Choice Review

For most people, drinking coffee is more about the ritual than the taste, yet identifying and defining its flavor represents the imperative of professional coffee tasting. Based on extensive fieldwork carried out over many years in more than 12 countries, sociologist Liberman (Univ. of Oregon) examines the nature of scientific inquiry using professional coffee tasters as a model. The book comprises an introductory section, which offers historical and current overviews of the coffee industry, and three additional parts. Part 2 introduces the work of ethnomethodologists, phenomenologists, and philosophers to define the meanings of objectivity and subjectivity and the interplay of the two in knowledge development while focusing on coffee tasting as a way to ground these theories. Part 3 delves into the practical role of coffee tasting along the coffee commodity chain. Part 4 explores various ways coffee tasting embodies scientific practice while cautioning against the rise of scientism in coffee tasting and society in general. Throughout this text, Liberman demonstrates how the complexity of the flavor of coffee mirrors nature's complexity, stressing the challenges of identifying coffee's qualities objectively given the number of variables involved. Those interested in the social aspects of science, perhaps especially food science--and of course, the natural and social science of coffee--can gain valuable insights. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. --Eileen G. Harrington, Universities at Shady Grove