Making Better Coffee

Making Better Coffee: How Maya Farmers and Third Wave Tastemakers Create Value by Edward F. Fischer

Anthropologist Edward F. Fischer explores how the buzz around high-end specialty coffee is much more than flavour—it’s bound up in history, power, culture and value. Journeying into Guatemala’s Maya highlands and tracing the “Third Wave” coffee movement, Fischer shows how the idea of “great coffee” is shaped by farmers, roasters and consumers alike—and how the real value in the chain is not only in the bean but in the story.

For readers curious about the value chain and its impact.

Special Features

• Ethnographic fieldwork with Maya coffee farmers and Third Wave industry players
• Insightful discussion of how quality, taste and value are socially constructed
• Maps, figures, and data illuminating coffee’s colonial and economic past and present
• A thoughtful companion for anyone looking to go beyond brewing and examine coffee’s broader system

About the Author

Edward F. Fischer is a Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University and Director of the Institute for Coffee Studies. His work bridges cultural theory and the coffee trade, focusing on how coffee production and enjoyment intersect with power, identity and value.

Book Details

• Title: Making Better Coffee
• Author: Edward F. Fischer
• Format: Paperback
• Subject: Anthropology, culture, coffee history
• Publication Date: September 2022
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Dimensions: 230 x 150 x 25mm
• Weight: 400g