Latest Edition
Espresso Coffee: The Science of Quality is by Rinantonio Viani of Nestle Research Laboratories in Switzerland and Andreas Illy of Illycafe and Nestle. This is the hardcover, rewritten Second Edition of the famous Espresso Coffee: The Chemistry of Quality. Famous? Well, among home roasters it is, because there are just too many "coffee recipe" and hokey espresso cookbooks out there ... and this book is 180 degrees opposite. It is a technical manual, but not so obscure to scare off the non-scientist. It's an intensely informative book focusing on technical aspects of espresso and coffee quality. The emphasis here is on chemical and physical analysis of coffee as it travels the route from crop to cup. As a professional, I can't tell you how many times I have referred to this book. It is really a book about defining coffee quality in verifiable terms. Indispensable to the professional or those with tendencies toward the technical! This books is greatly expanded from the first edition ... if you are really into coffee in general or espresso in particular I don't think it is ridiculous to own both editions. The publisher has made the introductory chapter (definitely not the most interesting stuff, just the groundwork) available as a .pdf file.

$82.50 (+ 1.6 Lbs. shipping)

New Book! The Professional Barista's Handbook by Scott Rao

The Professional Barista's Handbook is a very efficient training manual for espresso, and features some great information on brewing too (plus a couple pages on tea ... why?) I was impressed with how concise it is, and how useful it will be for the home enthusiast. Best of all, it cuts to the chase and shows the core methods for achieving great extraction without making you read too much theory. It also avoids being too specific in showing just one technique. In other words, read this book and over time you surely will develop your own variations. That's the way it should be. It is written by Scott Rao with 14 years practical experience so it combines essential theory with a lot of behind-the-bar insight. And it's not full of a bunch of froo-froo beverage recipies. It's a great training manual for shops too. It's from a small press, essentially self-published, 100 pages on nice thick stock with some excellent illustrative photos and graphs, and a bit spendy at $45. But you could buy a 250 page book with half of the essential information that you would have to trudge through. If you want a great book that is more expansive in focus and technical, get the Illy Espresso Coffee book above. But here is all the essential information in a book you will truly use!

$45.00 (1 lb. ship wgt)

Preview Pages (click for larger images)

The full edition of the Coffee Cupper's Handbook by Ted Lingle is finally in print. This is a 71 Page, 8.5 x 11 cupping manual that includes a full-color reproduction of the Coffee Cupper's Flavor Wheel (same as the poster we sell) on the inside covers ... very handy! It features the new 100 point SCAA scale, close to what I use at Sweet Maria's but a little different. And it has a huge glossary of terms that are cross-referenced between 8 coffee publications to give the fullest possible meaning to each term. It is extremely methodical, and the most complete manual specifically for cupping ever printed. I know my copy will be dog-eared and coffee-stained in no time at all!

$38.00(+ 1 lb. shipping)

New Book! Coffee Flavor Chemistry (For those who are truly, truly obsessed!)

This book is not for you! Okay, maybe it is, but only of you are either a. in the coffee trade or b. have a strong science background or c. an incessant know-it-all or d. a hardcore home roaster. This is much more of a reference book than a reading book. Now that I have said everything wrong with it, let me say now that it is fantastic and a must-have volume for every serious coffee library. The first 4 chapters, a scant 60 pages, are actually made to be read, and provide a good basis for understanding coffee chemistry. The 5th chapter, "The Individual Constituents" is what this book is all about though: 265 pages of encyclopedic reference for all the important compounds that contribute to coffee aroma and flavor. Want to look up a specific acid (acetic? malic? citric? quinic?) Wonder what aldehydes do? Or Ketones? There's a useful secret too, buried in the Index in the back: look up "Organoleptic characteristics of the most tipical ingredients in green coffee". It's a list of flavors & aromas ( blueberry, balsamic, metallic, parsley, dairy, cucumber, walnut, etc.) and it will direct you to the page with the related organic compound! I find this the most useful feature of the book. I made a separate Coffee Flavor Chemistry page with images of the book, representative pages, and the publishers description of this tome. 410 pages, and a few superfluous, decorative images and color plates.

$340 (+ 4.1 Lbs. shipping)

New Item! For those in the coffee trade...
Coffee: Growing, Processing, Sustainable Production edited by Jean Nicolas Wintgens. I always mused that if only Nestle would share what they know about coffee, the trade would be advanced by leaps and bounds. Sure, Illy likes to show off what they know, but Nestle, Kraft, P&G etc have farm more information. Well, in part, that is what this book is, a compendium of information from seasoned researchers and professionals, with quite a few (like Wintgens himself) having spent quite some time at Nestle. This is listed as a guide for growers, processors, traders, and researchers. That is a very accurate description, as this book is oriented towards those with real information needs about coffee production, or those with an insatiable appetite for coffee information. It is really the product of 40 agronomists, coffee researchers, and others with very specific knowledge and expertise. This is very up to date, even including through information on the coffee genome. The 5 sections in this massive 975 page hardcover book are:

• Growing
• Pests, diseases, and their control
• Harvesting and processing
• Storage, shipment, quality
• The latest economical and technological aspects

There are 40 chapters, over 600 pages of the main text, and 900 illustrations. The recommendations in the book are applicable everywhere, and not geared to any specific producing country. Please be warned, this book is not for the casual reader! I made a page of the Publisher Description and detailed Table of Contents, and another with Page View snapshots.

$370 (+ 5.2 Lbs. shipping) Out of Stock until Auugust 2008 - new edition coming

At the bottom of this page, we list some books that we used to stock and are either no longer available, or not as pertinent as they once were. But we keep our descriptions here for informational purposes...

 

Sweet Maria's Stainless Steel Cupping Spoon --- Impress everyone ...or make them think you have gone completely over-the-edge! Yes, the process of coffee tasting involves a special spoon, and coffee cuppers get very, very particular about the shape and make of theirs. I am one of those people, and have a collection of some 30 different models. But this is the one I chose to have made for us, my favorite. You have. This has a deep round bowl, moderate size overall, that special curvature of the handle to permit skimming the coffee from the top of the cup. And, following a new form of thought in spoons, we are turning our back on silver-plating. Silver plate is soft, scratches and dings, and degrades quickly. A deplated spoon has a detectable metallic aroma. Stainless steel resists surface scratching, and is much more durable in general. Note that I think this image gives you a better idea of the true proportions of the spoon, and here is a close-up of the etched logo on the handle. I think this is an ideal gift for a coffee roasting person ... necessary, no! But enjoyable, yes.

$20.20 (+.30 lb. shipping) Out of stock - new lot coming in April

Books We Used to Stock

Below we list some books that we used to stock and are either no longer available, or not as pertinent as they once were. But we keep our descriptions here for informational purposes...

All About Coffee, Second Edition by William H. Ukers. Still known as the bible for the coffee trade, this 818 page, 4.5 LB, clothbound book is a necessity for the professional, or the information-starved coffee addict. There isn't an aspect of coffee not covered by this book, and the major sections are: Historical, Technical, Scientific, Commercial, Social and Artistic!!! Chapters range from Botany, to Factory Equipment, Early Roasters to Coffee-themed Music, Early History to Brewing Methods. No coffee bean was left unturned by Ukers. I was happy to discover that this new reprint of the 2nd edition (©1935) by the SCAA includes color plates, and it oversized (9 1/4 x 10 1/2) ...two features that my own 2nd edition doesn't have (it's 8 x 9, no color plates).

Sorry, we no longer carry this book. But we still recommend it, mostly as a historical reference. -Tom

Espresso; The Ultimate Coffee by Kenneth Davids is back in stock! This is one of the best books solely dedicated to espresso, without all the fluff like recipes for tutti-frutti iced slopaccino and such. It is both thorough and accessible. This is a must for the library of all espresso-hounds. This is the latest edition.

Sorry, we have sold out of this book! -Tom

Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying (5th Edition) by Kenneth Davids. This is a great book on how to find and enjoy good coffee. It offers an overview from the crop to the cup, and detailed information on all aspects of preparation including home roasting. This is the latest edition with updated resource information and new content. 95% of the coffee books out there are low on information and loaded with espresso dessert recipes and such. My advice: Avoid that type of coffee book. Get the real thing. 279 pgs.

Sorry, we have sold out of this book! -Tom

Uncommon Grounds by Mark Pendergrast. Subtitled "The History of Coffee and How it Transformed Our World" this is a recent work that is extremely broad in its vision. It not only provides the colorful, illustrious history of our favorite beverage (and is loaded with neat trivia), it also seeks to provide context to the when, what and why of the coffee culture from past to present. It makes the information relevant both to current issues and to the history of cultural development in general. I think of it as the "poor man's modern day Uker's" and it is just about as all-encomapassing as that legendary coffee book, pound for pound! This is the new softcover version that was just published Jan. 2002. New York Times has a very interesting review of this book titled The World Before Starbucks!

Sorry, we have sold out of this book! But we still recommend it... -Tom

We try to offer our items without aggressively hawking them, but if you have any interest in coffee, any at all, you will really benefit from owning a copy of this book! It is Coffee: A Celebration of Diversity by Italian biologist /photographer Fulvio Eccardi and Trieste-based green coffee trader Vincenzo Sandalj. The result of this relationship is a beautiful 228 page softcover book, almost all in full color, loaded with remarkable photographs that detail the world of coffee as it exists right now. Lots of books are pretty ... the difference here is the knowledge behind the images, the very readable text that portrays coffee production in every aspect, written from an informed insider perspective. The first chapter on Environment is a landmark, detailing the climate and topography of coffee production using NASA satellite imagery and 3-D modeled maps. The next chapter on History is the concise story of coffee from it's discovery and spread to the West. The Coffee Tree comes next, an up-close look at the plant structure, cultivars, hybrids, husbandry, and diseases. Next comes Cultivation, which starts with an overview of the small-scale of coffee production and then creates portraits of the major growing regions to compare and contrast.The chapters Harvesting and Processing give an intimate view of the options facing farmers in farm and mill techniques that have a huge bearing on the cup flavors. And finally there is Consumption which involves coffee quality analysis (cupping) and consumer preference. What impresses me is this is a sweeping overview of the coffee world that is, at every turn, near it's subject, passing from the macro to micro view effortlessly. It does not shy away from any issues (sustainable practices, organic production, social impacts, low market prices) without getting bogged down in them or having heavy-handed opinions. It is truly a book you will read too, from cover to cover, and go back through to show friends and family, and want to look at just because the pictures are fantastic. There is nobody I know, not a coffee insider with 20 years in the trade, nor a coffee drinker with mild interest, who will not be drawn in by the information here, and learn something new. For the old-timer, this is full of fresh information (how many Space Shuttle images of coffee lands have you seen?) And it involves just the right amount of hard facts to avoid being burdensome, while managing to be informative. For a few techies out there, it won't be exhaustively thorough and loaded with data. But you will be able to show this to your mate or friends and not bore them to tears! (Consider Illy's new version of "Espresso Coffee" as a perfect companion to this). We took the initiative and imported it from Italy, directly from the authors because we think the book is great.

This is the English edition of the original Italian version (beautifully written and translated), and is printed by a small press in Italy. It is a softcover (nicely done, not cheap) with an applied glossy color picture on the front. It is expensive, unfortunately. But it is worth it. I have made a separate web page with some snapshot views of pages inside the book.

Sorry, we have sold out of this book! But we still recommend it... -Tom

Coffee Basics by Kevin Knox is a great introductory book. This book has all the basic, proven coffee tips for buying and preparing great coffee like all the other books. But it also has a healthy dose of informed opinion overlayed on these facts, and that is refreshing. Too many coffee books simply mime the conventional wisdom and try to do it with a bit of panache (Kummers etc). Tim Kastles book doesn't inspire me either. Then there's all the "recipe" books. What junk! I disagree with many opinions in this Knox book (his low opinion of Brazils, Perus and "simple" coffees, and somewhat wine-snobbish celebration of "Gran Cru" coffees And have we heard enough about *#!@ La Minita already!) but it only indicates that I am reading an author with something to say. $13.95 (+ 1 LB shipping)

Sorry, we have sold out of this book! This is a great overview on coffee. -Tom