Being very interested in different types of coffee especially high-quality coffee this book expanded my understanding of whats involved in the inner workings of specialty coffee. I became aware of what is hailed as the greatest coffee in the world!, "Esmarelda Special!"($45-$85 a half pound). I was very excited to learn about this sought after coffee so I found some on-line and tried it. All I could say is "YUCK, YUCK, YUCK". You can keep that coffee!!! Jamacian Blue mountain! is still the BEST!!! tasting coffee I prefer!!!. Anyway the book is a great read!.

Honestly- I just read a 250 page book about a beverage that I don't drink in, oh, about 72 hours. I literally couldn't put it down. Congratulations, Ms. Weissman, you have truly created a captivating narrative about a subculture I could never be a part of and made it this breathtaking world of whirlwind travel, chutzpah, occasional danger, nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic and caring, while preserving the genuine realities of the farmers, a tightrope I would have agonized over had I been you. "Business to me is about bringing people out of poverty", a quote from the book and summary of what this book is about to me: More than just coffee. The care and lengths that people like Duane and Geoff go to to insure fair prices, good quality, and abstracts such as health care, non-lecherous pre-financing, and willingness to either challenge the co-ops or empower the farmers to make up their own minds, while not entirely altruistic, is incredible. There were many laughs in there ("I hate those guys, coffee Nazis!"), and I'd like to retire to Panama...tomorrow. It is a stunning book that I have already recommended to many, with many more to come.

There are two reasons to read God in a Cup, food journalist Michaele Weissman's true life account of the colorful young guys who are making gourmet coffee one of the sexiest culinary products you can buy. First Weissman is a terrific writer. Her book is funny and fast paced. She rolls out the story of her travels in coffee producing nations and here in the United States as if she were writing a novel. Read her description (with full sound effects) of a coffee cupping at the Cup of Excellence competition in Nicaragua, see how she brings to life a confrontation between eager coffee buyers and impoverished coffee farmers in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia, and experience her rendition of dueling baristas as a barista competition, you'll begin to understand what all the fuss about specialty coffee is about.

And that brings me to the second reason to read this book. God in a Cup provides a great journalistic thumbnail of the global marketplace. Weissman dramatizes issues like sustainability, profitability (as in who earns the profits from agricultural products) and Fair Trade, without ever getting bogged down in the tiresome politics. Beginning at the farm and ending in a swish café where coffee is brewed in an $11,000 gizmo called a Clover, Weissman sheds light on some of the most complicated economic issues of our day, while never ceasing to be amusing. She does this by writing a story about the global marketplace that is first and foremost a story about real people whose eccentricities, foibles, weaknesses and strengths she brings alive.

this is one of those "i can't believe it doesn't already exist" books. it's about amazing and unconventional people, like nobody you have ever met before, misfits, freaks, obsessives (those are the most fascinating kind of people, right?) on this insane, wacky and obsessive search for a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad cup of coffee. it represents their fringe, counter cultural, crazy obsessive lifestyles (some of them actually smoke pot to relax, and yet they are dynamic responsible and obsessive business people too - wow!) and they work like mad. it's a competitive, macho race to get the best coffees in the world, of which there are less than 23, and they all want it. Wow, what a reality show this would make! Cuppers are the tasters who trill and squeak and suck coffee in order to experience th ultimate "flavor high". totally obsessive. The other reviewer commented that a lot of people just cruise the web for coffee but this author ACTUALLY TRAVELED TO WHERE THEY GROW COFFEE to write this book ... do people still do that??? Now that's pretty obsessive in itself. And who but someone in the first row of the stands, a jopurnalist, risking it all and TRAVELING with these "Indiana Jones" types, can really portray the obsessive personalities, and the extreme things they do to taste, talk about and then BUY they fantastic coffee at $10, $20, $50 or even $10000 per lb. and then, in a totally countercultural move, turn around and actually SELL that coffee at a profit in a retail environment! What other business in the world involves this crazy worldwide search for a raw material that is then transformed (i.e. roasted) and then sold in the United States, Europe or Japan at a higher price, giving the average dude or dudette a vicarious thrill, as if they too had traveled to these remote, dangerous countries (even places like Columbia, Depilto in Nicaragua, or even Africa), just like Indiana Jones, and for just the modest $$$ markup. I was only disappointed to find there were no recipes in this book. but maybe that could be part of the 2nd edition, featuring the new FOURTH WAVE of coffee obsessives (Who doesn't like waves?).

Most coffee lovers are satisfied to surf the web to learn about coffee. Michele Weissman actually got out and traveled to some off the beaten track places to learn about coffee from the source, the people who actually grow the stuff, as well as the people who process it and sell it in upscale coffee bars.

The book is well written and paced, though the proof readers seemed to have missed a few inconsistencies of spelling and first/last name order. Still, it offers a fascinating view, written by an experienced journalist, into a world of people obsessed with the search for the perfect cup of joe. It is certainly enriching my foray into learning more about specialty coffee.