The Various Flavours of Coffee

Author: Anthony Capella

Translator: Gita Yuliani K.

Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

Publication Date: November 2012

Pages: 680

Dalam perkara hati, seperti juga bisnis, kita perlu melakukan yang terbaik. Belum tentu apa yang kita rencanakan. Justru pemahaman adalah: persepsi seseorang tentang kebenaran.

London in 19th century. Robert Wallis, a dandy man, just expelled from Oxford for too much partying and cast out by his father. With his charm, he considers himself as a poet although none of his writing sold.

The author, Anthony Capella started the early pages of the book by writing  that you might not like the central character here, Robert Wallis, since he is described as a self-centered-shallow guy who thinks about nothing but himself.  A good way to attract readers curiosity. 

One day when Wallis is enjoying his coffee, a gentleman, Mr. Samuel Pinker offers him a job. Wallis must compose a list about coffee terms. Never having worked a day in his young life, Wallis finally begins his career in the coffee business at Pinker's. 

Honestly I almost gave up finishing this book since the plot of the book is sooooo slow. I always felt sleepy every time I read the book. But thank God, the last quarter of the book is magnificent. The moment when Wallis is assigned to Africa where he learns some hard life lessons are delivered in a vivid and beautiful prose. When Wallis returns to London, the author changes gear once more and makes the story even more moving.  

The book actually delivers lots of interesting topics, i.e. the history of coffee (make you realize how complicated the coffee journey was before you can sip it easily now), coffee industry, the method of growing and producing coffee, aside from coffee, there are also stories about romances, slavery, Africa, and the most important part is suffragette movement, a social restriction for women at that time.

Since I am not a coffee lover myself, I thought this book will turn me into one. I did enjoy the description of the coffee flavours in the book but even after I finished reading it, I still prefer tea to coffee:)