About a week and a half ago, I stumbled across the pocket-sized coffee taster’s journal, 33 Coffees, while browsing the Coffee Common’s FAQ page. I really liked the idea of keeping a journal about all the amazing coffees I’d taste in my lifetime. That way I could peruse my entries again in the future and relive the moments I chronicled while enjoying each drink or recall a particularly outstanding coffee and what I liked about it. I knew that owning a coffee tasting journal would make me seem like even more of a coffee addict though, so I resisted purchasing it…at least for a little while.

Fortunately, after a few days and with the approval of at least two of my close friends, I sent my $6.00 through PayPal to the creator in exchange for my own copy. Coming from Portland, Oregon, it arrived at my apartment in Syracuse in a surprisingly short period of time. All my concern about being judged for my addiction had since passed and I was eager to free the book from it’s all-paper postal envelope!

Once opened, I realized that the book was much more compact than I had initially imagined — a mere 3.5 inches wide by 5 inches tall — but I liked the enhanced portability of it. The outside cover has a raw, brown paper bag look and feel to it and displays the title “33 Cups of Coffee (Espressos, Lattes, & Cappuccinos, Too)” in large print. Behind the title, there are thirty-five coffee-colored tasse à café illustrations, the ink of which according to the back cover, contains a few drops of Santa Sofia Peaberry produced by Ernesto Pacas Diaz in Santa Ana, El Salvador. Inside, the pages provide you with the space to jot down some simple information about the coffee itself, the brewing methods used, how you rate the drink, a brilliant web-like flavor wheel, and space for notes.

I’ve so far made two entries in the journal. The first, regarding the French press of coffee that I brewed at home yesterday and the second, regarding the iced Americano made from Gimme Coffee’s Piccolo Mondo blend that I purchased this afternoon at Second Story in Syracuse.

So, bravo to 33 Books, Co. for producing a volume that allows me to further appreciate coffee, journaling, and the art of tasting!