Coffee For Dummies

Get the skinny on your morning joe

Do you swear by your morning jolt of caffeine but are hard-pressed to tell a siphon from a slow dripper? No problem: just order a fresh copy of Coffee For Dummies for a smooth blend of fun facts and practical advice to give an extra shot of flavor to your appreciation of the second-most valuable commodity on planet Earth—and filter out all that excess grind in your knowledge.

This warm and welcoming serving from passionate coffee guru Major Cohen—a Specialty Coffee Association certified instructor, and now retired highly respected former Starbucks coffee educator and program manager—takes you on a rocket-fueled journey from the origins of the liquid bean’s popularity to best ways to prepare and enjoy coffee in your own home. You'll learn how to evaluate the advantages of different coffee styles and makers, and how even the smallest detail—varietal, roast type, texture—can influence how good that cupped lightning tastes on your tongue.

• Evaluate different roasts or brews
• Navigate menus for the best deals
• Learn how to speak “coffee” and order your half-cap-low-fat-no-sugar-add-whip with confidence
• Save money with the best store apps
• Meet some of the unknown pioneers of coffee that have made our coffee world of today
• See how you might think bigger about your coffee spend changing the world

The average American spends over $1000 on their daily brain juice every year: why not hire Coffee For Dummies as your personal barista and get more for your money—and from each invigorating sip.

Major Cohen is a coffee lover who has enjoyed a dream realized. A teacher of photography and film at the high school level for 20 years, he grew up in a time when coffee went from a poor quality, inexpensive commodity to a ubiquitous and often delicious inexpensive luxury. His second career brought his passion for teaching and passion for coffee into alignment and he worked as a coffee educator for more than 25 years for Starbucks. His work for Starbucks began in 1995 when, as a Barista, he leveraged his passion and curiosity for coffee and business and after 8 years in operations in 5 roles was invited to move to the Seattle headquarters and join the coffee team. In the next 17 years he had the opportunity to be part of some of Starbucks most innovative efforts, and during his final 7 years traveled extensively in Asia as a coffee educator and brand ambassador. Although recently retired from Starbucks, Major is continuing his involvement with education in his role as an Authorized Specialty Coffee Association Trainer, AST.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Getting Started with Coffee 5

Chapter 1: Demystifying Coffee: Just the Basics 7

Understanding What Coffee is (and Isn’t) 8

Appreciating Coffee — from Its Past to Today 8

A world of farms and fickle crops 9

Going back to coffee’s roots 9

Examining coffee and roasting today 10

Traveling Worldwide — Where Coffee is Grown 10

Visiting the Western Hemisphere 11

Heading to Africa 13

Heading to the Eastern Hemisphere 14

The Lowdown on Roasting Coffee 16

Examining Brewing 16

Brewing Espresso 17

Examining Where Coffee is Now 17

Identifying some of the people behind the coffee industry today 17

Recognizing coffee’s presence today 18

Chapter 2: Figuring Out What Coffee is 21

Understanding the Life Cycle of Coffee: From Seed to Bud to Cherry to Harvest 22

Flowers appear on coffee tree branches 23

The flowers develop into a cherry 24

A team of pickers pick the cherries 25

The pickers hand sort the picked cherries 27

The cherries are processed 27

Meeting the Two Main Types of Coffee and Understanding the Subspecies 29

Processing the Cherry: Getting to the Bean 31

Washed coffee processing 33

Semi-washed processing 35

Natural processing 36

Pulped natural or honey processing 37

Part 2: The Story of Coffee 39

Chapter 3: Familiarizing Yourself with Some Coffee History 41

Understanding How Geography is Linked to History — the Coffee Belt 41

Looking Back at Coffee’s Roots 42

Kaldi and his goats 42

From Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula 43

Thanks to Baba Budan, coffee appears in India 44

Heading to Europe and Beyond 44

The first coffeehouses open 45

Coffee’s ups and downs in England 46

Coffee and the American colonies 47

The Americas and first coffee trees 47

Three centuries of dramatic change 49

Chapter 4: Taking a Closer Look at Brewing Today 51

Understanding a Brewing Force — Alfred Peet and His Focus on Quality 51

Buying, roasting, and creating a new coffee culture 52

Generously growing the coffee community 52

Specialty coffee is born 53

Introducing Howard Schultz — the Father of Today’s Starbucks 53

Traveling to Italy changed everything 53

Expanding the business 54

Expanding Brewed Specialty Coffee Worldwide 54

England breaks out 55

U.S brewers create excitement 55

Meeting consumer demands 56

Understanding the Role of the National Coffee Association 57

Overall coffee consumption 57

Coffee drink trends 57

Coffee drinking by generation 58

Part 3: Taking a Trip around the World 59

Chapter 5: Sourcing Coffee — Digging In to Where Coffee Comes From 61

Taking a Bird’s-Eye Look: The Coffee Belt 61

Identifying the top coffee producers 62

Recognizing what makes these countries so unique to growing coffee 65

Understanding Nature’s Role in Growing Coffee 66

Recognizing How Climate Change is Changing Coffee 67

Chapter 6: Considering the Western Hemisphere 71

Eyeing Central America’s Influence on Coffee Production 72

Costa Rica 72

El Salvador 74

Guatemala 76

Honduras 77

Mexico 78

Nicaragua 79

Panama 80

Looking Closer at South America’s Contributions to Coffee Production 82

Bolivia 82

Brazil 83

Colombia 85

Ecuador 85

Peru 87

Venezuela 89

Examining the Caribbean’s Impact on Coffee 90

Cuba 91

Dominican Republic 92

Jamaica 93

Getting the Aloha Feel: Hawaii’s Influence on Coffee Production 94

Chapter 7: Discussing Africa 97

Looking Closer at Northeastern Africa 98

Ethiopia 98

Kenya 101

Examining Central and Southern Africa 103

Burundi 103

Congo 105

Malawi 106

Rwanda 106

Tanzania 108

Zambia 110

Chapter 8: Addressing the Eastern Hemisphere and Asia Pacific 111

Examining the Countries Biggest in Size, But Not in Coffee Production 112

China 112

India 114

The Heavy Hitters: Identifying Some Traditional Coffee-Producing Countries 116

Indonesia 116

Papua New Guinea 118

Vietnam 119

Yemen 120

Part 4: Roasting Coffee 123

Chapter 9: The History of Roasting 125

Understanding How Roasting Started 125

Examining What Roasters First Used 126

Developing Roasting into a Business 127

Starting slowly 127

Moving to roasting specialty coffee 128

Chapter 10: Roasting for Flavor 131

Walking the Fine Line of Roasting: A Balance between Artistry and Science 132

Saving money, time, and raw materials 132

Moving past the color 134

Roasting, Step by Step 134

Step 1: Loading or charging and drying 134

Step 2: Yellowing 135

Step 3: Popping or cracking — the first time 135

Step 4: Developing or monitoring 135

Step 5: Finishing 136

Deciphering What the Different Roasts Mean and How They Taste 136

Light roasts — bright and flavorful 137

Medium roasts — balanced and complex 138

Dark roasts — uniquely flavored 139

Part 5: Preparing Coffee and Espresso 141

Chapter 11: Exploring the Brewing Methods and Mastering the Tricks 143

Understanding Extraction 143

Focusing on the Basics of Coffee Brewing 144

Identifying the variables that make a cup of coffee 144

Starting with the water 145

Adding the coffee 147

Following a recipe 148

Examining the Brewing Methods 149

Exploring immersion methods 150

Using the force of gravity: The pour-over 152

A few more options 157

Chapter 12: Making Espresso Easier 159

Appreciating Italy’s Contribution to Making Espresso What It is Today 159

Making the Perfect Espresso — the Four M’s 162

Pulling a Few Shots — What’s Involved When Making an Espresso 162

Identifying the equipment and all the bells and whistles 163

Making espresso, step by step 164

Adding milk or an alternative 168

Knowing What You’re Ordering 169

Espresso solo or doppio 170

Ristretto 170

Lungo 170

Macchiato 171

Cappuccino 171

Caffé latte 172

Mocha 173

Flat white 174

Americano 174

Cortado 175

Part 6: Perusing Today’s Coffee Business 177

Chapter 13: Meeting Some Coffee Trailblazers 179

Identifying Early Trendsetters Whose Names Have Withstood the Test of Time 180

James Folger 180

Chase and Sanborn 180

The Italians and Their Coffee Heritage 183

Angelo Moriondo 183

Luigi Bezzera 184

Desiderio Pavoni 184

Pier Teresio Arduino 184

Making Waves in the United States 185

Alfred Peet 185

Erna Knutson 186

George Howell 187

Howard Schultz 188

Mary Williams 189

David Schomer 190

Ted Lingle 190

Trish Rothgeb 191

Nick Cho 191

Examining Café Culture, Espresso, and Competitions 191

Gianni Cassatini 192

Reg Barber 192

Rex Tseng and Aaron Takao Fujiki 192

Andrew Milstead 193

James Hoffmann 193

Matt Perger 194

Colin Harmon 194

Ryan Soeder 195

Andrea Allen 195

Chapter 14: Looking at Where Coffee is Today 197

Brewing Coffee at Home 198

Finding coffee today 198

Keeping it fresh 200

Making use of some new and exciting gear 201

Making Espresso at Home 208

The machine 208

The espresso grinder 209

Stepping Out — Drinking a Cup of Coffee Away from Home 209

Finding More Information about Coffee Today and in the Future 211

Focusing on the Specialty Coffee Association 211

Looking online 212

Listening to podcasts 213

Perusing books and magazines 214

Part 7: The Part of Tens 215

Chapter 15: Ten (or So) Myths about Coffee Debunked 217

Coffee is Loaded with Caffeine 217

Coffee Has Tons of Calories 218

Coffee is Bad for You 219

Decaf Coffee Isn’t Real Coffee 220

Instant Coffee is Disgusting 220

Coffee Makers Only Need a Quick Rinse to Clean 221

All Coffee Tastes the Same 222

The Coffee Industry Doesn’t Have Any Innovation 222

Climate Change Doesn’t Affect Coffee 223

Chapter 16: Ten (Plus One) Places to Find a Great Cup of Coffee 225

San Francisco and the Bay Area 226

Portland, Oregon 227

Seattle, Washington 227

New York City 229

Vienna, Austria 229

Rome, Italy 230

Oslo, Norway 231

Reykjavik, Iceland 231

Taipei, Taiwan 232

Melbourne, Australia 233

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 234

Japan 235

Part 8: Appendixes 237

Appendix A: Glossary 239

Appendix B: Timeline of Key History of Coffee 251

Index 257

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