Today we're gonna talk about three different books.

They're not gonna be in depth book reviews.

They're gonna be three books that you should consider buying it.

First on that list is a book by Timothy Hill and Gay to Be Kelly, and it is a reference guide to Ethiopian copy varieties, and it is exactly what it says it is.

It is a page by page guide off all the different catalogued varieties in Ethiopia.

It is beautifully illustrated.

This ingrate diagrammed in there explaining the absurdity and complexity of the genetics off arabica coffee on.

Beyond that individual descriptions off different varieties.

Cat looked in Ethiopia.

Now, from the beginning, this book does something extremely interesting.

It well, it makes me feel extremely uncomfortable about how I've talked about coffee from Ethiopia in the last decade of my career.

It's made me extremely uncomfortable for using the term heirloom varieties in reference to Ethiopian coffee is because it's a bad term on more than likely, it's incorrect because as a coffee industry, we we often talk about Ethiopian coffee is if it's this kind of wild, you know, coffee varieties there They're just, you know, nature has taken over.

Where's in the rest of the world is a lot more selection going on.

People are typically planting typical Borbon, Ethiopia.

It's all sorts of everything.

It's just natural and crazy and wonderful, and it's so diverse and interesting and the truth is somewhat different.

And I feel like this book probably should change the conversations we have about varieties in Ethiopia.

It's split into roughly three sections in the first section is probably the most important one to discuss here.

It talks about the work of the gym, a agricultural research center which I think found that in 1967 has been cataloguing, selecting improving varieties for Ethiopian coffee farmers and a lot of the varieties that we know and certainly varieties that have traveled outside of Ethiopia relevant to the work done here.

The second section is discussing what we were called land races, varieties that have distinctly evolved within geographic areas, and it covers three different areas in Ethiopia, and the land races selected, typically grown in those kind of areas on the third section, covers coffee varieties that have left Ethiopia, most notably geisha or Gesher, and it discusses the split between Panamanian geisha on DDE.

What we see out of Malawi and how that sort of happened and why that split happened A cz well, as other varieties like Wish, Wish this is, I think, it extremely useful reference text if you are someone buying coffee.

But also, if you're someone selling or communicating coffee, we we've sort of allowed this term heirloom to sort of invade our descriptions.

And I think we've sold the work off coffee producers Short on.

I think we've denied something in the way of detail or interest to consumers.

When we use that term, I'm guilty a CZ Anyone is.

You know, I'm gonna point the finger, point it at me, but I will be working very hard to never really use that term again in reference to Ethiopian coffees.

It's flawed, It's inaccurate, it's poorly defined on it's It's sort of most of the time, probably just wrong.

If you wanna buy this, it is a little bit difficult right now to get in Europe, I will leave the best possible link down below.

None of the links below will be affiliate links.

I'll just be the best links I can get you two to buy those wherever in the world you are.

If you're in the U.

S, it's pretty easy to buy and that definitely be a link there.

So with you buying with you're selling, I think that something interesting.

Hey, if you second book, it is primarily the work of Dr Aaron Davis.

He, I think, became pretty widely known within the coffee industry.

I think five or six years ago now he did a fantastic talk at the S E a symposium Landowners Rico that are linked to down below.

That's a superb talk, and I recommend that highly, and he's done an enormous amount of work.

Now he works at the Royal Botanical Gardens here in London over Kew Kew Gardens.

On This book is published by Q.

This book is analysis in the purest sense.

Now the atlas accurately maps Ethiopia, and it covers not just where coffee grows but also how well it grows so different.

Copy growing areas are described in terms of with their fair, good or excellent for growing coffee, but but it's an atlas almost like a road atlas.

You could navigate your way around Ethiopia to some extent, with this book It covers roads, rail, major roads, minor roads.

There's an enormous amount of detail here.

At first glance, unless you're a coffee buyer, that's probably not hugely useful to you unless, like me, you just desperately love maps.

And Good Lord, I love maps.

There are plenty of other sections in the book that are interesting, though it it is written by someone who understands the coffee industry, but not necessarily for the broader coffee industry There.

You know there's more detail on botanical aspect of coffee than there are, perhaps on typical washing and fermentation practices within the area, something that you may you know, is a coffee person want to know more about.

And the botanical aspects of copy may interest you a little bit less.

There are some other fantastic maps on displays of information in the book.

Seeing monthly rainfall distribution in Ethiopia or monthly temperature was kind of fascinating to me on throughout its extremely well written, it's written by someone who has written well and academically.

So you know, it's it's a pretty intense book.

It's definitely not a book aimed at consumers on.

It's kind of aimed at a sort of interesting section of the coffee industry.

That said, I am I glad I bought it Absolutely.

I'm happy to support him, but also I think it's a beautiful piece of work that must have taken staggering amounts of time, energy and effort.

And for that alone just blown away.

The third book I Got to Talk About Today just briefly is a book by Ryan Braun called Dear Coffee Buyer.

A Guide to Sourcing Green Coffee.

I haven't been particularly critical of the 1st 2 books, and I'm not gonna be particularly critical of this one.

I'll be honest.

I really enjoyed this book.

I think Ryan writes extremely well.

My criticism might be something that you're you're thinking right now, which is that cover doesn't grab me, and I'll be honest.

The cover, I think, sells the book a tiny bit short.

The book looks a little less serious than it kind of.

Is Andi not saying it's serious in a kind of overly earnest or or dry and boring way?

Because it's not, it's actually an extremely easy and enjoyable read.

Adjust the book.

Cabbages gave me this moment of doubt, and if it's giving you a moment of doubt, overcome those doubts because I think you should probably buy this book now.

Being a coffee buyer is considered kind of one of the Holy Grail positions in the coffee industry.

Andi.

I certainly think that's a frustrating way of thinking.

I think the idea that that that's success, I think, is a destructive and unhelpful narrative.

But it is a job done by an enormous number of different people now that there are so many different companies roasting coffee on this is written for you whether you are buying enormous amounts of coffee container after container after container.

Or actually, if you're just buying spot from a local importer, you are still a coffee buyer on.

This thing's in here you should be thinking about.

It is full of great advice.

I found myself very, very rarely, if ever actually disagreeing with Ryan on anything he'd written in there.

I learned something.

I think anyone who's a coffee buyer will learn something, not just from Ryan, but there's also a few short interviews with a wide range of other buyers right at the back of the book.

Uh, so if you wanna be a coffee buyer, you should really buy it.

If you are a coffee buyer, you know you should really buy it.

You should never stop learning.

I think that's a huge, uh, you know, challenge in the coffee industry for people who get to that particular role and why you might be learning enormous amounts about coffee itself.

I think it's hard to have the kind of professional development often in that role, because it's seen as a pinnacle.

That's seen a za point of achievement, not as a stage in a in a journey in a career.

So I think if you're buying coffee, buying raw coffee is definitely worth buying.

If you're interested in that as a career path, I think it's worth buying and reading, though, if you find yourself getting a little bit bored by some of the detail.

If that doesn't appear, Devi, if you just like the idea of coffee tourism for a living, probably don't be a coffee buyer now, perhaps less with the third book here.

But definitely with the 1st 2 books, there is a note of caution.

Andi, that's really down to you, the reader of these books.

These kind of things weren't available for me early in my career, but nonetheless, I bought staggering amounts of coffee books about just about everything I could find at fault.

EBay.

I just wanted to collect knowledge, and I didn't understand that what I was collecting waas information.

And in learning that information, I was really gaining trivia, right?

I would do well in in a quiz about these things on.

Actually, if you want a speedy Giuliano's a Little online quizzes off, Is it an Ethiopian coffee?

A variety or a Star Wars character?

Then?

Yes, this is a great book toe win that game.

But when you buy books like these, when you read books like these, the key thing here is that you must transform that information into knowledge.

Throw its application how you communicate with people, how you communicate with your team members, how you communicate with your customers.

If you can take this information and leverage it to make what you do more meaningful, what people buy and drink Maur meaningful.

Then it has become useful knowledge, and a lot of the times people will buy these books, flick through them on dhe and just leave them alone, right.

They barely get used even as reference text.

They're not really consumed that way because they're not thinking about that question they're not thinking about.

How do I take this information and transform it into something desperately useful to me?

You know, my peers might my customers.

That's really the thing.

Both of these books both of these books in Ethiopia are full to the brim with with information.

And just be wary.

Just be thoughtful before you buy it that you need Thio be involved in a process of transformation here.

And actually, I think this book is the Ryan's book is a great lens through which to see this information.

One thing that's pretty notable.

There is very, very little crossover in information between these three books.

Not much of what's covered in the atlas is present in their Varieties reference guide on while varieties are discussed in Dear coffee buyer, not nearly not nearly in the same way or detail or tone as they are in the reference guide.

So there you go.

Those are three books now available to you as coffee professionals or as potentially interested coffee consumers.

But these air really geared to the coffee industry.

Andi, I hope at least one of them takes your fancy.

They are all clearly the result of enormous amount of hard work that I know how difficult that work is.

And I nothing but respect for it.

Great books.

And I buy them.

If you bought them, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments Down below.

You enjoying it?

Questions.

Thanks so much for watching.

Have a great day.