Uncommon Grounds

The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World

By: Mark Pendergrast

Narrated by: Matthew Boston

Uncommon Grounds tells the story of coffee from its discovery on a hill in ancient Abyssinia to the advent of Starbucks. In this updated edition of the classic work, Mark Pendergrast reviews the dramatic changes in coffee culture over the past decade, from the disastrous "Coffee Crisis" that caused global prices to plummet to the rise of the Fair Trade movement and the "third-wave" of quality-obsessed coffee connoisseurs. As the scope of coffee culture continues to expand, Uncommon Grounds remains more than ever a brilliantly entertaining guide to the currents of one of the world's favorite beverages.

©1999 Mark Pendergrast (P)2018 Tantor

A history of coffee!

Uncommon Grounds

A history of coffee!

I found this book fascinating…but then I love history and I love coffee, so I may be biased.

The author follows coffee from it’s inception on the world markets centuries ago to it’s modern “Fair Trade” usage.

Coffee was instrumental in warfare, in governments and…addiction.

One more recent fact, speaking of fair trade…for the longest time the people who raised and harvested coffee had never even tasted it.

Most may become bored with the minutiae in this book, but I found it interesting.

Solid

Quite informative and a good listen. The title is more mystical than the text. Basically a cultural study of coffee as a commercial crop. It goes through the history of commercialisation with an emphasis on the big figures, their approaches, and the public response to them. Goes pretty quick on the science of the plants but doesn't seem to skip anything that a normal person would want to know. Does a very respectable job of consistently comparing the wealth of coffee elites vs the people who grow the coffee. There is a fair amount of names, dates, contributions which might be tedious to some. Other reviews were stuck on that approach. Made for riveting details in the narrative to me. Would highly recommend to coffee drinkers and the general public as commercialisation must be kept in check as the history of coffee and all other crops teach us.

Fascinating daily brew

Amazing to learn of the history of
My morning cup. The characters tied to this history make it even more fascinating . #espresso

Coffee some good some bad

Good; basic history of growing roasting pricing and selling

Bad; terrible conditions for workers makes on feel guilty about drinking coffee.

Good information for the coffee enthusiast!

Really enjoyed the in depth info on the many ways coffee has changed the world along the way!