Fresh Cup

DEC 2012

Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.

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FAIR TRADE: A HUMAN JOURNEY By Eric St-Pierre Goose Lane Editions, $35 This photo-driven look at the lives of producers who sell into the global fair trade system devotes only a fraction of its pages to tea—and much of the information laid out in that space will be old news to any tea profes- sional who has spent any time researching farmer compensation. But the book, the product of dozens of trips by Canadian photojournalist St-Pierre to fair-trade plantations and co-ops the world over, still holds value to equality-minded folks in our industry. St-Pierre devotes separate sections to 13 different commodities that are sold under the fair-trade umbrella. He visits a handful of producer sites in each section, fleshing out the stories of individual producers and delivering vibrant, compelling images of fair-trade farm life. It's certainly more of an ode to fair trade than a true journalistic exploration of it—the recent split between Fair Trade USA and its global counterpart, FLO, isn't discussed, and the hardships of small-producer life are gleaned over in favor of bright photos of smiling children and pristine natural environments. Still, St-Pierre is able to artfully honor the men and women behind the products many of us base our livelihoods on. They are folks all too easily taken for granted, and it's noteworthy that their names and faces have been so elegantly collected. TEATIME: A TASTE OF LONDON'S BEST AFTERNOON TEAS By Jean Cazals Papadakis, $40 Think British afternoon tea, and you likely immediately imagine 19th-century style and boring brews. However, in this memorable and well-organized coffee table book, food photographer Cazals summons the modern side of British sipping. It's one that plays out in chic hotel lobbies, quirky cafés and trendy neighborhoods across London every day. The classic elements at the center of teatime in these establishments remain unaltered: a pot of brewed leaf and something to snack on. But the colorful, weird art on the walls of café Maison Bertaux or the regional cheeses and dark chocolate pastries at fine-food shop La Fromagerie bring a hip London touch to an age-old ceremony. Any shop owner striving for the attention of the Tumblr generation could grab loads of inspiration from the presentation and recipes Cazals picks up at the 50 tea spots he highlights across 250 oversized pages. It's proof positive that when it comes to retail style and approach, London remains the center of the tea consumption universe. 22 Tea Almanac 2013

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