Review by Choice Review
This small volume is an entertaining and engaging, if less than definitive, treatment of coffee. Satin (molecular biologist; director, technical and regulatory affairs, Salt Institute) explores the origins of the drink in Ethiopia and its eventual globalization through the Near, Middle, and Far East, Europe, and the Americas. He also touches on coffee's chemistry and health effects, its influence on productivity, and its role in the rise of the slave trade, as well as in the development of intellectual and political culture through the coffeehouses established in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. The book also includes chapters on coffee trivia, coffee art and advertising, and a primer on brewing various types of coffee at home. An appendix includes an impressive coffee time line. Respectful of his subject, Satin sometimes adds a humorous tone to his narrative. One example is his inclusion of a hilarious 1674 satire, "Women's Petition against Coffee," decrying the inimical effect of coffee on male sexual performance, followed by a rebuttal, "Men's Answer to the Women's Petition against Coffee, Vindicating Their Own Performances...." Overall, the book is fragrant and flavorful, but wants a bit more body. An excellent coffee-table book. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, two-year technical program students, general readers, and professionals. D. M. Gilbert Maine Maritime Academy
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
From its origins thousands of years ago in the Ethiopian highlands, coffee has become the world's most popular drink. Satin, a coffee lover, molecular biologist, and retired director of the UN's agribusiness program, offers a delightful look at coffee's travel across time and continents to its current status. It was favored by Muslim clerics to keep the devout alert in prayer but later banned when coffeehouse customers were inspired to heated political debates. Coffee has been praised and vilified, its health properties debated but its stimulant qualities never denied. Coffee gained popularity in the American colonies after the Boston Tea Party and fueled debates in French coffeehouses frequented by Voltaire and Rousseau. Satin explores the geopolitics of coffee from slave labor on plantations to fair trade issues, as well as the commerce of coffee, including the history of coffeehouses and the rise of Starbucks. Whether coffee lovers or not, readers will love this exploration of the world's favorite beverage.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Satin (Death in the Pot: The Impact of Food Poisoning on History) has produced a rambling love letter to his favorite beverage, coffee. His agenda is transparent as he presents singularly positive examples of the effects of caffeine on human health while brushing aside studies that may have evidence to the contrary. A chapter of random trivia and quotes feels ill placed in the middle of the narrative, which suffers from scattered jumping among different cultures, continents, and time periods. A section on making better coffee at home is also oddly placed between a history of Starbucks and a short memoir of the author's time in Italy. -VERDICT Perhaps this meandering book was not meant to be read straight through but perused over a cup of coffee; still, it is not an essential purchase for most libraries. Serious historians should look to Mark Pendergrast's Uncommon Grounds, while coffee connoisseurs will appreciate Kenneth Davids's Coffee: A Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying or Kevin Sinnott's recent The Art and Craft of Coffee.-Rosemarie Lewis, Georgetown Cty. Lib., SC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
