Customer Reviews

Coffee Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read a number of books on coffee, but Knox and Huffaker's book is simply the all-around reference on coffee. While other book publishers include snazzy photo plates and recipes to sell their expensive books, this book gives tons of useful information on what goes into a wonderful cup of coffee. The experience and the passion that the authors (who are industry experts) have for the bean shows throughout. Because of this book, I was able to significantly enhance my family and friends' coffee drinking experience. Whether you're a novice coffee drinker or a seasoned espresso barista, this is one book that should be in your reference shelf.

This book gives a good basic understanding of what coffee is all about. I especially like the specificity of information about coffees from different areas in the Regional Character chapter. For example, discussing Costa Rica's two best growing areas and how the coffees differ. I also found the opinions of which coffees are worthy of their price helpful. I read the Perfect Cup first and am glad I did because it was a good coffee overview for me. Coffee Basics was a great second book for me because I was looking for more specific information about coffees of each area. If I hadn't read Perfect Cup first I think the break down of info. on each type of coffee/regional character would have been information overload for me. If you are new or relatively new to the coffee world and are excited about learning more and more about the subtlties and nuiances present in that cup, I highly recommend you read this book.

This is not exactly a great book, but then again, not exactly a bad book. It covers much about the industry of coffee and goes over the different regions that produce coffee. It describes what is and how to brew a perfect cup of coffee.

But I get a feeling of being rushed from one tidbit of information to the next. Just while I am almost within grasp of a certain concept or am about to form a picture of what it is trying to say it ends there without further detail. But it does repeat key information more than once throughout the book so you do walk away with greater knowledge than before.

If learning about coffee was compared to eating out, this book is best suited as either an appetizer or a desert. Appetizer to whet and get your brain ready to learn more about coffee, or as a desert, to catch up on and review over learned knowledge.

I guess that's why it is called "Coffee Basics" after all.

"A Perfect Cup" is a better selection in that it contains more information and better elaboration although that book is slightly dated being published in 1994. But coffee has been around way before 1994 so does it really matter?

Great introduction to coffee - how to brew a great cup, a little bit about the industry, the different growing regions, how to buy good coffee, how to taste coffee, information about how coffee is processed. Not too complicated, easy and interesting reading. I definitely recommend this one if you're looking to learn the basics.

Mr.Knox tells full stories based upon his own experiences in the industry. And I am getting improved taste of my own brewed coffee with dozens of stories to share with my friends in Tokyo. Skepticism about our roasters has been cleaned by this book. First time I am totally touched by this book in this category.Thanks.

This is a great introduction to the world of coffee for anyone getting into any part of the industry or if you just really enjoy coffee and want to learn more about it.

I recommend this book for any person who wants to explore and expand his knowledge about the coffee. Its history, procedures, types of coffee, regions, recipes, etc. Good book with much information.

Coffee is an interesting subject and has a wonderful history as well. This book is well written and easy to read. It captivated me so much that I read the entire book in two days instead of the usual week. I just could not put the book down. The information is wonderful if you ever want anything to do with coffee. I am planning to open a coffee shop someday soon, I have purchased the building , but I need to do my homework. What a wonderful place to start. You need to understand the history of coffee, and you need to understand the attributes of coffee and the differences between the different roasts and countries of origin before you try to brew your first cup. This is the place to start no matter what your interests are. I really enjoyed reading this book and I was entertained the entire time. I would read it even if I was not interested in a business in Coffee.

I particularly enjoyed the Chapter on Regional Character (pp 47 - 71). I disagree with description of Kenya as being a "... brooding heavyweight ..." page 39. Kenyan coffee is notably light-bodied. Book has a good glossary of terms in Appendix A.

I wanted to know about coffee. This book gave me knowledge about coffee. Easy to read and to the point. After reading this book I ended up talking to individuals in the coffee business and I was able to communicate on their level about coffee and its production.