# Recommended Reading?



## VJC (Apr 23, 2014)

Does anyone have any books they can recommend for a newbie into the world of coffee?

Looking on Amazon, most that give a general overview from bean to cup have few or no reviews - though a few do look promising.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Three books by Scott Rao. Espresso Extraction - only available as an E-book on Kindle - £8.00. Provides solid guidance on everything you need to know about espresso. Rao's Everything but Espresso is exactly that - a guide to making brewed/pour over/filter coffee - excellent - £25.00. Finally, Rao's Professional Barista Handbook is worth a look but might be too much for a beginner - £35.00. See Amazon for all titles.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Bluebottle book is interesting and sufficiently well produced to be a coffee table book


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## VJC (Apr 23, 2014)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Three books by Scott Rao. Espresso Extraction - only available as an E-book on Kindle - £8.00. Provides solid guidance on everything you need to know about espresso. Rao's Everything but Espresso is exactly that - a guide to making brewed/pour over/filter coffee - excellent - £25.00. Finally, Rao's Professional Barista Handbook is worth a look but might be too much for a beginner - £35.00. See Amazon for all titles.


Do any of these cover things like coffee terminology, growing regions, varieties, selecting beans as well as the actual process of making coffee?


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Black Gold - Antony Wild is worth a look for a comprehensive history of coffee. You can pick it up for £7-£8 from Amazon used book site.

If you want the kitchen sink - William Ukers 'All About Coffee' is worth looking at. Although written in the 1920's, it's still highly relevant today - incredibly detailed. Good news, it can be legally downloaded for free as it's out of copyright - go to: http://www.gutenberg.org

Coffee terminology - see: http://www.coffeereview.com/glossary.cfm?alpha=A

Coffee bean varietals - see: http://www.hasbean.co.uk/blogs/varietals Click on each variety for full details.


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## VJC (Apr 23, 2014)

Thanks everyone, I'll obviously check out the free weblinks & I think I'm going to go for 'Everything but Espresso' for now, but I also found this on amazon to be published later this year - looks more promising than anything else I've found on there & the author actually seems to have some qualifications on his subject: http://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Atlas-Coffee-Explored-Explained/dp/1770854703/


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

The Scott Rao: Everything But Espresso book is a great read


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## VJC (Apr 23, 2014)

Glenn said:


> The Scott Rao: Everything But Espresso book is a great read


OK, I've finally just finished reading this now - I must admit, it's very good for telling you how to make a good non-espresso coffee, answered a lot of questions and the glossary was quite useful but I did find it a little dry. More like a technical manual than a satisfying read - it certainly has it's place in my book collection and I expect it to get well used in future, but not really what a newbie like me needed just yet. I think a more gentle introduction to the subject was in order - I found this from the people behind Has Bean coffee to be more useful - I think I'll reread the Rao Book after I finish it.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

The Coffeetime Wiki...it's free and got plenty of information on all sorts of stuff.

coffeetime.wikidot.com


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Sprudge carried a review of 21 books on coffee at the end of 2012, which seems helpful - although there might be another 21 books to add to the list by now

http://sprudge.com/2-great-books-about-coffee-the-ultimate-holiday-gift-guide.html


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