All about coffee.

Few subjects have ever been chronicled with such loving thoroughness as coffee receives in William H. Ukers's landmark volume.

What it's about

All About Coffee is exactly, and gloriously, what it claims to be: a comprehensive account of coffee in every aspect. Ukers follows the plant from its legendary discovery through its spread across Arabia, Europe and the Americas, and examines its cultivation, trade, preparation and the rise of the coffee house as a social institution. History, botany, commerce, folklore and connoisseurship all find a place in a work of remarkable ambition and detail.

Themes

Running through the book is a fascination with how a single commodity wove itself into the fabric of civilisation, shaping economies, sparking conversation and gathering people together. Ukers treats coffee as culture as much as crop, attentive to ritual, taste and the human stories of merchants, planters and drinkers, and animated throughout by evident enthusiasm for his subject.

Why it still matters

For a century this has been the reference work on coffee, cited and drawn upon by writers and traders alike. In today's era of craft roasters and coffee obsession, it reads as both foundational history and irresistible browsing, a reminder of how deep and old the world's affection for the cup really runs.

Who it's for

Coffee lovers and baristas, food and drink historians, and anyone who enjoys a richly detailed deep dive into the story behind an everyday pleasure.