I received a copy today! Happy to find pictures of that famous dutch espresso machine inside

Ordered my copy last Tuesday, received it Friday, curled up with it on Saturday and am still digesting the wealth of information. I'm looking forward to reading it many times. Sections on tamping and fines migration were an eye opener for me. You can readily tell that the author, Scott Rao, is a down-to-earth, humble gentleman whose love for his vocation shines on every page. Was very pleased to see serious attention devoted with a chapter on drip coffee. (A couple of typos should keep David Lewis busy). I probably will get my copy of the book rebound in a spiral format so that I can have it lay flat as I read it again. Many thanks for a beautifully executed book!

perstare

Octane's M'Lissa Muckerman, featured in this month's Barista Mag, has a barista manual in progress. If that is ever published, I'll add it to my library as well.

I really enjoyed the book, and I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in espresso.

I've written a slightly longer review here.

I've had my copy for a few weeks now, have read through it at least twice, and would like to add my congratulations to Scott for a wonderful achievement. The Professional Barista's Handbook is a pleasure to read: thoughtfully organized, well written, meticulously researched, featuring a good balance of theory and practice. Scott's writing shows a profound understanding of both the big picture and the finer details of all things espresso. There's something for everyone: equipment (grinders and espresso machines), barista technique (grinding, dosing, distribution, grooming/leveling, tamping, frothing, latte art), drip coffee, French press, even tea. Subject matter is presented with clear, concise explanations, and enhanced with carefully chosen photos and illustrations. It's a pleasure to find such a wealth of up-to-date information and methodology in one volume, including up-to-date topics such as Andy Schecter's brew ratios, PID controllers, Scace thermofilters, and others too numerous to mention.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. The title notwithstanding, no home barista's bookshelf is complete without it.

I've just finished reading Scott's book, cover to cover in almost one seating. If I say nothing more about this book, that alone would be an achievement. The book is a wonderful read, and perhaps its most striking achievement is its brevity. The espresso part of it, including milk is 65 pages including illustrations. The rest is about other brewing methods and tea. Distilling what is practically important to a barista from the millions of words poured on espresso online and in professional literature is no small feat.

There are clearly some landmines he was trying to avoid by taking a picture of the common practice in dosing and brew ratios, without trying to settle that debate.

I particularly enjoyed the chapter on espresso percolation and extraction, where he covers the science of percolation in a language any casual reader can understand. The chapter gives a barista the tools to improve extraction by understanding that dynamic. The sections covering the productions of fines in a grind and how a barista can slow down their migration were particularly helpful. And so was the discussion of basket shape and its affect on extraction quality.

The book also pays homage to home baristas who contributed to the knowledge we have about espresso extraction and preparation technique. Jim Schulman's paper on Aspects of Espresso Extraction, Andy Schecter's Espresso Brewing Ratio, and John Weiss Distribution Technique are getting their well deserved recognition.

For comic relief, Scott weaves into that body of knowledge a few whimsical stories, one of which involves Hilly's Cafe, The Milk Man and The Temperature Guy. I was surprised to find out that the story was a total fiction.

The sections regarding running a café I believe will interest some home baristas as well. We never really see it from the other side. To illustrate how market forces can affect the quality of espresso in even the most artisan cafés, he confesses that in his own café, he had to sacrifice the quality of the straight shot and go with a 20gram dose standard for both milk and straight shot drinks, because 95% of his sales were milk drinks.

I would have liked to see more of a practical discussion on how to adjust brew parameters for a variety of coffees, acidic blends, dark roasts, & single origin coffees. Perhaps in the 2nd edition?

I highly recommend the book, and I am going to spend a few hours today experimenting with some of the things I've learned from it.

Abe Carmeli wrote:For comic relief, Scott weaves into that body of knowledge a few whimsical stories, one of which involves Hilly's Cafe, The Milk Man and The Temperature Guy. I was surprised to find out that the story was a total fiction.

Total fiction? Gee, I could have sworn Scott told me that Howard and David had been consulted on the story and that they both signed off on its accuracy....

Abe Carmeli wrote:For comic relief, Scott weaves into that body of knowledge a few whimsical stories, one of which involves Hilly's Cafe, The Milk Man and The Temperature Guy. I was surprised to find out that the story was a total fiction.

AndyS wrote:Total fiction? Gee, I could have sworn Scott told me that Howard and David had been consulted on the story and that they both signed off on its accuracy....

You've been sadly misinformed my friend. It is all fiction I tell ya

i admit the characters and events in the story do bear a striking similarity to some real-life people and events. truly an amazing coincidence.

abe, thank you for your kind words. more than selling lots of books, the most gratifying part of this whole project has been to receive the compliments and approval of knowledgeable people such as yourself.

scott

Is this a good book for a novice to intermediate player?