Making Better Coffee

Name: Making Better Coffee
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SKU: 9780520386969
Price: 56.99 NZD
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How Maya Farmers and Third Wave Tastemakers Create Value

By Edward F. Fischer

Summary

Making Better Coffee examines how "great coffee" is shaped not only by taste but also by a complex system of social, moral, and political values among farmers, roasters, and consumers. Anthropologist Edward F. Fischer traces the history of Maya farmers in Guatemala, connecting their experiences with the rise of high-altitude varietal coffees prized by the Third Wave market. The book reveals how quality and value are crafted through both material conditions and symbolic meanings within the international coffee trade.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$56⁹⁹

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Making Better Coffee

$56⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is well suited for readers interested in anthropology, food studies, global trade, and social justice. It appeals to researchers, graduate and advanced undergraduate students, and coffee enthusiasts seeking a deeper understanding of the cultural and economic systems behind premium coffee.

Description

An anthropologist uncovers how "great coffee" depends not just on taste, but also on a complex system of values worked out among farmers, roasters, and consumers.

What justifies the steep prices commanded by small-batch, high-end Third Wave coffees? Making Better Coffee explores this question, looking at highland coffee farmers in Guatemala and their relationship to the trends that dictate what makes "great coffee." Traders stress material conditions of terroir and botany, but just as important are the social, moral, and political values that farmers, roasters, and consumers attach to the beans.

In the late nineteenth century, Maya farmers were forced to work on the large plantations that colonised their ancestral lands. The international coffee market shifted in the 1990s, creating demand for high-altitude varietals—plants suited to the mountains where the Maya had been displaced. Edward F. Fischer connects the quest for quality among U.S. tastemakers to the lives and desires of Maya producers, showing how profits are made by artfully combining coffee's material and symbolic attributes. The result is a complex story of terroir and taste, quality and craft, justice and necessity, worth and value.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Making Better Coffee has been praised for its detailed and insightful analysis. Reviews highlight its engaging exploration of the many values surrounding coffee production, its usefulness for researchers and advanced students, and its practical insights into the global coffee market. Critics note Fischer's compelling case study on capitalism and his nuanced view of how increased value often fails to benefit Maya farmers directly.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780520386969

Publisher: University of California Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 06 September 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: University of California Press

Illustration: 27 b-w figures, 7 maps, 7 tables

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 23.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 363g

Pages: 306

Collections

American & Canadian History Education & Reference Edward F. Fischer History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction

About the Author

Edward F. Fischer is Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University, where he also directs the Institute for Coffee Studies. He has authored and edited several books, most recently The Good Life: Aspiration, Dignity, and the Anthropology of Wellbeing.