I'm doing a story on barista/coffee culture in Seattle and one of my interviewees (a coffee consultant) recommended this book - looking forward to reading it! I love books that tell history through the lens of a specific food or item.

Quoted: Stewart Lee Allen is the Hunter S. Thompson of coffee, offering a wild, caffeinated, gonzo tour of the World of the Magic Bean. His wry, adventurous prose delights, astonishes, amuses, and informs.

Interesting article - I definitely see the writer's point. He does a good job of being pretty balanced in the pros and cons of having a Starbucks move into the neighborhood...

Quoted: Ever since Starbucks blanketed every functioning community in America with its cafes, the one effect of its expansion that has steamed people the most has been the widely assumed dying-off of mom and pop coffeehouses. Our cities once overflowed with charming independent coffee shops, the popular thinking goes, until the corporate steamroller known as Starbucks came through and crushed them.

Apparently women wait longer than men for their coffee on average...

Quoted: I'm a real cappuccino lover myself, but many of my female colleagues don't seem to go for the stuff. I'd never thought too much about it until recently.

haha what a fun project!