Book review: God in a Cup: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Coffee by Michaele Weissman

Posted In: Me February 5th, 2014 divider No Comments »

It seems coffee and running is intertwined at every step in my life. It’s hard to imagine a run on a weekday or weekend morning without a cup of java before or after. Or both.

This book was referred to me by Craig Hall from Equator Coffee. A must read for anyone who considers themselves a coffee connoisseur. I learned so much about the history of coffee and the business side of it including sourcing and roasting.

Coffee is a huge industry, after crude oil, coffee is the most sought commodity in the world, worth over $100 billion worldwide. And like any other industry in this day and age, there are good and bad facets to it.

The book also goes into every details that accompanies a cupping, a coffee tasting. It also explores its culture and history and science with all sorts of trivia in. Like every hierarchy, there are rituals and rules to follow. Who knew?

The book also goes more into details in the fast growing segment  they call premium coffee, with some beans getting hundreds of dollars a pound. The author checks out “Third Wave” coffee roasters as well as international events and coffee farms and plantations.

It also sheds light on the fair-trade and organic movements. As always, in theory it sounds great but in practice it’s not always black and white.

It’s great to find out about what happens behind the scenes to your beans and get some education on the sector, especially if you’re like me and you devour coffee on a daily basis. Trust me, after reading this book. You’ll also think twice about reaching for that cup of Tim Hortons coffee.

On a total aside, I also find it weird when people don’t drink coffee. Can you trust those people?