The amount of time one could spend watching, reading, or scouring the depths of coffee resources on the internet is endless. With nearly every roaster or chique café posting their own brew guides and gear reviews, the tons and tons of information online can make it a daunting task for newbies diving head first into coffee talk.
Whether you’ve visited coffee farms around the world or are just trying to figure out the difference between a light and dark roast, part of our job at Himalayan Coffee Importers is to educate the coffee community in more ways than one.
We’ve spent hours upon hours digging through documentaries, books, blogs, and just about anything else coffee to put together a list of content that will spark your curiosity for coffee and leave you an expert by the end.
So grab a cup of your favorite brew, get comfy, and lets dive in to some of our favorite coffee content.
Documentaries
Chandler Graf: Everything you've ever wanted to know about coffee
Why we love it:
Short, sweet, and packed full of thought provoking content. In this 14 minute TEDx talk, Chandler Graf covers it all.
The barista with a biochemistry background, Graf does an incredible job of walking us through the foundational knowledge of coffee including the biological background of the bean, brewing techniques, and even how factors like altitude can impact the taste of what winds up in your cup. If you’re still trying to digest some of the basic intricacies and vocabulary of coffee today, then this talk is for you.
Graf offers up a fresh perspective on the ritual that for many of us has become mundane. From the head scratching moment in the coffee aisle at the grocery store where having so many choices can paralyze all the way through elaborating on the chemistry of caffeine, Graf provides a thorough and digestible introduction to finding the right bean and brew style for you.
Coffee Coffee: A Specialty Coffee Documentary
Why we love it:
Okay, so maybe you know how roasting a bean effects acidity and caffeine content and your kitchen is stocked with a few different brewing styles. You’ve got a local café that sells your favorite specialty coffee and you have likely lectured your friends on all the industry basics. Don’t stop now.
In just 10 minutes Coffee Coffee dives deep into the epicenter of specialty coffee, Portland, Oregon in a series of commentary and interviews to tell us what it really means to serve specialty coffee. The short piece is a window into the art of ethical sourcing, consistent roasting, and beverage ingenuity that is driving a new wave of coffee consumption around the world.
Diving a bit deeper into specialty coffee culture and the mission-driven mindsets behind small cafes serving single origin brews, this Coffee Coffee piece shows both how far the industry has come and how far it can still go.
PBS Original Fare: The Story of Coffee
Why we love it:
Think sprawling green farms on hillsides of mountainous Colombia and learning from the locals. While the PBS Original Fare episode is more of a travel videolog and less of documentary focusing on nitty gritty details and coffee facts, the brief docu-series provides some great footage in interactions with those actually growing the beans.
Beginning in Salento, the center of Colombia’s Ejé Cafetero, Kelly Cox helps us to see more into the social dynamics of life while working on a coffee farm and what the day to day grind of coffee farming looks like. From there, Cox works with growers and importers to unpack the exporting process all the way through cupping for quality in the United States.
Though more focused on the travel mystique behind the beverage, this short documentary will no doubt spark your sense of adventure and leave you thinking about swapping the beach for a coffee farm on your next vacation.
Cafe Diego - The Cost of a Dream (available on Amazon Prime for $1.99)
Why we love it:
A story of faith, struggles, success, and the pursuit of one man’s vision Cafe Diego is by far our favorite coffee story. This 35-minute documentary captures so well what it means to risk everything for a dream, especially in an industry as precarious and volatile as the coffee industry.
Diego, a Nicarauguan expat living in Canada, returns to his native land after a recurring dream convinces him to leave a life of comfort in pursuit of a passion. What happens next is a series of failures, successes, and learning along the way that humanizes what many farmers experience in cultivating the beverage we love so much. This documentary captures Diego’s journey home and how despite heartbreaking failures an unwavering faith in your vision and dream can lead to personal success.
Cafe Diego - The Cost of a Dream is a wonderful piece that shows just how integral coffee is to communities around the world and how there is always a human story behind the beverage we love.
Guides and Great Reads
The book lover's guide to coffee
Why we love it:
Broken down into four parts - the grounds, the brew, the first sip, and the zing - this guide is jam packed with incredible writing and content on all things coffee. It does not matter whether coffeehouse culture or the chemistry of caffeine interests you more, there is something in this guide for you.
If you’re more of a visual learner, not a problem. Each section includes thoughtful and well designed infographics that will help equip you with an understanding of the history, culture, science, and economics behind the brew.
Why we love it:
Prima really is all things coffee. Novice or expert, there is surely a piece that exists on Prima answering any coffee thought you’ve ever had. From extensive gear reviews to the basics of brewing and home roasting, this hub of coffee knowledge has something for everyone.
The other awesome part we love: on Prima’s site you can set up a free, 15-minute coffee Q&A on anything you can imagine where one of their coffee reps will walk you through all your random coffee thoughts.
Why we love it:
Clean, concise, and easy to follow is the way we like it and Homegrounds does just this in their expansive library of brew guides. This site will walk you through the basics of brewing and make you a master of coffee talk in no time.
How coarse should you grind your beans for a French Press? What’s the ideal water temperature for a pour over? Thinking about home roasting? What the heck is an aeropress? No matter your brew-based question, this site has an easily digestible guide to walk you through making the perfect cup of specialty coffee.
The Takeaway
Just like the bean itself, expanding ones coffee knowledge is a journey with many stops along the way, and Himalayan Coffee Importers is always happy to be here as your guide - and we hear that any of these new tips or tricks go great with any of our specialty roasts from the Himalayas of Nepal, available on our website (himalayancoffees.com).