Customer Reviews

Black Coffee

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This is an outstanding documentary about the bean which affected all continents. It is an intimate, lavish, round the world tour of coffee farms, coffee house meccas, interviews with experts, growers, and baristas who exude a religious ferver for the art of brewing the black gold! It is also romantically filmed, and narrated with appropriate music. The amazing rich history, and legends are included. It is believed that the bean was first discovered by goats in Ethiopia, which attracted the attention of the goatherder, and he too was entranced. There is even a connection between Moby Dick and the Starbucks chain. The name "coffee" may have derived from the Ethiopian province "Kaffa". Once in Arabia it was called the "Wine of Arabia" and was served in wine glasses. The bean has spawned coffee cultures and counter cultures and even as we speak there is concern for the future of quality harvests and enough afficianados to mantain the high end market of the trade. A world leader committed suicide and a potentate once declared the bean to be evil and immoral, but later, a Pope tested it and gave it his Blessing! Here is a three disc armchair tour from the vine to your loving cup. Enjoy!

FASCINATING story of what we drink every day

"Coffee is the second most valuable traded legal commodity in the world.". That statement is made at the beginning of each of the three "episodes" of this 3 hour documentary produced for Canadian TV in 2005. So the subject of "coffee" affects nearly everyone.

I'm not sure how this DVD release is being marketed, but if you found this review while searching on Amazon you probably have an interest in the subject. That said, I couldn't recommend this highly enough! I'm a coffee drinker (probably too many cups a day) and have learned the difference between Maxwell House's Robusto beans and the Arabica beans used by my local coffee shop (as well as Starbucks, and even A&P's Eight O'Clock brand.) But I didn't know where coffee started, how it got to Central and South America and lots of other pieces of coffee history. Writer-Director Irene Angelico has made that history both educational and entertaining but traveling, literally, all over the world to film this project. The experts she has chosen are, not only authorities, but great personalities as well.

The First disc tells us the history of the coffee been and features some great art. We even learn that it was the pre-cursor of Viagra in ancient civilizations!). Then we move on to Disc Two, which follows the coffee bean from Ethiopia to Brazil. (Wait until you learn how a romantic tryst was responsible for it's travel to South America). WE lean how Folgers and Maxwell House and Chase & Sanborn were created (and that they once used real high quality beans). This section includes some great TV commercials from the 1950s. The last disc takes us into the 1970s through today with Starbucks and Peets dominating the market and the rise of the Fair Trade coffee commission. The film presents a pretty balanced approach to pro-and anti- Starbucks. It certainly is not pro-Proctor and Gamble (Who now own Folgers).

I came across this set by accident, but I'm sure glad I did. It held my interest for it's nearly 3-hour length and I'm sure it will yours. I even brewed a cup of coffee to drink as I watched it.

Director Angelico's previous project was The Cola Conquest about the marketing of carbonated beverages. She made it in 1999 and the home video is already out of print. Hopefully BFS - who is released Black Coffee on DVD will get the rights to that film. Based on this DVD set, it should be great!

Steve Ramm

There is an entire subculture of documentaries which detail the "dark side" of some of our favorite staples such as sugar and corn. Perhaps what makes this documentary stand out is that it looks at the entire history of coffee from its very beginnings: from the mists of Ethiopian myth, to the first time the coffee was roasted in the 1400's, to the introduction of coffee by the Turks to Europe, to the explosion of European cafe society in the 18th to 19th century, to the domination of coffee agriculture by multi-national organizations, to the genesis of Starbucks and Peets. There is even an important segment on "shade grown" coffee which is necessary to protect wild bird habitat.

Overall - I thought the entire documentary was fascinating and well done. It will intrigue all those in your family who appreciate this wonderful and intriguing drink and who want to learn about world culture. Another bonus is the lovely ethnic music in the background taken from coffee regions all over the globe. If that feature strikes your fancy, try the "Putumayo Music from the Coffee Lands." I wish the movie producers had authorized a CD of the music used in the film to be distributed...but the Putumayo disc is the next best choice.

This is the best coffee documentary ever. Elegantly scripted, beautifully photographed and lovingly crafted, this is what documentary producers can do
when given the proper subject and freedom. Every coffee lover should own this.

Frank

Great DVD, watched it with my kids and we all enjoyed it. The history of coffee is amazing. I would recommend this movie for people who enjoy history, culture, economics and good coffee.