Rating:

I’ve received this book as a Christmas gift and was delighted. The book explores the coffee bean from its seeds into a finished cup of coffee, and highlights the most important aspects of each step from a technical, quality and sustainable perspective. James is an internationally renowned barista and coffee educator, so probably one of the best possible authors for such a work.

The book is printed on high quality paper and contains many well taken and sharp images. It is thus a real eye-catcher and can ironically function very well as a coffee table book.

Unfortunately, half of the book is a listing of various coffee producing countries, which might be nice as a glossary, but is rather difficult to read front to back.

Some chapters cover brewing techniques, and they are written quite well. They do however not cover the topic in as much depth How To Make The Best Coffee At Home by the same author.