Italian coffee: a temporary triangle Tying together Italy, Brazil and Italian East Africa “The cups might break, but the images recycle endlessly.”
Coffee leaf rust is bad news An up-close look at the half-smooth destroyer Coffee leaf rust is bad, but at least in the short term it may not be the threat you think it is Continue Reading →
It’s coffee, but not as we know it Two long lost coffee species brought to light In Sierra Leone, a hunt for long lost species of coffee succeeds Continue Reading →
Another cup of coffee culture Making friends with espresso It took more than a hundred years, but eventually the United States too developed a recognisable coffee culture. Continue Reading →
Coffee culture in Italy and England A shave and a cappuccino Espresso is the canonical coffee of Italy, even though the original espresso was something entirely different. How did espresso happen? And what happened when it got to England? Continue Reading →
A tale of two coffee stories Quite by coincidence, I listened to two podcasts about coffee back to back. Continue Reading →
Pushing good coffee Beyond merely fair in search of ethical trade If you really want to do good by spending more on your coffee, you need to look beyond Fair Trade and other certification schemes. Continue Reading →
What’s up with Belgian coffee exports? I’m working on a complex story that includes the trade in coffee, so when my chum Luigi linked to resourcetrade.earth, from Chatham House, I rushed on over to see about coffee, not roasted, not decaffeinated. Continue Reading →
Philosophy Questions of taste, good taste, ethics, and other things that might reasonably be thought of as philosophical in nature. Continue Reading →
Food Philosophy Edo ergo sum Discussions about food often “bump up against philosophy” according to an actual philosopher, whose book helped me to think more clearly about food. Continue Reading →
Coffea stenophylla tastes terrific Good news for climate change coffee Coffee that tastes of light black tea — a good thing — and is able to cope with warmer climates. Continue Reading →
What is the value of functional foods? Always the next big thing There’s one group of people that functional foods and superfoods can definitely help: the people who grow them. Continue Reading →
How the Brits became a nation of tea drinkers Coffee leaf rust in Ceylon had very little to do with it Persuading people to drink tea from the subcontinent more or less created the modern propaganda machine Continue Reading →
Special collections There isn’t an easy way to build a playlist, at least I haven’t found one. Continue Reading →
Eat This Newsletter 122 Ecumenical It’s all connected; pre-Roman Britons, Easter, Passover, cookies. Objects of worship. Continue Reading →
Eat This Newsletter 118 Real mocha, real kitchens, real whiskey, real gardening. Keeping it unreal. Continue Reading →
Eat This Newsletter 115 Some things to chew on Coffee is classist, Tomatoes are diverse, Modern wheat is not guilty, the UK food system may well get worse, let’s hear it for chewy. Continue Reading →
Eat This Newsletter 086 I've got your complexity right here A giant haul of food and agriculture goodies, all of which show that things are neither just nor simple. Continue Reading →
Eat This Newsletter 084 Something to feast on Newsletter portion sizes are more manageable again, with threats bacterial, nutritional and political. Plus some history and my ruminations on last meals. Continue Reading →
Eat This Newsletter 080 Is the living easy yet? Hot sauce, fermented foods, ancient olive oil and antibiotics. I sourced them just for you. Continue Reading →
Eat This Newsletter 071 Pu'er missus Here and now: prized tea, coffee’s number and a book review to chew on. Plus the hummus crisis that isn’t and the beef-buying public. Continue Reading →
Bread as it ought to be Seylou Bakery in Washington DC Jonathan Bethony is one of the leading artisanal bakers in America, but he goes further than most, milling his own flour and baking everything with a hundred percent of the whole grain. He’s also going beyond wheat, incorporating other cereals such as millet and sorghum in the goodies Seylou is producing. Continue Reading →
Little bits of 2017: Part III Jaan Altosaar on his practical approach to food Jaan Altosaar on his practical approach to food Continue Reading →
Eat This Newsletter 028 Prices come down, prices go up, ice cream melts, cuisines move, coffee brews. Life goes on. Continue Reading →
Crackers about Indonesian food Impromptu ramblings to excuse my failure to deliver I’m on what the real professionals call a mission, or, failing that, duty travel. Continue Reading →
The military-culinary complex How the army invaded lunchboxes everywhere Have you ever stopped to wonder what drives the incessant innovation in processed food? Continue Reading →