Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Q&A With Ruth Brown, the Coffee Nerd

Ann Binlot
By

qa ruth brown coffee nerd credit stefano giovannini 2
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Have you ever wondered where coffee comes from? Or how it’s made? How to drink it? We’ve definitely thought about it a few times while sipping our morning brew. Ruth Brown, a New York-based journalist, also wondered about coffee, so she decided to do something about it and write a book. “Coffee Nerd” goes over everything you would want to know about coffee, from its history, to where it’s produced, to how to make that perfect cup of coffee. The Manual caught up with Brown to ask her about all things coffee.

Why did you decide to write a book on coffee?

Recommended Videos

I’ve written a lot about coffee and the coffee industry as a journalist. And when I looked around at the other coffee books out there, I found most of the ones aimed at beginners are out of date, because so much has changed in the coffee industry in the past decade and especially the past, say, five years; and most of the more recent ones are written by roasters or baristas or other coffee industry professionals, and they often presume a certain amount of prior knowledge about the subject and they tend to talk a lot about that person’s perspective or experiences. So I wanted to write something from a consumer perspective, and something for people who are maybe a bit intimidated to walk into a really cool cafe and order a drink they have never heard of, or buy a packet of beans with a bunch of words on the label they can’t even pronounce. I wanted to write a book that was a really easy read, and that broke everything down in a really simple way and makes the new wave of coffee really accessible to newcomers. I also wanted to poke fun at the whole scene a bit, because it can get pretty pretentious and silly; I think saying “If this whole thing seems kinda ridiculous to you, that’s fine, because it totally is” takes some of the mystery and intimidation out of it all.

Related

What was the most surprising thing you learned about coffee while researching this book?

Hmm, well I learned a LOT of things, because I’m from Australia originally and have only lived in the U.S. about five or so years. So there were a lot of things about coffee in America I had to research. It was interesting to learn that around the ’50s, Italian immigrants brought espresso machines over here and all the beatniks in New York and San Fran started hanging out at Italian cafes sipping espresso. Because the exact same thing happened in Australia, but over there, it really caught on — especially in my hometown of Melbourne — and Australia has had a really strong café and espresso culture ever since. Like when people in Australia — truck drivers, your grandma, anyone — say they’re going for coffee, they almost always mean espresso. Whereas here, it didn’t catch on very widely, and it wasn’t really until the arrival of Starbucks that most of the country started drinking espresso drinks, and even now, a lot of people still don’t.

How much coffee did you drink in your research?

I didn’t really drink a lot for research, but I drank waaaaay too much while writing. I have a full-time job, so there were a lot of caffeine-fueled late nights and marathon weekend writing sessions. Ironically, I drank a lot of not-so-great coffee in the process, because a lot of the better cafes in my neighborhood don’t have wi-fi or power outlets, so I’d have to make compromises when my laptop battery got low or I needed to look stuff up.

So what actually goes into a perfect cup of coffee?

I mean, the “perfect” cup of coffee is probably whatever makes you as a drinker happiest. But for the sake of argument, I’ll say that it is two things: one is good beans — grown and processed well, stored and transported well, roasted to highlight the beans’ best characteristics, and used as a close to the time of roasting as possible; the second is good preparation — ground evenly in a good burr grinder right before brewing, and then extracted perfectly, which basically means the water is applied to the grounds in all the optimal ways (temperature, time, technique, and so forth) for whatever type of brewer or coffeemaker you’re using so that the best flavor can be extracted. Personally, for me a perfect cup of coffee is also one where no one was exploited horribly in the production of it — all the workers from picking to roasting (but especially at the picking end) were adequately compensated, and the environment also wasn’t horribly devastated in its creation. But I’m a bleeding heart like that.

What is the worst way to prepare coffee?

I guess the opposite of above? Shitty beans that were picked by child slaves, prepared incompetently. Or maybe “single serve coffee makers.” I’m not going to use brand names, but you know: those pod things. They’re super wasteful and they are made to use old, pre-ground coffee.

What’s your best advice for coffee drinkers?

Find a top local roastery or café, and get to know the roaster or baristas there, then ask them loads of questions. People who are passionate about coffee — professionally passionate about coffee — are usually more than happy to chat to you about it. Like it is literally their job. If you want advice on brewing or buying or anything else coffee-related, they can help. There is a reason I failed science in high school, and that is because I do not understand the point of experimenting when somebody has already figured out the answer (okay, that and laziness and I also do not like mice). It is crazy to me to fumble around in the dark trying to figure out how to make your coffee better when there are highly accessible people who can just tell you how to do it.

Adobe Photoshop PDF
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Coffee Nerd, $11.99 at amazon.com.

Editors' Recommendations

Ann Binlot
Ann Binlot
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ann Binlot is a New York-based freelance writer who contributes to publications like The Economist, Wallpaper*, Monocle…
Forget cream or sugar: You should add salt to your coffee
Cut the bitterness of your brew with this simple trick
Small coffee cup and saucer

Love them or hate them, there seems to always be a new coffee trend. At the risk of sounding ancient, before Starbucks came along, people took their coffee either black or with some mixture of cream and/or sugar. That was it. There were no Fraps or triple whip extra shot, drizzle of confusion concoctions. There was coffee. Its sole purpose was to wake you up in the morning, not to act as a prop in Instagram selfies with stupid captions like, "Coffee is my love language."
Now, there seems to be a movement happening to get back to the basics, and some people are embracing simpler pleasures. Pleasures like deliciously rich, home-brewed coffee that has no idea what a Hibiscus Refresher is.
With that said, sometimes, sometimes, coffee trends are beneficial. A piece of information comes along that doesn't necessarily fall into the "trend" category, but is a new way to enjoy a classic. Something that actually improves coffee, and doesn't just slap some glitter on a fancy cup. In this case, that new piece of information comes in the form of an ingredient so ordinary, one could hardly call it trendy. The new, hip trend? Adding salt to coffee.

What does salt do to your coffee?
Salt is notorious for adding flavor to food, and yes, drinks, but it does so much more than that. When added to coffee, for example, salt doesn't make the coffee taste "salty." In this case, it takes the bitterness from the brew, and brings out the natural sweetness of the coffee beans.
Celebrity Chef and Food Scientist, Alton Brown, featured this little trick on an episode of his show, Good Eats, back in 2009. In explaining how to make coffee less bitter, he said that you should add a half of a teaspoon of salt to every cup of water and two teaspoons of coffee grounds. Not only will this trick cut the bitterness of the brew, but it will also make the coffee's flavor smoother and richer.
And while Brown may have been one of the first to discuss this coffee trick on TV, this tasty phenomenon is hardly a new one. In other parts of the world, such as Northern Scandinavia and Taiwan, brewing coffee with salt is as ordinary as spreading butter on toast.
So while we may be hearing a lot about salted coffee at the moment, the truth is, the secret's been out for a while. But unlike adding olive oil or butter to your coffee, this new trend doesn't seem to be a trend at all, but an instant classic that's here to stay.

Read more
Hawaiian coffee is about more than just great Kona beans
Hawaiian coffee is one of our nation's coolest anomalies
A cup of coffee from Big Island Coffee.

There's nowhere like Hawaii. That goes for everything from unbelievable National Parks and coastlines to culture, traditional and modern cuisine, and drinks. Coffee enthusiasts revere the archipelago, the only place in the U.S. where world-renowned coffee is grown and roasted. Most of us have heard of Kona coffee. The drier, western side of the Big Island is responsible for some truly special beans, yielding impossibly smooth coffee. But Hawaiian coffee comes from many regions, as the crop thrives throughout the islands, offering different styles and tastes in America's only coffee-growing area.

Thanks to favorable climates, incredible soil, a push for sustainability, and related tourism, Hawaiian coffee is arguably in its best form yet. When people talk about the best coffee on the planet, the Rainbow State is often mentioned, and for good reason. We talked to a few Kona coffee purveyors to get a better sense of what's happening across the Pacific.
The Kona effect
Kelleigh Stewart is the CEO and founder of Big Island Coffee Roasters. She says genuine 100% Kona coffee is lauded for its rarity, smooth and sweet flavor, and relative freshness. "The most commonly grown variety in the Kona region is Typica, which is a smooth, chocolatey, nutty, and floral coffee with light fruit notes," Stewart says.

Read more
The very best canned coffee to crack in the a.m.
Canned coffee is better than ever. Here's what to stock up on this spring
Lavazza canned coffees.

These days, coffee comes in all forms, shapes, and sizes. The coffee maker or French press may be popular, but you can also enjoy a good roast in capsule form, pouch form, and even in a can. Those of who aren't morning people or just struggle to make the time to get properly caffeinated in the a.m. are especially drawn to these instant coffee formats.

That's where canned coffee really shines. It's ready-made caffeine, it comes in a recyclable format, and it has been improving significantly in terms of quality over the years. And right now, as milder temperatures set in, canned coffee is all the better, as it can be great chilled down or poured over a little ice. It's not the most expensive coffee in the world, but it's convenient and very tasty.

Read more