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An Italian Takes on NY (or Rather, American) Coffee

Aug 25, 2010 by Ted Botha Leave a Comment

In Ted’s Ongoing Pursuit of the Great Cup of Coffee, I followed illy’s master barista, Giorgia Milos, around New York recently (prior to my two days at illy’s University of Coffee). We took in four coffee shops of my choosing, and after we had glugged our espressos he gave his assessment of where coffee in New York (and America in general) is today. And, as you will see from the article I wrote for www.salon.com, it’s not in a very good place. The article, posted today, has already drawn a hefty number of comments from around the country. As I say, Americans take their coffee seriously!

Ted was born in New York and grew up in Japan, South Africa, and Washington, D.C. He has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler, and Outside. His books include Apartheid in my Rucksack, a personal account of discovering Africa as a white African; Mongo, Adventures in Trash, where he follows the people in New York City who collect what others consider garbage; and, with Jenni Baxter, The Expat Confessions, about South Africans abroad. His latest book, a nonfiction thriller about a forensic sculptor titled The Girl with the Crooked Nose, comes out in January 2012. His novel, The Animal Lover, is on Kindle. He is a swimmer and a runner, and has done his share of triathlons as well as long-distance swims in South Africa and New York’s Hudson River.