Coffee: A Complete History, from Wild Plant to Global Market

Everyone knows how coffee is grown. Far fewer know why the price broke a fifty-year record, what the evidence on caffeine actually says, or which species will still be growing in 2050.Two billion cups a day pass through a supply chain that begins with twelve and a half million farms - most of them a few hectares - and ends in a cup that costs less than the labour that produced it. Coffee: A Complete History follows that journey from a wild shrub in the Ethiopian highlands to a futures contract in New York.Written with clarity and illustrated throughout with photographs and thirteen original diagrams: - Origins - Kaldi's goats, the port of Mocha, and the coffeehouses Europe called penny universities- The molecule - how caffeine blocks the adenosine receptor, how the liver clears it, and why one person sleeps after an espresso and another does not- The plant - Arabica and Robusta, the narrow band of latitude they tolerate, and the diseases now closing in- Bean to brew - harvesting, washed and natural processing, the roast curve from first crack to second, and why the grinder matters more than the machine- Origins in the cup - varietals, terroir, blends, and the ethics of exotic coffee- Brewing - espresso, moka, pour over, AeroPress, siphon, phin and cold brew, each with its grind, ratio, temperature and time- Health - what the evidence supports, what it does not, and the one change that measurably lowers your cholesterol- The global trade - who grows it, who earns from it, and why prices broke records in 2025- The future - heat-tolerant species, F1 hybrids, traceability law, and coffee grown without farms- Recipes and rituals - the espresso family to scale, the Ethiopian ceremony, the Italian barThirteen diagrams drawn for this edition explain what prose cannot: the growing belt, the roast profile, the caffeine decay curve, the value chain, and the projected map of 2050.For the curious drinker, the home barista, and anyone who has wondered what is actually in the cup.