Coffee: It's not rocket science: A quick & easy guide to brewing, serving, roasting & tasting coffee

by Sébastien Racineux, Chung-Leng Tran

Packed with more coffee knowledge than your local roaster and faithful barista combined, this fun, cleverly illustrated, highly informative guide presents a whole new way to understand and enjoy all types of coffee. Perfect for the coffee novice, it's also chock-full of expert information that even the most seasoned coffee lover will find useful and interesting. It's Not Rocket Science
- Profiles of 22 countries that harvest coffee and their multitude of beans.
- Information on the evolution of the coffee bean from the farmer to the roaster and finally to the barista.
- How to properly grind beans for a variety of brews and coffee makers in order to achieve the best-tasting drink.
- How to choose which type of coffee machine is right for you.
- How to distinguish the aroma, body and flavour in every sip.
- Lessons in latte art
...and so much more.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Cookbooks

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Metin Yılmaz]

Nail Kitabevi çok güzel bir iş çıkarmış. Gerek baskısı gerek içeriğiyle güzel bir kitabı bizlerle buluşturmuş. Bir kaç içerik hatası dışında da hata yok. Kahve ile ilgili merak ettiğiniz herşeyi bulabileceğiniz, sıkılmadan okuyacağınız eşsiz kaynaklardan biri. Kahveseverlere tavsiye ederim.

[Hamda hj96a]

Pov: I found this book enjoyable and finish it in a short un expected time, it’s true the measurements were a challenge to understand but this book has everything you need as coffee beginners. It will help you understand most needed things to understand about the coffee life starting from the plant to the suppliers and then there’s us the buyers; I believe the writer covered all the points that the buyers should understand or know.
It’s my first coffee book as a coffee enthusiastic and I hope I did not exaggerated my opinion + stay tuned for the coming coffee book review 😉🔥

[Meg]

Delightfully illustrated - the section on coffee brewing is interesting but also made me feel like a coffee heathen. A good bet for the coffee enthusiast in your life. (My favourite coffee shop in Montreal is mentioned in the resources in the back - definitely go to cafe myriad on Mackay if you are ever in Montreal, the last time I had an espresso there I told my friend I could die happy now :p)

[Peter Anderson]

The layout & some of the initial comments gave me the impression it’s a children’s book. Also changes from Imperial to metric measurements, which I find annoying. The majority of coffee enthusiasts use gm & ml, if you use Imperial measurements at least put the metric measurements in brackets alongside.
There are plenty of other excellent books about coffee available for the coffee enthusiast and for those who just want to know a bit more about coffee.

[Winai Nadee]

Read the Thai translated version. Very comprehensive information about the world of coffee. The story starts from the cafe where we find coffee going backwards to the origins where the coffee trees are growing. All the processes are explained in details.

[Monica Willyard Moen]

I’ve been looking for a book like this about coffee for a long time. Too many people take things like wine, coffee, and chocolate so seriously don’t forget to have fun with them. This book is written in a lighthearted way, and it’s designed to take the fear out of understanding coffee with its many types and Waze and brewing it. My husband and I are actively exploring different types of coffee to find ones we enjoy. Will be using this handy guidebook to help us have fun with our explorations.

[Shiloh Morris]

I loved the layout of this and the quarky pictures. There was lots of information that I skimmed over because it was about espresso and espresso machines, grinding your own beans, etc. But it was very interesting nonetheless and it was easy to flip open, read a page or two, and then put down.

[Bel]

This is the kind of book that you read as an introduction. Packed full of fun diagrams, it was an enjoyable read.

[Connor]

A good example of using cute infographics to cover thin research. If you see books as table ornaments, this is a great choice.

[DarkNight_]

Muy buen libro. He encontrado que falta alguna explicación sobre el torrefacto.

[Stronisko]

Niedawno czytaliśmy przewodnik dla prawdziwych kawoszy: “Kawa. To proste!” Sebastiena Racineux, Chung-Lenga Trana. Jak się okazuje, to wcale nie jest takie proste!

Ta książka to przewodnik i album, w którym autorzy opisują historię uprawiania kawowca i korzystania z fantastycznych właściwości jego ziaren. Wiedzieliście, że kawa pochodzi z Etiopii? Obecnie najlepsze ziarna pochodzą z wielu różnych regionów świata, między innymi z Kolumbii, Brazylii czy Kenii. A to, jak rozwinęła się sztuka parzenia kawy i ile jest na to sposobów, to jakiś kosmos!

Z książki można się dowiedzieć, na jakie sposoby przygotowuje się kawę w różnych krajach, jakie są najsłynniejsze (i nie tylko) warianty kawowego napoju i jak wiele jest czynników, które wpływają na smak kawy. Nie zdawaliśmy sobie z tego sprawy! Sami uwielbiamy kawę i korzystamy z ekspresu ciśnieniowego, który dla nas sprawdza się najlepiej, ale jeśli na przykład nie jesteście fanami kawy, to może spróbujcie innego sposobu jej parzenia: kawiarki (też używaliśmy, super!), ekspresu przelewowego, może kawy po wietnamsku albo turecku? Tego jest tyle, że każdy znajdzie coś dla siebie, a pamiętajcie, że umiarkowana ilość kawy każdego dnia ma naprawdę bardzo dobry wpływ na zdrowie, o czym też zresztą tu przeczytanie 🙂.

Bardziej specjalistyczne informacje, takie jak konkretne typy ekspresów profesjonalnych i ich budowa, wpływ temperatury i sposoby podgrzewania wody i mleka, inne specyfikacje techniczne itp. - takie rzeczy też tu są, na specjalnie oznaczonych stronach, dla prawdziwych geeków 😀.

No i nauczycie się, jak robić tulipan i serce z mleka! 😀

[Piotr]

I enjoyed "Whisky: It’s not rocket science" from the same series, so this book really disappointed me. Even the same illustrator produced much more boring pictures here. The book is too long for a quick read and omits too many topics to serve as an overview of what happens in the contemporary coffee world. So, in short, you should find a different publication.

There is no story connecting the chapters; one topic simply follows another. The book feels dry; it’s a bit like reading an encyclopedia. It’s not a light read, because the book stops for far too long at some topics, for example, maintenance details of the espresso machine.

But it’s also not very informative. Many topics are described very, very superficially. There is not a word about anaerobic processing, so forget you will learn about the newest trends.

I couldn’t understand many things using the book alone. Only after watching a video could I return to the book. So I think something went wrong between the writer and the illustrator.

[Karol Biernat]

Really badly written book. Maybe it's the fault of the translator or the editor, I don't know if only the Polisy version is terrible.

Multiple logical errors, inconsisencies in design and just wrong information are not a great start for a fresh coffee enthusiast.

Please read another book, this one is fine for looking at the pictures.

I'm greatly disappointed, since the book was broadly advertised and yet it cannot deliver what's most important - in terms of knowledge.

[Tiburon_iracundo]

Historia del café, plantas de café, preparación del café y café. Un ilustrado e informativo libro / manual para los amantes (frikis) del oscuro néctar, que sirve para fundamentar y ampliar la información y rituales asociados a esta infusión.

[Gonzalo Muelas Gironella]

Libro con ilustraciones interesantes. Quizás demasiado básico en algunos aspectos y con medidas que no son del todo referencia en España. Pero bueno, está bien como base para aprender a preparar café.

[Edward]

一本可以了解咖啡的入门书

[libera_corpus]

Livre parfait pour les amateurs de café ou les barista du présent ou du futur!

[Karisse Hannah]

This was such a great book to introduce myself into the coffee industry. 10/10 way for me to expand my coffee knowledge and learn deeper into the history of coffee, the complexities of farming, the intricate skills required to brew the perfect cup of espresso, and the varying ways to extract coffee. The book goes into topics of coffee extraction, tasting, machine maintenance, and even includes a handful of recipes for coffee enthusiasts to try! The illustrations included are really adorable, making it a fun and engaging read for anyone to consume. Reading this book has definitely deepened the interest and passion I have for the coffee undustry, and further sparked inspiration to learn more. Looking forward to more reads like this!

[Berat Onur Ersen]

Such an informative book for those not aware of what they're drinking in coffee shops.
(It's better both read and search over internet on any information in this book.)

Eventually, you begin get a grasp of techniques in brewing, roastery, origins of coffee etc. - don't forget to experiment what you learn at home :)

It brings you to same page with baristas to discuss about coffee, brewing, tools and practices.

[Erik]

This book is the art of ilustration and visual graphics together with a well explained walkthrough on the coffee from the production, sourcing, roasting and brewing methods. The book is fully aligned with the best practices described by SCA. If you want become a barista this is the definitive basic guide to ones library

[J. Albert]

Aborda el tema de manera sencilla con una ilustración fenomenal, pero sin descuidar la complejidad que amerita el procesamiento de una estupenda bebida de café. Lectura recomendada para cualquier persona, ideal para los amantes del buen café y guía importante para los que quieran iniciar un coffee shop o similares.

[River Juno]

Contains plenty of infographic-style illustrations. This book is accessibly written, doesn't contain too much info to overwhelm you but has enough to introduce and act as a quick reference guide. 3 stars because this wouldn't be on my top coffee book list.

[Thibod]

Es el libro más útil para aprender sobre el mundo del café, está todo, desde los inicios hasta como afecta el agua al café, métodos de filtrado, diferentes máquinas de expresso, viene una explicación detallada de los factores más importantes, y también recetas.

Recomendadísimo.

[Mary Davidsaver]

Liked this book for it's easy-reading layout of the basic facts about coffee selection, brewing techniques, and levels of roasting. It answered a lot of my questions.

[Joris]

Almost all you want and need to know about coffee.

[Trey Watson]

as i closed the cover of this book, returning it to it’s state of hibernating knowledge, i gazed into the distance, softly proclaiming, “I am become [Coffee], the destroyer of [Sleep]”

[David Dâng]

受到做咖啡的设计工房老板的邀请入社，但是惶恐于不懂咖啡，紧急补补课。

[ธีรพงษ์]

goid

[Joshua]

Good book and highly recommended! Love the simple and clean layout with various illustrations. It is quite unique and informative as compared to other coffee books I read. Cheers! :)

[Rita (RitaReadsTrash)]

A fun book. Even the moments where it was over my head, there were fun clean illustrations to enjoy and follow