100 books like Tasting Coffee

By Kenneth Liberman,

Here are 100 books that Tasting Coffee fans have personally recommended if you like Tasting Coffee. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Coffee: Production, Quality and Chemistry

Shawn Steiman Author Of The Little Coffee Know-It-All: A Miscellany for Growing, Roasting, and Brewing, Uncompromising and Unapologetic

From my list on coffee books by academics that anyone can understand.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coffee was a hobby that went off the rails. I moved to Hawai‘i to study coffee horticulture in graduate school and became a generalist coffee scientist by the end of it. My coffee library contains over 100 books, and it is incomplete! I approach coffee as an academic, but I’ve owned some retail companies that have taught me to talk and think about coffee in a way that doesn’t scare people off. Coffee is what I love, and I love talking about it with other people.

Shawn's book list on coffee books by academics that anyone can understand

Shawn Steiman Why did Shawn love this book?

These two volumes are some 1400 pages of coffee science goodness! Yes, there are chemical structures, lists, tables, and unfamiliar words. However, those typically help make things clearer (though it won’t always be the case).

The range of topics is immense, written by experts from around the world. I love that I can start almost any research quest with these books, and I’ll walk away with a good foundation on the topic.

By Adriana Farah (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Coffee as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world but how does the production influence chemistry and quality? This book covers coffee production, quality and chemistry from the plant to the cup. Written by an international collection of contributors in the field who concentrate on coffee research, it is edited expertly to ensure quality of content, consistency and organization across the chapters.

Aimed at advanced undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers and accompanied by a sister volume covering how health is influenced by the consumption of coffee, these titles provide an impactful and accessible guide to the current research in…


Book cover of The Craft and Science of Coffee

Shawn Steiman Author Of The Little Coffee Know-It-All: A Miscellany for Growing, Roasting, and Brewing, Uncompromising and Unapologetic

From my list on coffee books by academics that anyone can understand.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coffee was a hobby that went off the rails. I moved to Hawai‘i to study coffee horticulture in graduate school and became a generalist coffee scientist by the end of it. My coffee library contains over 100 books, and it is incomplete! I approach coffee as an academic, but I’ve owned some retail companies that have taught me to talk and think about coffee in a way that doesn’t scare people off. Coffee is what I love, and I love talking about it with other people.

Shawn's book list on coffee books by academics that anyone can understand

Shawn Steiman Why did Shawn love this book?

If I only had one science-y book that focuses on coffee quality, it might be this one. I love it because it covers topics that consumers, baristas, and roasters want to know about. It isn’t too big and, thankfully, not too expensive.  

I also love that it includes some chapters on sustainability, economics, and markets. So, it isn’t just hard sciences that are discussed, but practical information on the coffee industry at large, as well.

By Britta Folmer (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Craft and Science of Coffee as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Craft and Science of Coffee follows the coffee plant from its origins in East Africa to its current role as a global product that influences millions of lives though sustainable development, economics, and consumer desire.

For most, coffee is a beloved beverage. However, for some it is also an object of scientifically study, and for others it is approached as a craft, both building on skills and experience. By combining the research and insights of the scientific community and expertise of the crafts people, this unique book brings readers into a sustained and inclusive conversation, one where academic and…


Book cover of Cheap Coffee: Behind the Curtain of the Global Coffee Trade

Shawn Steiman Author Of The Little Coffee Know-It-All: A Miscellany for Growing, Roasting, and Brewing, Uncompromising and Unapologetic

From my list on coffee books by academics that anyone can understand.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coffee was a hobby that went off the rails. I moved to Hawai‘i to study coffee horticulture in graduate school and became a generalist coffee scientist by the end of it. My coffee library contains over 100 books, and it is incomplete! I approach coffee as an academic, but I’ve owned some retail companies that have taught me to talk and think about coffee in a way that doesn’t scare people off. Coffee is what I love, and I love talking about it with other people.

Shawn's book list on coffee books by academics that anyone can understand

Shawn Steiman Why did Shawn love this book?

I love this book because it is so depressing. This book does an amazing job of exploring and explaining the economics of the coffee industry, especially as it affects farmers. It paints a grim picture (hence the depression), and it does not try to sugarcoat anything.  The global coffee industry is incredibly complex, and this book tries to explain it to us.

I struggled with some of the economic concepts (this book, too, opens with a deep dive into economic academia). However, for the most part, those struggles didn’t interfere with my understanding of the essential ideas in the book.

By Karl Wienhold,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Cheap Coffee as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Coffee: Growing, Processing, Sustainable Production: A Guidebook for Growers, Processors, Traders and Researchers

Shawn Steiman Author Of The Little Coffee Know-It-All: A Miscellany for Growing, Roasting, and Brewing, Uncompromising and Unapologetic

From my list on coffee books by academics that anyone can understand.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coffee was a hobby that went off the rails. I moved to Hawai‘i to study coffee horticulture in graduate school and became a generalist coffee scientist by the end of it. My coffee library contains over 100 books, and it is incomplete! I approach coffee as an academic, but I’ve owned some retail companies that have taught me to talk and think about coffee in a way that doesn’t scare people off. Coffee is what I love, and I love talking about it with other people.

Shawn's book list on coffee books by academics that anyone can understand

Shawn Steiman Why did Shawn love this book?

It can be a challenge for academics to write books that are everyday-useful to practitioners.

I love this book because it is written as a guide for farmers. Thus, anyone can read it and learn about coffee biology, production, processing, defects, and a slew of other topics without needing a technical background. I always start looking for production-relevant material with this book. It has never led me astray!

By Jean Nicolas Wintgens (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Coffee as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An outstanding and currently the only comprehensive handbook for the coffee-professional. 40 authors from the leading coffee-growing countries present the most recent technologies applied to coffee husbandry. The book features 900 carefully selected illustrations, 300 of these in full color, which substantiate the written text. The handbook provides basic guidelines and recommendations which are applicable everywhere rather than referring to any specific country. Added to this, the reader will find numerous data tables and an overview of relevant information sources.


Book cover of The View from Nowhere

David Edmonds Author Of Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers

From my list on read before you turn 25.

Why am I passionate about this?

David Edmonds is a philosopher, podcaster, and curry fanatic. A distinguished research fellow at Oxford’s Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, he is the author of many books including Wittgenstein’s Poker (with John Eidinow), The Murder of Professor Schlick, Would You Kill The Fat Man?, and Undercover Robot (with Bertie Fraser). If you eat at his local restaurant, The Curry Paradise, he recommends you order the Edmonds Biriani.

David's book list on read before you turn 25

David Edmonds Why did David love this book?

Perhaps my favourite philosophy book of all time. Humans have the unique ability to take a detached view of our lives and actions. Call this an objective perspective. Thomas Nagel argues that many of our philosophical problems – such as the attempt to understand free will, or consciousness – stem from a clash between the subjective and objective standpoints. For example, we believe (subjectively), that we are free, that we have free will, that we can raise our right arm, or choose whether or not to go to shopping. But from an objective perspective we might reflect that, like everything else in the universe, we are governed by causal laws. A beautiful writer, Nagel can make the most complex issues seem simple.  He will make you feel cleverer than you are! The View From Nowhere is my model for how philosophy books should be written.

By Thomas Nagel,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The View from Nowhere as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Much philosophical debate has attempted to reconcile the human capacity to view the world both objectively and subjectively. Thomas Nagel's ambitious and lively book tackles this fundamental issue, arguing that our divided nature is the root of a whole range of philosophical problems, touching, as it does, every aspect of human life. He deals with its manifestations in such fields of philosophy as the mind-body problem, personal identity, knowledge and scepticism,
thought and reality, free will, and ethics.
From reviews of the hardback:

`Remarkable ... all of his discussions are clear and insightful, but some reach a level of originality…


Book cover of Atlas Shrugged

DL Tolleson Author Of The Gray Stopgap

From my list on movie-ready thrills and good plots.

Why am I passionate about this?

In childhood, I memorized the Encyclopedia’s human anatomy pages, leading the family physician to explain, “Children like this become doctors or writers.” Good call, Doc! I wrote 14 of the 92 entries in my high school’s annual literary magazine (the most by one student). In college I earned a Bachelor’s, two Associates and Intercollegiate Press Association awards for Journalism and photography. I followed that with years of photography, photographic surveillance, 14 years of law firm litigation support, a temporary appointment as an SBA Paralegal Specialist, and 7 years of contract compliance at RadioShack headquarters. And, of course, my debut novel took 20 years of 8 drafts—I’m methodical that way.

DL's book list on movie-ready thrills and good plots

DL Tolleson Why did DL love this book?

Few novels epitomize excellence in as many areas as Ayn Rand’s book. I don't know if it was because it never came up during the years of my formal education, but I put off reading it for years after I became vaguely aware of it. And then I read it twice.

One might think of it in terms of being part one of Orwell’s 1984. The two books are nowhere near similar, but whereas 1984 is a dystopian future without regard for how society would get to such a point, Atlas Shrugged is the embryonic steps that could lead to an Orwellian future.

The most remarkable aspect of it, is its portrayal of an economic downtrend imposed upon free-market capitalism and its resulting impact on the country. The crux of Rand’s novel is that if the giants of industry shrugged—or rather just walked away from the imposition of tyranny—everything…

By Ayn Rand,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Atlas Shrugged as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged was Ayn Rand's greatest achievement and last work of fiction. In this novel she dramatizes her unique philosophy through an intellectual mystery story that integrates ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sex. Set in a near-future U.S.A. whose economy is collapsing as a result of the mysterious disappearance of leading innovators and industrialists, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life-from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy...to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction...to the philosopher who becomes a pirate...to the woman who…


Book cover of Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth

Georg Loefflmann Author Of The Politics of Antagonism: Populist Security Narratives and the Remaking of Political Identity

From my list on understand how populism works.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Lecturer in US Foreign Policy at Queen Mary University of London, and I work on issues of national security and identity, political rhetoric and the role of the everyday in shaping politics, especially media and popular culture. I have written extensively on American politics and US foreign policy over these past years with two published monographs and more than a dozen articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, plus a couple of op-eds and multiple TV and radio appearances. My most recent research project explores the role of populism under the Trump presidency and its political impact in the United States.

Georg's book list on understand how populism works

Georg Loefflmann Why did Georg love this book?

Written by a journalist and media expert in a very engaging way, Hoax made me think about populism in a different way. It’s not just about politics, but about how we consume information, what we perceive of as facts, and the role of the media in confirming our own biases and creating our reality.

I learned a lot about media dynamics in general and the mechanics of Fox News in particular, and it showed me how the boundaries of politics, entertainment and media increasingly overlap and become less and less distinguishable from one another.  

By Brian Stelter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hoax as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The instant New York Times bestseller that reveals the collusion between Fox News and Donald Trump—with explosive new reporting covering the election and the January 6 riot.

As the nation recovers from the Trump presidency, many questions remain: Why was the COVID-19 pandemic so grossly mishandled? How did we get so politically polarized? What caused white nationalist groups to come out of the shadows, and are they here to stay?

The answers lie the twisted story of the relationship between Donald Trump and Fox News. Through firsthand accounts from over 250 current and former Fox insiders, CNN anchor and chief…


Book cover of The Journalist and the Murderer

David Wilson Author Of A History Of British Serial Killing: The Shocking Account of Jack the Ripper, Harold Shipman and Beyond

From my list on true crime about murder and serial murder.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a former Prison Governor who has had to work with a number of murderers and serial murderers – and who now writes about them as Emeritus Professor of Criminology – my professional life has inevitably been dominated by violent men. As they might say in the United States, I have “walked the walk” before doing my talking and I try and bring this applied dimension into my written and more academic work.

David's book list on true crime about murder and serial murder

David Wilson Why did David love this book?

First published in 1990 – based on a series of articles originally written for The New Yorker, this book is a warning to true crime authors the world over about the morality of reaching out and writing with and about murderers. 

The journalist in question is Joe McGinniss and the murderer is the former Special Forces Captain Dr Jeffrey MacDonald who became the subject of McGinniss’s 1983 book Fatal Vision. Is it ethical to collaborate with someone who has been accused of murder? What are the pitfalls that need to be managed? And, at the end of the day, who is conning who – the journalist or the murderer?

By Janet Malcolm,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The Journalist and the Murderer as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible'

In equal measure famous and infamous, Janet Malcolm's book charts the true story of a lawsuit between Jeffrey MacDonald, a convicted murderer, and Joe McGinniss, the author of a book about the crime. Lauded as one of the Modern Libraries "100 Best Works of Nonfiction", The Journalist and the Murderer is fascinating and controversial, a contemporary classic of reportage.


Book cover of The Production of Knowledge: Enhancing Progress in Social Science

Rick Szostak Author Of Integrating the Human Sciences: Enhancing Progress and Coherence across the Social Sciences and Humanities

From my list on reforming the social sciences and humanities.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am proud to be a human (social) scientist but think that we could collectively achieve a much more successful human science enterprise. And I believe that a better human science would translate into better public policy. Most human scientists focus on their own research, paying little attention to how the broader enterprise functions. I have written many works of a methodological nature over the years. I am pleased to point here to a handful of works with sound advice for enhancing the human science enterprise.

Rick's book list on reforming the social sciences and humanities

Rick Szostak Why did Rick love this book?

The excellent contributions to this volume tackle three critical problems in social science.

The first is the crisis of replication: research results are rarely replicated and often cannot be. The second is that theories rise and fall without adding to our understanding. The third is that the little bits of understanding that we do possess are not tied into a larger whole. I found the analysis persuasive and the writing very clear.

The recommendations, especially for greater attempts at integration, complement those that I make in my own book. 

By Colin Elman (editor), John Gerring (editor), James Mahoney (editor)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Production of Knowledge as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Whilst a great deal of progress has been made in recent decades, concerns persist about the course of the social sciences. Progress in these disciplines is hard to assess and core scientific goals such as discovery, transparency, reproducibility, and cumulation remain frustratingly out of reach. Despite having technical acumen and an array tools at their disposal, today's social scientists may be only slightly better equipped to vanquish error and construct an edifice of truth than their forbears - who conducted analyses with slide rules and wrote up results with typewriters. This volume considers the challenges facing the social sciences, as…


Book cover of Making the Social World: The Structure of Human Civilization

Geoff Mulgan Author Of Big Mind: How Collective Intelligence Can Change Our World

From my list on how societies think.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve worked top-down with dozens of governments worldwide and bottom-up with many campaigns, start-ups, and social enterprises. I realised that the connecting thread is how to mobilise shared intelligence to address the big challenges like cutting carbon emissions or reducing inequality, and how to avoid the collective stupidity we all see around us. We waste so much of the insight and creativity that sits in peoples’ heads. I thought we were missing both good theory and enough practical methods to make the most of technologies – from the Internet to generative AI – that could help us. I hope that my book – and the work I do – provides some of the answers.

Geoff's book list on how societies think

Geoff Mulgan Why did Geoff love this book?

This is a philosopher's take on many similar issues, exploring how our social world is made through imagination and fictions which we then choose, collectively to believe in. 

He is a very clear and crisp writer which helps.  He looks at the constructed reality of money, property, governments, marriages, stock markets, and cocktail parties and the paradox that these only exist because we think they exist, yet they then have an objective existence.

By John Searle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Making the Social World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The renowned philosopher John Searle reveals the fundamental nature of social reality. What kinds of things are money, property, governments, nations, marriages, cocktail parties, and football games? Searle explains the key role played by language in the creation, constitution, and maintenance of social reality.
We make statements about social facts that are completely objective, for example: Barack Obama is President of the United States, the piece of paper in my hand is a twenty-dollar bill, I got married in London, etc. And yet these facts only exist because we think they exist. How is it possible that we can have…


Book cover of Coffee: Production, Quality and Chemistry
Book cover of The Craft and Science of Coffee
Book cover of Cheap Coffee: Behind the Curtain of the Global Coffee Trade

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