Customer Reviews

Great Coffee: The Coffee Lover's Guide

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This book is a complication of the famous 1990's publication The Coffee Companion. Kevin is a humorist in the style of Mark Twain. He's a Chicagoan who cut his teeth as a comedian at Second City. His rye sense of humor punctuates his adventures with coffee, be it begging for coffee money at suburban shopping mall or going undercover to test the coffee as inmate in the Illinois prison system. The historic coffee pictures through out the book make it a treasure trove for coffee lovers. To bad some people are so prejudice that they can't handle a light dedication to God by trying to discourage others from missing this highly unusual gem of a coffee book.

I've read almost every book about brewing coffee. This is the only author who really gives explicit step by step instructions about how to brew coffee, rather than just repeating general industry (use more or less to taste) generalizations. The chapters are entertaining. The author is very witty; he obviously loves and knows his subject. Oprah Winfrey had him as an expert guest. In my favorite chapter the author writes of visiting a prison to critique their coffee brewing, which actually proves is point about brewing. It's well illustrated. Since reading the book, I bought a Chemex and now use it every morning, which gives me the best coffee I've ever had. The only thing I wish they'd add is a detailed index.

Oh, I almost didn't get this book based upon a negative review. To be accurate, the "religious" content is a series of one-line inspirational quotes at each chapter's beginning. If someone is offended by that, they won't like a Hallmark card or they'd be offended by Life's Little Instruction Book. My guess is that the author is spiritual, but it's very light-toned and doesn't otherwise affect the content. In fact, I found it kind of touching and it underscores his profound enjoyment of coffee.

Great Coffee is my favorite coffee book.

This book is written by a devout Christian who openly shares his faith in the book. If you're a Christian, you may find this pleasing. If not, you may be turned off by it.

As for it's non-Christian content, the rest is rather thin brew. You may want to try books by Kenneth Davids, "The Joy of Coffee" by Corby Kummer (very well-written), or "Coffee Basics" by Kevin Knox and Julie Sheldon Huffaker (a little out-dated, but informative).