The Coffee Book: Anatomy of an Industry from Crop to the Last Drop explores the coffee trade from bean to cup. This includes production, the history of café society, dramatic tales of high-stakes international trade, health aspects, the industry’s major players, and the specialty coffee revolution. Finally, The Coffee Book considers the exploitation of labor and damage to the environment that mass cultivation causes, and explores the growing sustainable coffee market.
The first edition of the book came out in 1999 and was featured on NPR, favorably reviewed in the Economist magazine, and excerpted in the New York Times. Now, the second edition has completely revised and updated graphs, company profiles, new information on health, new information on the rise of Vietnam and the Coffee Crisis, a whole new chapter on the specialty coffee industry, and a totally revised chapter on sustainable coffees.