The Joy of Coffee: The Essential Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying - Revised and Updated [Paperback]

Corby Kummer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 2003

In this revised and updated edition of the most authoritative guide to coffee, Corby Kummer travels the country and the world to give you all the latest information you need to make a great cup at home: • The best beans and how to buy and store them • The grinder that's essential for great coffee • Incisive reports on brewing and espresso-making equipment and tips on how to get the best from them, with photographs of current models • A complete, up-to-date list of sources for beans, equipment and Fair Trade organizations

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If coffee from a can or jar is your idea of purgatory, The Joy of Coffee is the book for you. Its author, Corby Kummer, originally came to the subject of coffee while writing a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly, and he found so much to say about the bean that he decided to write a book. Kummer began with some basic questions: "What matters most in buying coffee? How can you sort through the jumble of place names and whimsical labels on beans and blends? Is a dark roast better, more sophisticated, than a light roast? Is it essential to grind coffee beans at home?" What he learned in response to these queries comprises the bulk of The Joy of Coffee.

Starting with a tour of a coffee plantation and ending in the reader's own kitchen, Kummer leads a lively and informative discussion of all phases of coffee production, from harvesting to roasting to brewing. He discusses different roasts and the different types of coffeemakers, and he even talks about caffeine consumption and methods of decaffeination that preserve the bean's flavor. At the end of The Joy of Coffee is a chapter chock full of recipes for tasty treats that either go well with coffee or include it as an ingredient. Like a great cup of Joe, The Joy of Coffee is good to the very end. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

With coffee bars springing up on every urban corner, this engrossing guide couldn't arrive at a better moment. Kummer writes on food for the Atlantic very well, thanks, because he injects his own physical experience with his subjects into the exposition. Here, he takes us through the coffee bean's progress from tree to tummy, eyewitness-style. He tells us what it's like to pick coffee because he went and picked it, what it's like to cup coffee (the method by which roasted beans are qualitatively sorted) because he cupped with the pros, what it's like roasting coffee because he tried it at home as well as scrutinized it being done as a business, etc. He analyzes and advises on grinding and brewing methods; he appreciates espresso and its appurtenances; he describes the coffees of different growing countries; he discusses caffeine and its health effects; and then, he wraps the book up with coffee-complementary dessert recipes and a resource section. Kummer's Baedeker of the exquisitely bitter brew is, as the old slogan says, good to the last drop. Ray Olson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Rev Upd Su edition (August 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618302409
• ISBN-13: 978-0618302406
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #543,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book lives up to its title., April 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Joy of Coffee: The Essential Guide to Buying, Brewing and Enjoying (Paperback)

Like most caffiene addicts I routinely start my day with a cup of coffee. And since the coffee I made at home was never as good as the coffee I could purchase just about anywhere else I would force myself to drive to a nearby coffee shop no matter how inconvenient or expensive this might be.Since I was devoting a great deal of time and money to this quest I decided to purchase Korby Cummer's The Joy of Coffee thinking that the investment would eventually result in a better home brew. Happily, the plan worked.

"Joy" is an incredibly detailed, thorough book which begins with the author traveling to Costa Rica to pick beans and includes descriptions of the various means of roasting, grinding, and and brewing. There is a chapter on Espresso and another chapter examining the health effects of caffeine. The author spends time demystifying coffee terms and compares coffees from around the world. He writes about the advantages and disadvantages of various coffeepots and includes a source guide and a glossary. But the book is not only comprehensive-- the writing is engaging. Mr. Kummer also includes forty tempting recipes. I baked the "marvelous mocha cupcakes" which the author says are "wonderful"-- sorry, but I didn't think they were better than "very good"-- in fairness the comments "scrumptious" and "amazing" were elicited by two of my friends who generously agreed to sample them. They lasted one night. I also baked his "unbeatable biscotti". They were excellent-- very crispy and light-- they lasted two nights. Naturally, I drink them with coffee I brewed from my new pot-- at home.

An excellent companion piece is "Glass Paper Beans" which eloquently describes something we would normally take for granted each day, in this case lingering over a cup of coffee at the local cafe. The author, Leah Hager Cohen, describes what is really involved when we sip our brew while browsing the local paper. She introduces us to the the family who picks the beans, the man who cuts the trees to provide the wood pulp for the newspaper and a woman who works at the glass factory and helps to make the glass that holds the coffee. After reading Ms. Cohen you will never take your daily cup for granted and Mr. Kummer will tell you how to fix that cup in your own home.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee, April 10, 2008

By 

David Brockert "constant reader" (Madison, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Joy of Coffee : The Essential Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying - Revised and Updated (Paperback)

"The Joy of Coffee" by Corby Kummer, © 1995, 1997, 2003

This is a rather amazing book. Mr. Kummer starts with the growing of the coffee bean, harvesting, and ends up describing the selection of the various beans for blends. The truly interesting part is that there end up being so many beans that are usable, or maybe that is just my reading of it. The beans are so variable coming off the tree, and the processing is so intricate, I was surprised that we actually got some coffee. Another thought was the need for exporting all the quality these countries can. They are so cash poor they have to sell all they can to provide for the economic system. We are sure lucky here to be able to enjoy the fruits of our labors without worrying so much about the money, so far.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Coffee and Equipment Guide, March 26, 2006

By 

D. Vogel - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Joy of Coffee: The Essential Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying - Revised and Updated (Paperback)

I learned a lot from this book about coffee, and it was a very valuable source of information when I recently purchased a new espresso machine.