The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee Growing Roasting and Drinking With Recipes Review

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The brewing instructions were pretty good, but they might daunt a reader who's just curious about making better coffee and isn't yet willing to invest a lot of time and money. I think The Joy of Coffee is both more useful and more accessible. Come back to The Blue Bottle Arts and crafts if and when you're ready for more.
Some of the stories almost Blue Bottle'southward business nosotros
This book is a mix of general instruction near coffee, advice on how to make coffee, the history of Blue Canteen, and baking recipes.The brewing instructions were pretty good, but they might daunt a reader who'south just curious about making better coffee and isn't even so willing to invest a lot of time and money. I think The Joy of Coffee is both more useful and more accessible. Come back to The Bluish Bottle Craft if and when you're prepare for more.
Some of the stories about Blue Canteen's business were interesting, merely they come across every bit kind of full of themselves. There's a long paragraph that treats being awake at 5:thirty AM to start roasting coffee as some kind of of import philosophical human action. Puh-charter.
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This volume turned out to exist a testament neither to James Freeman, (cocky confessed hero of his ain story in this book) nor to the Bluebottle enterprise, (his tweaky / high-end coffee chain), but --- to the power of the cyberspace, the kind of
Warning, this is about obsessive, farthermost caffeine practices, and might not audio entirely reasonable to the occasional passerby. But if you grind and brew your own java, fresh for every loving cup you lot brand, if yous've maybe even roasted your own, come along . . .This volume turned out to exist a testament neither to James Freeman, (self confessed hero of his own story in this volume) nor to the Bluebottle enterprise, (his tweaky / high-finish coffee chain), merely --- to the power of the net, the kind of person that uses it, and its obsessive user groups interim independently. Who plough upward and turn out more information-- at no cost or obligation-- than whatsoever 'enthusiast' book, store or scene tin can possibly compete with.
Over the years, I've come around in my ain coffee brewing, to a very happy and simple formulation of what makes keen coffee happen in my kitchen. Merely it hasn't been a elementary solution. Since the onset of the java-drinking era equally a teenager, I've been post-obit new developments and old-schoolhouse renaissance movements in coffee civilisation; this wasn't because I'k and then very progressive in outlook, but considering the level of java quality in America is so drastically uneven. Anyone who e'er got a glimpse over and above the grim, faded façade of the Maxwell House . . . knew there could be a meliorate future. The odds of getting proper coffee in this country, exterior of hipster sanctuaries, and even in 2013, is at all-time a 5o/5o proposition. Anyone who'south had a long wait at the problem has had to take the procedure into their own hands, or flip the coin.
Long before at that place was a starbucks on every corner, the Italian methods came to the States past way of the Little Italys of the land, and the urban hip-zones, going dorsum to the fifties. If you were outside of that loop you lot got thin, objectionable, burnt coffee. For me the reply has been a long journey of invested resources and fourth dimension. Cutting to the nowadays, and afterward hundreds of dollars in espresso machines (okay, more than), thousands of hours of happy practice, and uncounted pounds of coffee . . . some interested nosing-around on the cyberspace led to something where you didn't even use a car.
Rather than outlining my search, I'd propose googling "flower" or pour-over brewing, and paying attending to annihilation that references the Japanese methods, similar the 'Hario' or 'Nel' ways of doing coffee. For me the bloom came early, long before the Hario, but it is largely the same matter, a careful, irksome formulation of what is basically a "drip" methodology. And without steam, chrome machines, timers, valves, pressure-gauges or cocky-of import baristas pulling levers and looking faux-casual.
(Worth it here to note, I'm not suggesting that a Blossom or Pour-Over is the same as an Espresso or Cappuccino, or necessarily fifty-fifty replaces those classic coffee types. I'1000 merely maxim that for me, the concept of "Cup Of Coffee" is taken to considerable, subtle new heights via the basic bloom affair, fifty-fifty to the extent of not caring if I e'er get near those frothy icons always once again. Everyone's mileage varies, just this fundamentally primitive method takes water, coffee, and a bit of paper or flannel --and makes something unbelievably sophisticated.)
Having gone down all that road I rarely fifty-fifty pick up books virtually coffee, and if it weren't for Blue Bottle'southward renown in the Pour-Over world, would not accept croaky this one either. And funny thing. Other than a few odd factoids, I kind of already knew just about everything on offer here in The Bluish Canteen Craft Of Java. Information technology should exist emphasized that there is valuable info here, and some of it may even be startling for the coffee novice. Just I found this surprisingly gratis of whatsoever truly unusual info, and certainly anything of use here tin can also exist found on the net.
Strange, really, that these methodologies, something so onetime-school and retro / analog / dare-we-say-it-genuinely-hip--- can be found for the price of a google search. No belatedly nights, no San Francisco alleyway haunts, no Greenwich village or Tokyo adventures required. It's just out at that place, in the infinite ether, where cats are grumpy only emoticons wink, and coffee is ever the fuel.
__________
*** Annotation to Mr Freeman, do please end using the word "delicious" in every paragraph. It stopped feeling casual or beautiful near 3oo iterations early, mayhap around when you lot branched into as well maxim "deliciousness". No large deal, just please.

Having cut his proverbial teeth on roasting, a
Existence more than a casual coffee drinker, I've read a lot on the subject over the years and while I know that what I know is more than the boilerplate person, information technology is still quite limited. This book confirmed that "quite" part of my limits! Let's telephone call this book extreme coffee. Don't misunderstand, it'south clearly a passion for Freeman and it shows in his writing...and he has a wealth of knowledge that he skillfully condensed for the reader. An appetite whetter.Having cut his proverbial teeth on roasting, and made his living since 2002 doing that, Freeman talks a lot about it - fifty-fifty offer a abode method. He discusses varietals, more as a overview than a treatise. And his examples of his descriptions of some of his company'south roasts are quite the imagery. He discusses many different brewing methods (the details might be a bit much for the coincidental drinker), concentrating on the ins and outs of espresso. I had to laugh at the affiliate/section title for the single cup travesty: "A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL: POD COFFEE".
And then other than the nuances and incredibly specific details, I learned that
Nippon's coffee civilization is 1 of the most refined in the world, and it has had a huge influence on what we practice a lot Blue Canteen [his company].
I besides learned that the Starbucks, et al, actually don't know how to make a macchiato (okay, I already did know, but non to the gram level...) And I learned that melting chocolate with water is richer than milk. That's from the 2nd half, which is all about things to eat with java. Lots of recipes.
Recommended for the coffee drinker who wants more in the toolbox and for anyone with a thirst...for knowledge.
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ofc Freeman knows a lot near coffee, and he is perhaps The Guy when it comes to third-wave coffee in the bay area
his pretentiousness kinda irked me (like cmon you don't have to reference Proust or Bergman dude) only i actually loved his trans-sensory descriptions of coffee. his musical analogies when describing coffee were especially interesting
the volume covers a good spread of noesis. in that location were some things that i wish he'd expand on more (eg why no single-shot baskets??)
yes information technology's pretty proficientofc Freeman knows a lot about coffee, and he is perhaps The Guy when it comes to tertiary-wave coffee in the bay area
his pretentiousness kinda irked me (like cmon yous don't have to reference Proust or Bergman dude) but i really loved his trans-sensory descriptions of coffee. his musical analogies when describing coffee were specially interesting
the book covers a proficient spread of knowledge. there were some things that i wish he'd expand on more than (eg why no single-shot baskets??) but in general this is a solid introductory coffee book
i skipped the recipes distressing
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I begged and begged them to let me endeavour the coffee, and after my prolonged campaign, they finally let me take a sip. Of course, I was repulsed. I couldn't believe how terrible it tasted compared to how good it smelled. It turns out that the whoosh of java olfactory property coming from the can was the best moment that the java had. The maximally cheap, underdeveloped, preground coffee never had a take a chance of tasting good. This experience s folio 4 | location 58-63 | Added on Wednesday, 27 August 2014 23:39:59
I begged and begged them to let me attempt the coffee, and after my prolonged campaign, they finally let me take a sip. Of course, I was repulsed. I couldn't believe how terrible it tasted compared to how good it smelled. Information technology turns out that the whoosh of coffee aroma coming from the tin can was the all-time moment that the coffee had. The maximally inexpensive, underdeveloped, preground coffee never had a chance of tasting good. This experience stayed with me much longer than it would have had the coffee been delicious—the tension between smelling something great and having it taste horrible gnawed abroad at me over the years. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was supposed to be more than to the experience of drinking coffee.
page 16 | location 239-244 | Added on Wednesday, 27 August 2014 23:59:14
The platonic growing conditions for arabica coffee are a constant moderate temperature, a breadth between approximately 10 degrees north and south of the equator, and an altitude approximately 3,000 anxiety to 6,000 feet (915 m to 1,830 1000), though java is grown successfully at lower altitudes. The higher the coffee is grown, the more slowly it develops and the denser the beans get, which can create more than interesting flavors. Much like wine grapes grown under "stressful" conditions in great growing regions, the challenge of altitude forces java plants to focus their energy on developing seeds, rather than more extensive vegetative growth, which would be the plant's inclination under less stressful circumstances.
page 17 | location 258-259 | Added on Th, 28 August 2014 00:01:46
Yields average around 2 to iii pounds (0.9 to 1.4 kg) of dark-green coffee per tree per year. Each 100 pounds (45 kg) of coffee cherries results in about 20 pounds (ix.1 kg) of green coffee.
folio 22 | location 327-329 | Added on Thursday, 28 August 2014 00:09:24
Whether out of economic constraints or the desire for a simple, delicious, muted flavour profile, Italian coffee companies have been putting fourth dimension and free energy into the careful development and maintenance of their espresso blends for decades.
page 22 | location 333-336 | Added on Th, 28 Baronial 2014 00:x:36
However, espresso extraction tends to increase the perception of acidity and body and mute funky qualities. So one of the reasons espresso extraction evolved is that Italians figured out how to utilise modest ingredients to make something succulent, the same way they reinvented basic cornmeal into polenta and, when they had no chocolate, created gianduja using sugar, cocoa powder, and hazelnuts.
page 27 | location 406-409 | Added on Thursday, 28 Baronial 2014 21:34:36
The rapid growth of Brazilian coffee farming in the nineteenth century, which caused massive deforestation, also led to Brazil's well-nigh domination of the market. The state produced 80 percent of the world's coffee for a time in the early 1900s, a number that has since fallen to around thirty per centum. Java played a huge role in the industrialization of Brazil.
page 28 | location 425-427 | Added on Thursday, 28 August 2014 21:36:48
Brazilian coffee tends to take a softer, more muted flavor than those grown at higher elevations, and this quality is heightened by natural and pulped natural processing. It has a lovely, round, gentle quality and is rarely strident. It has sweetness—molasses and sugary tones—without many fruity notes. Good Brazilian coffee is comforting, likable, and seldom polarizing.
page 46 | location 701-704 | Added on Thursday, 28 August 2014 21:56:20
Roasting is, by definition, manipulation. While the quality of the raw materials helps determine the quality of the finished product, roasting is about making choices: which qualities in a java do you want to highlight, and which exercise you want to suppress? When I loving cup our coffee, I recall about pleasance and context: Is this java delicious and interesting? Are we bringing out an appropriate flavor for the context intended for it? Have we failed to elicit something potentially appealing?
page 51 | location 773-776 | Added on Thursday, 28 Baronial 2014 22:04:53
For every varietal, you want to find the drib temp that enhances the qualities that brand that item java special. For instance, altitude tin correlate with density, and denser, high-superlative coffees, say from Federal democratic republic of ethiopia, often taste better when roasted with a higher driblet temperature. On the other hand, a lower-height coffee from Brazil tin can't take as much heat, so you would drop the Brazil at a lower temperature than the Ethiopian.
folio 57 | location 867-869 | Added on Thursday, 28 Baronial 2014 22:15:xvi
As a java roaster, your life is divided in roughly 17-minute segments—plenty time to load the green coffee, roast it, dump it, cool information technology, and send information technology on its mode. That means you lot accept nearly twenty-v chances in an average mean solar day, 125 chances in a calendar week, and 6,500 chances a year to make something cute.
page 58 | location 875-879 | Added on Thursday, 28 Baronial 2014 22:16:32
Coffee has a life bridge: subsequently being roasted, it gets more interesting for upward to nine days after roasting—fuller, more circuitous, and generally more enjoyable. After that time, at that place's an inevitable turn down. Coffee oxidizes. The flavors go less vibrant, and eventually the java tastes slow. It's stale. There's really null yous can exercise about information technology. Darker roasts are more perishable. Those tend to have a palpable decline within seven days later being roasted. Lighter roasts take longer to get to their tiptop and to get stale, especially light roasts of dense, well-harvested,
page 59 | location 901-903 | Added on Th, 28 August 2014 22:19:24
(Aside from colour, another way to assess when coffee is roasted to a medium level is if oil is visible, like lilliputian pin pricks, on the surface of the beans five to six days after roasting, simply of course you can't employ that indicator while roasting.)
page 77 | location 1178-1180 | Added on Thursday, 28 August 2014 22:53:08
Darker-roasted coffees mostly do good from narrower, or tighter, brewing ratios (meaning smaller amounts of water per a given corporeality of coffee). They also benefit from larger particle size, more recent roasting, and lower-temperature h2o.
page 77 | location 1180-1183 | Added on Th, 28 August 2014 22:53:48
For two of the most popular blends Blue Bottle serves, which are on the darker side, we like a x-to-1 brewing ratio on the 2d through fifth day after roasting, with 188°F (87°C) h2o. In contrast, with dense, very high-altitude, meticulously harvested and processed single-origin coffees roasted very lightly, nosotros've found that a wider brewing ratio, hotter water, and a longer rest fourth dimension draws
page 78 | location 1194-1197 | Added on Th, 28 August 2014 22:55:10
generally like a full brewing time of three to 3½ minutes, which works out to nearly i.5 seconds per milliliter. While it's fairly obvious that you tin can vary the extraction rate by the speed at which you pour, grind size is also a cistron. A effectively grind will excerpt more slowly, regardless of the charge per unit at which y'all pour. Extraction will also be slower if y'all're using a grinder that produces a lot of fines, powdery particles that can clog the pores of the filter.
page 79 | location 1205-1206 | Added on Thursday, 28 August 2014 22:56:x
Generally, water that is between 190°F and 205°F (88°C and 96°C) yields the best results, only experimenting is a fun part of the process. Every bit a dominion, the longer the extraction period, the lower the h2o temperature should be. Otherwise you risk heat damaging the java.
folio 83 | location 1259-1263 | Added on Thursday, 28 August 2014 23:03:00
Can you cascade twice the weight of the ground coffee corporeality without whatsoever dripping? 1.75 times? ii.25 times? You tin take satisfaction from doing this well, but it isn't only a geeky fine point; it has an impact on the coffee you brew. It facilitates blooming, the process in which hot h2o causes the java to aggrandize outward in a fascinating way. Allow it to bloom for thirty to 45 seconds, or up to 60 seconds for coffee roasted over 1 week previously. A slightly longer blooming fourth dimension tin can add a lot of depth and vitality to older coffee.
folio 124 | location 1887-1890 | Added on Friday, 29 August 2014 16:02:52
What critics of the current country of Italian java oft ignore is what the state has achieved, which is nearly-universal capability. At about any café in Italia, you can balance bodacious that the coffee will be at worst not bad, and at best pretty darn good. This isn't faint praise; this is actually a glorious achievement—one that's difficult to imagine occurring anywhere else on the planet. ...more

But, believe it or not, this volume is more than focused on things other than Granola. Information technology is part autobiography, part love story, part mad man's coffee manifesto and part cook volume. It is wrapped into a beautifully jump, wonderfully photographed book which I found to be highly enjoyable. While I may never spend the hours (and thousands of dollars) in learning to pull a perfect espresso shot I have new respect for those that value the fine art. And while I may value the convenience of my baste coffee maker over mastering the perfect pour over technique and java to h2o ratio I have a new understanding of what makes coffee cracking and how to make mine better.
I seldom "read" my cookbooks but I was captured by this one and that is a good affair. Highly recommended for the coffee or granola lover in your life, especially if that person is yourself.
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However, it's definitely inspired me to seek out some actually good coffee, and I bookmarked several of the cookie recipes. :-) If you recall coffee is absolutely the most important thing in the world, this book is for y'all! If not, I still recommend it simply yous might need to put it down once in a while and roll your optics just the tiniest bit.
Still, it'south definitely inspired me to seek out some really good coffee, and I bookmarked several of the cookie recipes. :-) ...more



I remember the kickoff one-half w
At final I found answers to many of my questions. Since two years ago, I have been trying to make latte art at home (with a lot of progress and not the kind of success I expected). This volume was helpful to some extent. I take recently paid more attention to the origins of coffee beans and the roasting methods. This book shed a lot of lite. I take likewise tried to roast java at home, which was non much of a success. This book helped me find a lot about my roasting mistakes.I retrieve the first half was dense in information. I found the second half somehow diluted and verbose.
If you lot like coffee and bask it, yous might savor it even more and get deeper into it with this book (the book is not a requirement for enjoying coffee, though it helps a lot with agreement the countless number of factors impacting the experience).
Beneath I am bringing some notes I have taken from this book:
"coffee should preferably be consumed inside a year of harvest, though that tin vary depending upon how it's packed, shipped, and stored."
"The ideal growing conditions for arabica java are a constant moderate temperature, a latitude between approximately 10 degrees northward and south of the equator, and an distance approximately 3,000 feet to 6,000 feet (915 thou to 1,830 k), though coffee is grown successfully at lower altitudes. The higher the coffee is grown, the more slowly it develops and the denser the beans go, which can create more interesting flavors."
"Yields average effectually 2 to 3 pounds (0.ix to 1.four kg) of dark-green coffee per tree per yr. Each 100 pounds (45 kg) of coffee cherries results in virtually 20 pounds (9.1 kg) of green coffee."
"The two main processing styles used in the coffee industry are washed, likewise called wet, and natural, besides called dry. Washed beans are washed or soaked in water to remove the outer lurid before drying, whereas natural processing means the beans remain in the cherry for drying."
"Natural processing also results in coffee with more than body and less acidity."
"If the beans rest in the wet fruit for too long, the fruit will ferment and get moldy or impart a sour, yeasty sense of taste to the coffee, then frequent raking is necessary during the drying menstruum, which usually lasts around iii weeks."
"Brazilian java tends to have a softer, more muted flavor than those grown at college elevations, and this quality is heightened past natural and pulped natural processing. Information technology has a lovely, circular, gentle quality and is rarely strident. It has sweetness—molasses and sugary tones—without many fruity notes. Practiced Brazilian coffee is comforting, likable, and seldom polarizing."
"The Maillard reaction is the type of reaction that causes meat to brown or colors the crust on staff of life. It involves a reaction between sugar molecules and amino acids and produces more savory umami flavors than sweet."
"Caramelization occurs at higher temperatures than the Maillard reaction and involves simply saccharide molecules. Paradoxically, increased caramelization results in decreasing sugariness but increasing complexity."
"Darker roasts are more perishable. Those tend to have a palpable decline within seven days after being roasted. Lighter roasts take longer to become to their peak and to become stale, particularly light roasts of dense, well-harvested, well-processed, high-top coffee."
"Basis coffee is even more than delicate. Espresso dulls ninety seconds after being ground. Courser grinds last a little longer: xx minutes to an hour."
"The slap-up office about cupping coffee is that it allows you lot to discover that information technology isn't hard to differentiate among coffees."
"Siphon coffee is the most theatrical of all brewing methods."
"Permit's be real: making espresso at home is expensive, difficult, and time-consuming. Struggling to be better at something makes the states improve people. Parenting, graduating from higher, running a marathon, building a house with your own easily—these are all hard activities, activities that no ane should talk usa out of merely considering they're difficult. And perhaps making a actually great espresso, although a modest endeavour, belongs on the list of things that nosotros probably will never do perfectly but will benefit from in the attempt to do so. In other words, mayhap information technology'southward worthy of our time, resource, and attending."
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"Generally, what we are looking for with our blends is an espresso that is thick, sweet, caramelly, and circuitous, with a subtle brightness that never crosses the line to strident but as well isn't overly delicate."

Read this book if you lot're actually passionate about coffee. Skip it if you dislike demeaning, judgmental snobbery. ...more

I wish there were more than to read on the coffee culture and history, globally or even merely in the U.s., bu
Decent introduction to coffee from beans to brews, written with such a visible passion that renders its attending to details rigor and expertise rather than pretension and snobbery. Sometimes though, in that location are then many details that it tin can scare away ordinary coffee drinkers and fifty-fifty those who would similar to take a footstep further, but by no ways have the intention or resource to become an skillful.I wish there were more than to read on the java culture and history, globally or even simply in the United states, but this may have exceeded the scope of the book that the author has.
I didn't have a gamble to try the recipes withal (which takes upwardly more than a tertiary of the content). Partially considering I wish that these recipes had focused on what to make with coffee, non some random stuff as presented in this book. Like, why a braised boar shoulder recipe?
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Read
One time you read 1 java volume y'all actually have read them all. While I was looking for tips on espresso, this book was some other general overview of the process, roasting, and making of coffee with nothing special in it too the author'southward snark. Something hilarious with the author stating that espresso is simultaneously too hard for the boilerplate person to get only also non complicated plenty for people to be interested in. It later devolves into a recipe book in order to just fill in the pages.Read The Globe Atlas of Java by Hofmann for coffee info without the snark
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Extra stars for the imaginative writing, like the line on aspirational geeky personality type who would similar espresso machines which are simple machines all the same giving the impression of beingness much more than complicated 3.5 for this. The book went into full-fledged recipes towards the 2 nd half which i hadn't expected. But yet I did get together knowledge on coffee vairieties and technicalities which was my purpose of reading the book.
Extra stars for the imaginative writing, similar the line on aspirational geeky personality type who would like espresso machines which are simple machines notwithstanding giving the impression of being much more complicated ...more

Recommended for the SF local, the java enthusiast and any future barista or a cafe owner.
An interesting read about The Blue Bottle Coffee Co. On how information technology grew from 'ground' up, to where information technology is today. The initial chapters give a charming introduction to the business concern. I learned some neat things around the origin of coffee and some tricks to brewing a adept cup of java ☕️.Recommended for the SF local, the coffee enthusiast and whatever future barista or a cafe owner.
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The blistering department was definitely recipes.
This book was useful in showing me exactly how much i don't know almost coffee. Because I'chiliad an insufferable nutrient person, I really wish that I went more in depth about varietals and blending, merely I as well imagine that there is a lot of sensory data that is easier to experience than write about.The baking section was definitely recipes.
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This is an private'south approach to speciality coffee and another individual's accept on baking and cooking based on their expriences, learnings, travels, and about importantly, intuitions.
And in my opinion, they are doing beautiful things.
Not too geeky for a java nerd, much too elaborate for a lay homo.This is an private's approach to speciality coffee and another private's have on baking and cooking based on their expriences, learnings, travels, and near importantly, intuitions.
And in my stance, they are doing cute things.
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The Bluish Bottle story reads like small business 101 with obvious business concern steps treated like the dawning of a new horizon of business behaviour. Nothing really about how they patterned their java ☕️ to the customer.







Very practiced overall read, would advice to anyone who is in to coffee
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