Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World

I bought this book for my own information -- I've been a black coffee drinker for c. 60 years, and a real coffee aficionado for the past 15 years or so. The book's size and amount of information are almost overwhelming, and yet the author's clear, reader-friendly, nearly conversational writing style make it as much a "page-turner" as a good mystery novel. He covers the history, geography, economics, and complex sociology & politics of all aspects of this world-wide industry so completely as to make this work a textbook, nay, a one-volume college course. From Asia, Africa, and the Americas, to Starbuck's, Folgers, Maxwell House and everything in the U.S., it's all here. HIGHLY recommended!!

I’m only within the first few chapters so will update my review as needed. I’m typically not big on history, but apparently I love it when it comes to things I’m passionate about! I have gained so much even just in the first few chapters. It’s super informative to hear about how large a role coffee has played in world history, for the past few hundred years especially (for better or for worse), but I also walk away remembering the coolest and/or funniest facts that reveal coffee’s infiltration into almost all sectors... like how the very serious J.S. Bach wrote a hilarious cantata all about coffee! I am eating this up!

The 4 star rating is the average between the 2 editions. The 1st rates a 5*, the 2nd only a 3. I have left the review on the 1st edition & have added comments @ the bottom of the review. 1st EDITION This is an excellent history, but needs a 2nd edition. A lot has happened in the last 10 years. For instance in 2009, coffee made news as Starbucks had to close some of its shops because of the recession. Also it's now easier to find organic & Fair Trade coffee. Vietnam is now one of the top producers of Robusta beans. I wish he would have dealt a little more with coffee ads which were a major part of coffee's history during the 20th century. I didn't start drinking coffee until recently, but I never forgot the Maxwell House percolator tune, Mrs. Olsen, Juan Valdez, or the "IF I DON'T GET AMERICAN ACE COFFEE, I'M GOING BACK TO BED" commercials. Juan Valdez' influence is still felt today. Go to any grocery store & you will see 100% COLOMBIAN coffee. By the way, the man in the A.Ace. firing squad commercial in Mexico was one of Elvis Presley's back up singers. Since I was once addicted to TV, I remember the commercials very well. Be warned, the book is depressing @ times (when you read abt the coffee farmers or the civil wars & bloodbaths in the coffee producing nations), but to anyone who is interested in a detailed discussion of coffee history, this is the book to read. I hope that the author will update it. 2nd EDITION I was looking forward to this one, but can only give it mixed reviews. The preface is OK & the revised chapter FINAL GROUNDS where he updated the history is excellent. The reason I gave the 2nd ed. only 3 stars is that he chopped out quite a bit of the material from the 1st ed. to make the book shorter. He even edited out the Kona scandal. I would have preferred that he had just left the book intact (changing only what was found to be incorrect), then adding the new prefix & the update-chapter at the end. As it is the reader that who has only the 2nd ed. loses a lot of material from the 1st. So if one has the 1st ed, don't throw it away. I will leave it to the reader as to if 2 new chapters are worth the price of the book.

Most popular nonfiction books are shorter than this one, but if you are genuinely curious about why coffee quality has varied so radically over the last 50 years, this is an interesting read. Coffee is a valuable commodity, and prior to Starbucks and the emergence of the coffee culture that began in Seattle, respected coffee labels got bought out by agribusiness and crammed full of junk beans. Also, prior to the FDA, coffee was often adulterated with cheap ingredients that were actually poisonous. Growing and harvesting coffee beans is only feasible in certain conditions not common to most commercial agriculture. Newly established seedlings need 5 years to grow before beans are harvested, so there is no quick recovery from one year of ruinous weather. Harvesting the beans and tending the trees is labor intensive work done mostly by farmers struggling to get by. Buying Fair Trade coffee is important, as is preserving the South American forests where our many North American jmigratory bird spend every winter. There's some very interesting history here about where advertising has succeeded and failed. Dedicated coffee nerds will probably have the patience to thoroughly enjoy this book. Recommended to a limited audience with 5 stars.

I love coffee, so I was very interested in it's history. This book is full of surprising things about the history of coffee that I hadn't heard before, and wouldn't have expected. If you are a coffee lover, you owe it to yourself to read the history of coffee, and there couldn't be a better book than this one on the subject. Rather than being a dry history book, it's gives you the context of the events surrounding coffee's history, and the social impact it's had, both positive and negative. It's also easy to read.

I first read this book as a young teenaged coffee enthusiast who had just begun to discover that coffee is actually so much more than the Gevalia subscription my father bought me for Christmas. I always knew I wanted to add this book to my library, and I'm so glad I did! Once again, I was thrilled by the storied history of coffee, and how it has shaped governments, economies, and cultures all around the world. If you are looking for a comprehensive look at coffee, and the industry as a whole, this is the book for you; if you are a lover of history, this is the book for you; if you just want to know what the big deal is with coffee, this is the book for you. In my mind, this is pretty much the coffee bible.

Being a Brazilian I can assure you that I learned more about my country history with coffee than anywhere else. I rightly recommend this book.

My first coffee book.. And it is an astonishing read... You would not believe the level of detail and effort put on this single 480 page book.. A must for coffee lovers.. As a barista in a major coffee chain here in the UK I must say that the level of knowledge I have acquired from this single book surpasses by light years the one provided to us by the company. Is it worth the £12.59? YES! will be reading this again and again for years to come...

If anyone has an interest in the history of coffee...this is the book to read! A lot to read, but if your interest is there...you won't put the book down. Of course...while drinking a coffee!

Recipient seemed pleased with the book, plenty of information about the new hobby and was looking forward to trying out allt he different coffees from around the world.