Books like Caffeinated by Murray Carpenter

An illustrated guide that maps coffee’s global roots, covering production, history, and culture across more than 70 countries.

Discover the science and art of coffee with step‑by‑step instructions for making lattes, cappuccinos, and more, plus 130+ global recipes, flavor profiles, and roasts from around the world.

An eye-opening look at the health impacts of caffeine, revealing the truth behind coffee's reputation for boosting energy and sharpening the mind.

Over 85% of Americans use significant amounts of caffeine on a daily basis, but very few of us know much about this freely available psychoactive substance. The World of Caffeine takes us on an engaging tour of the fascinating cultural history of the drug that has figured prominently in the exchanges of trade and intelligence that constitute the history and intercourse of nations. Its most common sources -- coffee, tea, and chocolate -- have been both promoted as productive of health and creativity and banned as corrupters of the body and mind or subverters of social order. Taking us from India to Balzac to cyber cafes, this is a captivating tale of psychology, religion, social classes, international trade, love, and art. - Back cover.

"In Our Right to Drugs, Thomas Szasz shows that our present drug war started at the beginning of this century, when the U.S. government first assumed the task of protecting people from patent medicines. By the end of World War I, however, the free market in drugs was but a dim memory, if that. Instead of dwelling on the familiar impracticality or unfairness of our drug laws, Szasz demonstrates the deleterious effects of prescription laws, which place people under lifelong medical tutelage. The result is that most Americans today prefer a coercive and corrupt command drug economy to a free market in drugs." "Szasz stresses the consequences of the fateful transformation of the central aim of U.S. drug prohibitions from protecting us from being fooled by "misbranded" drugs to protecting us from harming ourselves by self-medication-defined as "drug abuse." And he reminds us that the choice between self-control and state coercion applies to all areas of our lives, drugs being but one of the theaters in which this perennial play may be staged. A free society, Szasz emphasizes, cannot endure if its citizens reject the values of self-discipline and personal responsibility and if the state treats adults as if they were naughty children." "In a no-holds-barred examination of the implementation of the War on Drugs, Szasz shows that under the guise of protecting the vulnerable members of our society--especially children, minorities, and the sick--our government has persecuted and injured them. Leading politicians persuade parents to denounce their children, and encourage children to betray their parents and friends--behavior that subverts family loyalties and destroys basic human decency. And instead of protecting blacks and Hispanics from dangerous drugs, this holy war has allowed us to persecute them, not as racists but as therapists--working selflessly to bring about a drug-free America." "Last, but not least, to millions of sick Americans, the War on Drugs has meant being deprived of the medicines they need--because the drugs are illegal, are unapproved here though approved abroad, or require a prescription a physician may be afraid to provide. The bizarre upshot of our drug policy is that while many Americans now believe they have a right to die--an inevitable occurrence--few believe they have a right to drugs, even though that does not mean they have to take any." "Often jolting, always stimulating, Our Right to Drugs is likely to have the same explosive effect on our ideas about drugs and drug laws as The Myth of Mental Illness had on our ideas about insanity and psychiatry more than thirty years ago."--Jacket.

One of the country's most celebrated roasters explains how to choose, brew, and enjoy the new breed of artisan coffees at home, along with 40 inventive recipes that incorporate coffee or taste good with a cup. Coffee is experiencing a renaissance and Blue Bottle Coffee Company has quickly become one of America's most celebrated roasters. Famous for its complex and flavorful coffees, Blue Bottle delights its devoted patrons with exquisite pour-overs, delicious espressi, and specialized brewing methods. Yet as coffee production becomes more sophisticated with specialized extraction techniques and Japanese coffee gadgets, the new artisan coffees can seem out of reach. The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee explains this new world from farm to cup, exploring the bounty of beans available and the intricate steps that go into sourcing raw coffee from around the globe. Blue Bottle founder James Freeman coaches you through brewing the perfect cup of coffee, using methods as diverse as French press, nel drip, siphon, and more to produce the best flavor. For coffee lovers who want to roll up their sleeves and go deeper, Freeman explains step by step how to roast beans at home using standard kitchen tools -- just like he did when starting out. The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee also introduces a home technique for cupping, the industry method of tasting coffees for quality control, so you can hone your taste and share your meticulously roasted coffee with friends. Rounding out the book are more than thirty inventive recipes from Blue Bottle pastry chef and former Miette bakery owner Caitlin Freeman that incorporate coffee or just taste particularly good with coffee, such as Saffron Vanilla Snickerdoodles, Stout Coffee Cake with Pecan-Caraway Streusel, Affogato with Smoky Almond Ice Cream, Coffee Panna Cotta, and more. With more than one hundred stunning photographs showing coffee's journey from just-harvested cherry to perfect drink, this distinctive and deep guide to the new breed of amazing coffees from one of the top artisan coffee makers will change the way you think about -- and drink -- coffee. - Publisher.