regional characteristics
* The scoop on decaffeinated, organic, and espresso beans
* Specialty coffee recipes
* Lists of the best sources for beans and professional equipment


Whether you make coffee at home or at a fine restaurant, Coffee Basics offers a bottomless cup of brewing knowledge and drinking pleasure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #102902 in Books
• Published on: 1997-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

The publisher, John Wiley & Sons
Coffee industry insiders present a succinct, straightforward guide which explains just as much as readers need to know to make sense of the specialty coffee trend and increase their drinking enjoyment, buying confidence, and brewing performance. Includes mail-order sources for great coffees, recipes, and a coffee taster's glossary.

From the Back Cover
Put your local coffee bar to the test with Coffee Basics!

With thousands of coffee bars and restaurants serving an endless variety of blends, roasts, and brews, ordering a specialty coffee drink has become as daunting a task as selecting a fine wine. How can you distinguish between great coffee and great hype? Read Coffee Basics.

Kevin Knox and Julie Sheldon Huffaker have filled this handy reference with hundreds of industry truths and trade secrets. You'll learn the fundamentals of coffee buying, brewing, and tasting; and develop an aficionado's ability to see beyond the expensive trappings of today's coffee explosion. You'll discover:

• The basic coffee facts: its origin, history, and many varieties
• Step-by-step methods for selecting, roasting, blending, and flavoring coffee "to taste"
• A coffee taster's glossary
• Simple charts showing grind progression, relative grinding times, and regional characteristics
• The scoop on decaffeinated, organic, and espresso beans
• Specialty coffee recipes
• Lists of the best sources for beans and professional equipment

Whether you make coffee at home or at a fine restaurant, Coffee Basics offers a bottomless cup of brewing knowledge and drinking pleasure.

About the Author
KEVIN KNOX, Vice President and coffee buyer for Allegro and former coffee specialist for Starbucks, is the country's leading coffee expert.

JULIE SHELDON HUFFAKER is a writer and editor who works with the specialty coffee industry.

Customer Reviews

Great intro
This is a great introduction to the world of coffee for anyone getting into any part of the industry or if you just really enjoy coffee and want to learn more about it.

A solid, useful reference
I particularly enjoyed the Chapter on Regional Character (pp 47 - 71). I disagree with description of Kenya as being a "... brooding heavyweight ..." page 39. Kenyan coffee is notably light-bodied. Book has a good glossary of terms in Appendix A.

To the point -not over powering
I wanted to know about coffee. This book gave me knowledge about coffee. Easy to read and to the point. After reading this book I ended up talking to individuals in the coffee business and I was able to communicate on their level about coffee and its production.