James Hoffmann won the World Barista Championship in 2007, and went on to start Square Mile Coffee Roasters - which set the bar for specialty coffee roasters in the UK. He's also a pretty nice chap, and he's written this beautiful book, which you're going to need to add to your collection

The World Atlas of Coffee: From Beans to Brewing - Coffees Explored, Explained and Enjoyed, by James Hoffmann

A beautiful world guide to the brown bean.

Taking the reader on a global tour of coffee-growing countries, The World Atlas of Coffee presents the bean in full-color photographs and concise, informative text. It shows the origins of coffee -- where it is grown, the people who grow it; and the cultures in which coffee is a way of life -- and the world of consumption -- processing, grades, the consumer and the modern culture of coffee.

The second edition sees new producing countries added including DRC, Uganda, Thailand, Philippines, China and Haiti, alongside updated statistics and data for each producing country.

Plants of the genus Coffea are cultivated in more than 70 countries but primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. For some countries, including Central African Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Honduras, coffee is the number one export and critical to the economy.

Organized by continent and then further by country or region, The World Atlas of Coffee presents the brew in color spreads packed with information. They include:

• The history of coffee generally and regionally
• The role of colonialism (for example, in Burundi under colonial rule of Belgium, coffee production was best described as coercive. Every peasant farmer had to cultivate at least 50 coffee trees near their home.)
• Map of growing regions and detail maps
• Charts explaining differences in growing regions within a country
• Inset boxes (For example, what is the Potato Defect? Is Cuban coffee legal in the United States?)
• The politics of coffee and the fair trade, organic and shade grown phenomena
• Beautiful colour photographs taken in the field.

Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day, equivalent to 146 billion cups of coffee per year, making the United States the leading consumer of coffee in the world. The World Atlas of Coffee is an excellent choice for these coffee lovers.

Canada Post Strike

Canada Post has started a National strike.  They will not be accepting parcels during this time but will keep any parcels that are on their way safe.

We are still accepting orders and are attempting to ship orders for free over $100*.  This is getting more and more difficult as other carriers such as Purolator are no longer accepting more parcels into their system.  Please ensure that your home address and not P.O. Box are used in your shipping address. We are currently using UPS and few smaller carriers for our free shipping options.  Most locations we have been able to find ways to ship your orders but if this is not the case we will contact you and try to work to find a solution.

If you wish, you can still choose the Canada Post shipping option and we will hold the orders until the strike is finished and ship them at that time.

We are sorry about this inconvenience and appreciate your continued business.

Jonathan Yeo 

Owner Pre-Umber 

Canadian Customers

Pre-Umber is happy to offer our Canadian customers free shipping on all orders over $100.00 (Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon there is a flat rate fee)  Orders qualifying for free shipping will be sent via Canada Post Expedited Parcel service.  You will also have the option to choose a faster Canada Post service if you prefer.

If your cart just doesn't seem to total up to $100.00, don't worry.  Pre-Umber offers real-time carrier shipping through Canada Post.  Just go through the checkout process until you see the shipping charges options.  You can choose various Canada Post options depending on how badly you need your coffee :)  You will see real-time pricing so you can rest assured knowing exactly what you will be charged.

Pre-Umber wants you to enjoy your coffee or merchandise as soon as we can get it to you, so we always strive to send your order out within 24 hours of having received it.

To see the Canada Post delivery standards please follow this link and use our Postal code T4J 1R1. Delivery Standards

United States of America Customers

Pre-Umber is now shipping to customers in the continental United States of America.  We are using Canada Post/USPS for shipping so as to include the greatest number of customers. 

We are offering a flat rate shipping fee:

0 - 12 Pounds a flat rate of $20 CND (way cheaper in USD)

12 -20 Pounds a flat rate of $35 CND (still way cheaper in USD)

31-55 Pounds a flat rate of $60 CND (still very cheap in USD)

If you would rather not use the flat rate option you can choose to use Expedited Parcel USA or Xpresspost USA at your own expense.

We do our best to ship all orders within 24 hours of receiving the order and many are shipping within a matter of hours.

We look forward to serving all your home coffee roasting needs.