All about coffee

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

28500

Title

All about coffee

Language

en

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

A comprehensive historical and scientific guide to coffee, exploring its global trade, cultural history, chemistry, and pharmacology. This authoritative work details the beverage's evolution from a luxury to a human necessity, featuring extensive research on cultivation, market fluctuations, and famous London coffee houses.

Summary up to 500 words

In 'All About Coffee,' William H. Ukers presents a definitive reference work that chronicles the beverage's journey from a rare curiosity to a universal staple of human civilization. Published in 1922, the book synthesizes exhaustive research conducted across international libraries and museums to explore coffee's botanical origins, global cultivation, and complex economic history. Ukers details the drink's rise to prominence, tracing major market booms and crashes, including the pivotal establishment of the New York Coffee Exchange in 1882 to stabilize volatile trade. The text offers a scientific analysis of coffee's chemical constituents, highlighting caffeine as a stimulant for mental and muscular efficiency and caffeol as the source of its unique aroma and flavor. Beyond chemistry, Ukers examines coffee's profound social impact, describing it as a democratic beverage essential to human energy and efficiency. The book features a rich narrative of London's historic coffee houses, cataloging famous establishments like Garraway's, Button's, and Lloyd's, which served as gathering places for literary giants such as Dryden, Swift, and Goldsmith, as well as merchants and sailors. Ukers also addresses the controversial practice of valorization in Brazil, explaining how government intervention aimed to support planters but ultimately encouraged overproduction. Through meticulous historical verification and a vast bibliography, the author constructs a comprehensive portrait of coffee's role in international commerce, dietary health, and human culture, capturing both the allure of its fragrance and the dramatic volatility of its global trade.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28500.epub.noimages

Local file path

data/epubs/pg28500.epub

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Downloaded at

2026-07-06 03:05 UTC

Categories

• Coffee
• Drinking Customs