Craft Coffee – A Manual by Jessica Easto and Andreas Willhoff. This book is for someone who falls in love with quality coffee and gets serious about learning the “craft” of brewing delicious coffee at home.
As a home brewer, who geeked about coffee for 2-3 years, I loved the book. It covers all essential topics around brewing at home – basic parameters, choosing coffee / equipments, how to brew. and how to taste (details later). The depth in each topic felt largely balanced – neither too shallow to not feel meaningful, nor too advanced and overwhelming. The focus is on the craft of coffee brewing and not much into non-brewing aspects.
It mostly recommends a practical and flexible approach rather than some idealistic and snobby approach, which I really apreciate. The coffee knowledge comes from a background of Jessica’s home brewing for 8+ years and Andreas’s years of professional experience in the coffee industry. Note that this book is written in American context as the authors are based out of US, however it doesn’t really matter in most topics barring the roasters & cafes mentioned. Also, it doesn’t cover espresso brewing.
The chapters and contents are about –
- ‘Brewing Basics’ covers how multiple parameters impact extraction – strength / yield, brew ratio and dose, grind size, contact time, water, temperature, pour. And that it’s important to tweak parameters as per the coffee you are trying to brew.
- ‘Choosing Hardware’ talks about types of brewers / devices, grinders, scales, kettles, thermometer, servers and some tips and guidance of how to go about choosing them.
- ‘The Coffee’ is more about coffee origins and talks about the bean to cup journey. It talks about the beans, varietals and cultivars, origins, process, roast, decaffeination.
- ‘Buying Coffee’ is about where to buy good coffee from, aspect of seasonality, deciphering a coffee bag and storage of beans.
- ‘The Flavor’ teaches the language of coffee tasting – acidity, sweetness, bitterness, mouthfeel, aroma. It gives a beginner friendly and well structured way to assess coffee.
- ‘Brew Methods’ has one or more recipes to 10 manual brew devices including multiple pour over brewers, AeroPress, French Press, Syphon.
- ‘Troubleshooting, Tips and tricks ‘ talks about what to tweak in case the brew is not tasting right.
In the chapter for ‘The Coffee’, I really hoped to see the mention of Indian coffee. (sniff)
Overall I believe Craft Coffee – A Manual is great for anyone who wants to learn to brew better coffee at home, but may have little or no past knowledge or experience.
If you liked what I write you might want to follow my journey on Instagram @journal_of_a_coffee_enthusiast.
Journal of a Coffee Enthusiast 