Dear Coffee Buyer by Ryan Brown is the first ever book dedicated to the profession of green coffee buying. Brown's vivid descriptions and engaging prose make readers feel like they’re right there with him: tagging along to taste hundreds of coffee samples during a twenty-hour stop in Guatemala, feeling his nervous excitement when he takes a spontaneous buying trip to Honduras with little more than a backpack, and sharing his frustration and determination to find farmers and exporters willing to offer exceptional coffees.
Along the way, Brown takes an in-depth look at coffee bean varieties, processing, origins, cupping, forecasting, and pricing. He even interviews other legendary coffee buyers to get their take on the skills needed to begin a successful career in coffee buying. Dear Coffee Buyer will change the way a generation of baristas, roasters, and green buyers views 'direct trade,' seasonality, the Geisha variety, and the complex challenges of getting beans halfway around the world, from the farm to the cup.
"About five years ago, I began pestering my friend Ryan Brown to write a book about green-coffee buying. I thought Ryan was the perfect person to write such a book, as he was the most competent coffee buyer I'd ever encountered. It took those five years, but last year Ryan finally gave in and wrote the book. I'm pleased to say it's a masterpiece.
My first memory of cupping with Ryan took place in the basement of Ritual Coffee in the mid-2000s. Ryan had about ten coffees set up blindly on the table, brought his nose no closer than six inches (15cm) to each cup, and correctly declared which coffee was in each cup (mind you, many of the coffees were quite similar.) I was amazed; Ryan could probably out-sniff my sister’s beagle, and his green evaluation seemed borderline psychic compared to my ordinary abilities. My first thought upon witnessing that trick was that I was going to keep this guy around for a long time and learn what I could from him.
Happily, the rest of the world can now also learn from Ryan. Dear Coffee Buyer is like Ryan’s doctorate-level thesis on green coffee buying. The book is part masterclass in green evaluation, part clever advice for professional green buyers and those thinking about getting into the business, part travel narrative, and part editorial of what terms like “direct trade” really mean. I hope every barista, roaster, and green buyer reads this book. If they do, the industry will be much better for it."
-Scott Rao, Coffee Consultant & Author of The Coffee Roaster's Companion & The Professional Barista's Handbook
SKU | DearCoffeeBuyer | |
Weight | 1.32 lbs |