The progress of my reading of the food-related book and reflections about it

＊Overview of the entire book

Pendergrast is a caffeinated beverage enthusiast. He explained the history of the coffee bean with his enthusiasm for coffee. He also focuses on the influence of the American coffee trade on the world’s economies and cultures, further the start on the political and economic history of Latin America. He shows coffee advertising played a major role in expanding the American market. In 1952, a campaign by the Pan American Coffee Bureau helped institutionalize the coffee break in America. And the advertisement of the Juan Valdez which is a famous coffee chain store in America and Columbia made Columbian coffee popular. The phenomenon occurred in a short period of time. However, the process of harvesting a coffee crop is very hard. However, this book tells the readers such issues correctly in his histories of Starbucks and other firms. Also, this book tells us how to brew a perfect cup of coffee.

 

＊Tell us how it met (or defied) your expectations

In this book, there are a lot of information about coffee, so I expected that the writer liked coffee very much. My expectation was right. He not only knew how to brew a delicious cup of coffee, but also worked as a member of Starbucks and other firms related to coffee.

 

＊Share with us the part(s) of the book you liked best and reasons for it

I liked the part which explained how the coffee break popular in America. Now, the Coffee Break” ritual became a routine. However, it was not adopted for employees until 1952 when the Pan American Coffee Bureau started the campaign. It urged consumers to “Give Yourself a Coffee-Break –and Get What Coffees Gives to You”. Moreover, the United Auto Workers began to insist on their right to take a daily 15-minute Coffee Break by the campaign. While some company have to set a coffee break time, some states such as California are required to offer such breaks to all of their employees by law. I thought it was natural that people could decide whether they would take the coffee break or not. However, they couldn’t in the past. I didn’t know the fact before reading this part and such new information is interesting for me. So, I liked the part.

 

＊tell us what foods you might want to try or absolutely avoid as a result of reading the book

I want to try Columbian coffee. Columbia is suitable place to harvest a coffee crop, because there are a lot of mountains. The temperature in the daytime is very different from it in night. The difference gives the coffee bean stress and the stress gives the coffee bean sweetness. I don’t like bitter taste, so I can’t drink a lot of coffee without sugar or milk. However, if I try Columbian coffee, I may be able to enjoy the taste. Moreover, I work in a coffee shop. So, I want to know the differences of the taste depending on the area of its production.