The best Coffee & Tea books: Reddit reviews

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I can recommend <em>A History of the World in Six Glasses</em> if you want some light, fun reading on this topic.

Except that first it involved an incredibly daring bit of espionage to steal the plant and the secrets of fermenting black tea from the Chinese, who were controlling it. It'd require a spy sortie at least.

The story itself is wild:

https://www.amazon.com/All-Tea-China-England-Favorite/dp/0143118749/

Yeah, a lady did a kickstarter for it a few years ago and then published. I ordered a copy from Amazon a month or two back but have only read through it so far. I haven't attempted to cook anything from it yet though! I believe that there was a post recently where the author is attempting a Kickstarter for a second book with recipes that didn't make it into the first one.

edit: Here's a link to the second Kickstarter. It looks like it was funded!

This is my favorite book on Kombucha, lots of brewing tips, history, and health notes.

I've been brewing and drinking the stuff for about a year now. I like it because it induces a good solid bowel movement out of me every time. Digestively...definitely some changes down there but I don't want to be too gross. Can't say it has cured cancer or AIDs or even a cold.

I keep up the habit because I do like to dabble in historical eating. People used to consume a lot more active yeast and bacteria via beer and I am open to the notion that this played a key role in digestion. I combine my kombucha habit with fasting to help with digestive issues and I'm mostly cleared up these days.

The World Atlas of Coffee: From Beans to Brewing By James Hoffmann, is walks through the different varietals of coffee, and impact of different processing methods and roast.

I'm a bit late, but as a really really quick look at something similar to that is:

History of the World in 6 Glasses

Probably one of my favorites that is similar to what you asked for. I can direct you to more if you want, but that one is mainly the 6 drinks that changed the world

Ale/Beer, Wine, Spirits, Coffee, Tea, Cocacola

It is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and independent booksellers across the US. Internationally, it's available from online retailers and chain bookstores.

Here is the link to Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Eat-Like-Gilmore-Unofficial-Cookbook/dp/151071734X

Hey! I've been making booch for about a year now, and I love it! I would say it's very relaxed. I was nervous starting as well, because my boyfriend does homebrewing and that is a very extensive process.

I got my first scoby from Final Gravity in Lakeside (attached to Original Gravity) and followed the instructions on a small sheet of paper they provide! While it was fermenting, I ordered a book on Amazon and did some reading about flavoring, bottling, benefits etc. (The Big Book of Kombucha: Brewing, Flavoring, and Enjoying the Health Benefits of Fermented Tea https://www.amazon.com/dp/161212433X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Yb.dDbVWRE4N6)

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions! Or want a free scoby! I have a very large mother.

This is a fantastic book on home roasting. It is well-written, interesting, and upped my own coffee-roasting ten-fold.

When I first started brewing I was recommendedThe Big Book of Kombucha and it was really great with tips for beginners to advanced, as well as some flavor recipes. I also really like the aesthetics of this book.

My longtime friend bought me for my birthday the James Hoffman World Atlas of Coffee. It is as delightful as James Hoffman's videos are and I have gotten a lot of mileage out of reading right through it. It's not strictly a recipe book, but it is a start-to-finish, out of the ground to your cup description of every aspect of coffee cultivation and brewing that there is, right down to the water, beans, and recipes for various brewing methods, including a country-by-country inventory of what grows where.

Alternatively, Tristan Stephenson has a book which is smaller, but ironically less readable that gets a bit more into coffee cocktails and making coffee liqueurs, in addition to sober coffee brewing and history.

There's a book ("Espresso coffee. The science of quality") written by Andrea Illy and Rinantonio Viani. You'll find very interesting details there. Available at Amazon

Hijacking top comment to recommend a book (kinda) about this. A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, puchasable for $0.99, used, on Amazon.

It's well researched and iirc, it covers history (mostly western) from the Mesopotamian civilizations to the present day. The six drinks it does this through are Beer, Wine, Spirits, Coffee, Tea and Coke. I found it somewhat interesting that the first 3 drinks contained alcohol and the last three contained caffeine (not that this necessarily signifies anything), and I think he mentions that in passing somewhere in his book.

I got mine off Amazon but you can order it directly from there website too Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/161212433X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gT6iCb3TD5VA0 Kombucha kamp: store.kombuchakamp.com/Books-Videos-Support/ Cheers mate have a good day 😊😊😊

I don't know if this book will be exactly what you're looking for, but - The World Atlas of Coffee: From Beans to Brewing -- Coffees Explored, Explained and Enjoyed

I've seen it recommended often on r/coffee. I've had it on my amazon list forever but haven't gotten around to ordering it yet.

Here is a good resource that will give you basic knowledge http://www.cantonteaco.com/tea-school/

But I strongly recommend you to invest into this book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tea-Terroirs-Varieties-Kevin-Gascoyne/dp/1770853197

It covers a lot of teas and most types of brewing.

Also there is a YouTube :)

since you like books, try this one. It's all about tea!

This book will help you decide what coffees you'd like to try: https://www.amazon.com/World-Atlas-Coffee-Explored-Explained/dp/0228100941/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2LW798ZCL3P1E&amp;keywords=james+hoffman&amp;qid=1661875333&amp;sprefix=james+hoffma%2Caps%2C148&amp;sr=8-2

Also as previously noted, watch James Hoffman's videos on Youtube, he explains how to brew a good cup. I bought my drip coffee maker based on his recommendations and I love it.

>I grilled a guy who believes his own righteousness is self sufficient.

It is sufficient though, if he keeps at it.

>He did a good deed. Remember in the ancient world wine was one of the few safe ways to get hydrated. Wine was a disinfectant. I didn’t understand that fir a long time. Shout out to the book The History of the World in Six Glasses

I have a hard time believing he did it because he wanted to give people disinfectant. And you missed the first part: he went to a wedding party.

> I mean you’ve just grilled the guy who spent most of his money doing good only because he has $50 in his bank account instead of $0.

I grilled a guy who believes his own righteousness is self sufficient.

> And if you want something more concrete: He went to a wedding party and he turned water into wine so the party can keep going.

He did a good deed. Remember in the ancient world wine was one of the few safe ways to get hydrated. Wine was a disinfectant. I didn’t understand that fir a long time. Shout out to the book The History of the World in Six Glasses

Speculating a bit, but wine in Greece goes pretty far back.

Ofc could be used as a seal for any product really, I'm just having fun speculating.

I recall, in the book: History of the World in 6 Glasses that other ancient cultures in the middle east wrote of the "excellent beer of the Greeks from the mountains from grapes" ( as opposed to Mesopotamian and Egyptian "beer from fermented grains"

A lot of now common things have stories like this. Dude named Robert Fortune was employed to steal knowledge of how to grow/make tea and steal tea plants from China back in the day. Total espionage, dressing up to look Chinese, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/All-Tea-China-England-Favorite/dp/0143118749/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1PL459TY5RYOJ&amp;keywords=all+the+tea+in+china&amp;qid=1650572031&amp;sprefix=all+the+tea+in+china%2Caps%2C64&amp;sr=8-1

I've seen a few people use this: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Book-Kombucha-Flavoring-Fermented/dp/161212433X/ref=sr_1_16?crid=381WOG2CSQ4JH&amp;keywords=kombucha&amp;qid=1648726824&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=kombucha%2Cstripbooks%2C66&amp;sr=1-16

Live Eat Learn has a free digital e-guide and logbook that I pretty much use exclusively

You Brew Kombucha has a YT page that is really helpful as well. I'm thinking she may also have a book or log book

My husband got it for me. It’s cute. I’ve made a couple of things like the famous risotto. [Here](www.amazon.com/dp/151071734X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_KRFZ9Y52B5X493GX5WAB) it is if you want to check it out. I think an official cookbook is coming out too (supposedly).

I use the recipes from this book. I just tried the "cherry cream soda" recipe for the first time today and it was chef's kiss

The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee: Growing, Roasting, and Drinking, with Recipes by Freeman, Freeman, and Duggan. Amazon link

This book has some great info and might be worth lookin into, I have a copy and I love it!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/151071734X/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_Q3YGVRAN5HQ2Y8W368B0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1

Sorry it's the uk site lmao, here in Ireland that's the one we have to use. It's called "eat like a gilmore" though so I'm sure you can find it if that link doesn't work for you

It's actually really prevalent in most of the world - Americans drinking burnt, old coffee as just one of the countries at fault. Preparation is only half of the problem too.

• great TED talk on coffee: https://youtu.be/JaQNy0Ef4YY
• fantastic home roasting history / tips: Home Coffee Roasting, Revised, Updated Edition: Romance and Revival https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312312199/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_a_9RBKGBE5EA9XAHSNRTXX

I have been grinding my own beans since 2016 thereabouts, but only roasting at home since around 2018, and it has made all the difference. You're lucky to get any kind of consistency if not sourcing from a local roaster on roast days.

Chances are these science-produced varietals market towards bitter palates to further reduce coffee costs and increase profits, since coffee harvesting is a laborious and long process, and requires sourcing from some turbulent parts of the world (Ethiopia for instance, at least modern day turbulent).

Rob Hoos' Modulating the Flavor of Coffee is one I'd recommend. Willem Boot has some free stuff that has been invaluable, though modern wisdom goes against some of his advice. Tim Wendelboe has a few videos out there that I've found worth revisiting.

I'd actually advise to stay away from Rao stuff at least at first. He has some good info, but he also teaches some hocus-pocus stuff as "Commandments." If he said something to the effect of "when you're starting out, here's some general rules you should try to follow" I'd be all for it, but instead he teaches them as Absolute Truths and they simply are wrong in that context. It may be that the spirit of his advice is right for newbies, but the way he delivers it is definitely all wrong. He's the reason so many people think they can look at a profile and have some idea what a coffee tastes like (they can't, profiles are useful relative to other profiles on the same equipment, period).

If you're really into the chemistry and science of coffee, Illy's book is probably the most comprehensive piece of modern literature on the subject. It's pretty freaking dense though.

This is the best one!

Eat Like a Gilmore: The Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of Gilmore Girls https://www.amazon.com/dp/151071734X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_J1EEZ1QDZ2WMC5VQKJZJ

Throw in a Luke’s apron and some kitchen towels from Etsy and you got yourself a gift! I’d even checkout GG cooking utensils on Etsy as well.