God in a cup : the obsessive quest for the perfect coffee / Michaele Weissman.

ISBN:

9780470173589

Title:

Author:

Weissman, Michaele.

Personal Author:

Weissman, Michaele.

Publication Information:

Hoboken, NJ : J. Wiley, c2008.

Physical Description:

xix, 268 p. ; 24 cm.

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

The Coffee Guys -- God in a Cup -- Granada, Nicaragua -- Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia -- Panama -- Portland, Oregon -- Los Angeles -- Durham, North Carolina -- Background -- The Coffee Chain Explained -- Coffee Producers of the World -- Making Great Coffee at Home.

Subject Term:

Coffee.

Coffee industry.

Format:

Books

Electronic Access:

Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0808/2008001363-d.html
Table of contents only http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0808/2008001363-t.html

Publication Date:

2008

Publication Information:

Hoboken, NJ : J. Wiley, c2008.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
641.3373 WEI	Book	1	Standard shelving location	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Can a cup of coffee reveal the face of God? Can it become the holy grail of modern-day knights errant who brave hardship and peril in a relentless quest for perfection? Can it change the world? These questions are not rhetorical. When highly prized coffee beans sell at auction for $50, $100, or $150 a pound wholesale (and potentially twice that at retail), anything can happen.

In God in a Cup, journalist and late-blooming adventurer Michaele Weissman treks into an exotic and paradoxical realm of specialty coffee where the successful traveler must be part passionate coffee connoisseur, part ambitious entrepreneur, part activist, and part Indiana Jones. Her guides on the journey are the nation's most heralded coffee business hotshots--Counter Culture's Peter Giuliano, Intelligentsia's Geoff Watts, and Stump-town's Duane Sorenson.

With their obsessive standards and fiercely competitive baristas, these roasters are creating a new culture of coffee connoisseurship in America--a culture in which $10 lattes are both a purist's pleasure and a way to improve the lives of third-world farmers. If you love a good cup of coffee--or a great adventure story--you'll love this unprecedented look up close at the people and passions behind today's best beans.

Author Notes

Michaele Weissman is a journalist and author who writes about food, families, business, and American culture. Her work appears frequently in publications such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. Her coffee blog can be found at michaeleweissmanwrites.com/godinacupofcoffee. She lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her husband.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

From Ethiopia to Panama to Portland, journalist Weissman shadows today's vanguard "coffee guys" in their pursuit of the perfect, caffeinated beverage. With increased demand for specialty roasts superior to the mass-marketed offerings at Starbucks, Weissman illustrates how the origin, flavor compounds and socioeconomic impact of a cup of coffee are relevant now more than ever. Alongside industry leaders from some of the U.S.'s top roasters--Counter Culture, Intelligentsia and Stumptown--Weismann treks to the birthplace of coffee, remote plantations, and international competitions where the best coffees in the world are cupped (or tasted), scored and where winners like Panamanian grower Hacienda La Esmeralda's revered "Geisha" coffee earn $130 per pound. Visiting both ends of the producer-consumer spectrum, she sheds light on the partnership between those who sell premium coffee and the impoverished who farm it--examining how specialty standards enable improved production, exceptional beans, fair prices and fatter pockets across the board. On the imbibing end, Weissman penetrates today's amped-up coffee culture: its sleek coffee bars, tattooed coffee-geeks behind the counters, fiercely competitive roasters working alongside champion baristas. Tagging along behind the main characters in today's specialty coffee scene, Weissman travels from the exotic to the expected to artfully deconstruct the connoisseur's cup of coffee. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Acknowledgments	p. IX
Prologue	p. XIII
The Coffee Guys	p. 1
God in a Cup	p. 35
Granada, Nicaragua	p. 45
Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia	p. 81
Panama	p. 131
Portland, Oregon	p. 161
Las Angeles	p. 189
Durham, North Carolina	p. 213
Epilogue	p. 235
Background
The Coffee Chain Explained	p. 243
Coffee Producers of the World	p. 249
Making Great Coffee at Home	p. 251
Bibliography	p. 257
Index	p. 259

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Table of Contents