Why Readers Keep Gifting A Daibo Coffee Manual

There are books we buy for ourselves.
And then there are books we quietly pass on.

Over the years, messages have arrived from readers in cafés, kitchens, bookstores, and late-night desks—not only to say they had finished reading, but to tell us they were ordering another copy for someone they cared about.

A friend.
A fellow coffee lover.
Someone building something slowly, carefully, by hand.

Again and again, A Daibo Coffee Manual seems to find its way into other hands.

　

　　

On a snowy morning in Canada

　

One reader first received the book as a birthday gift.

Years later, he wrote to us:

This is one of the most beautiful books I've read. A friend gifted it to me back in 2016, and I read it in one shot on a snowy Sunday morning in a coffee shop.

He later shared that he had been waiting for the right time to read it.
Outside, it was snowing.

After I finished the book, everything made perfect sense and I was in harmony with my surroundings.

Not long after, he ordered more copies—this time to send to friends of his own.

— Returning reader, Canada

　

　

Why some readers return—and gift it again

　

Reviewed by Merry White
Author of Coffee Life in Japan

　

It’s no longer a surprise that Japan is a coffee-drinking country – a serious coffee-drinking country. 

When I wrote my own book on Japan’s coffee and its places, people asked, “but don’t they drink green tea?” And of course there’s green tea, but the quality of the coffee itself, the pleasure of the places where it is sipped and the skills and dedication of the makers of the perfectly brewed cup cannot be overstated.

This perfect small book on one of the very skilled makers should be in the hands of every coffee drinker – and indeed of every visitor to Japan’s coffee places as a guide to a deeper understanding of coffee, its sociality and a modest philosophic rendering of meaning in making and drinking. 

Above all, that cup of coffee is personal, an expression of Daibo’s “kodawari” dedication to the making and to the person who receives the brew.

When it first appeared, I purchased several to give to friends. 

Lyrical prose, a dedication to good writing equal to Daibo’s in making good coffee combine to make it a wonderful gift to friends and to yourself.

© Merry White, 2024

　

　

Passed from hand to hand

　

A returning reader working in hospitality in San Francisco wrote:

We’re so fortunate Nahoko Press released this English translation of the writings of a low-key coffee legend in Japan.

It’s by far my favorite book about food and beverages.

He later returned to order multiple copies—this time to share with friends in the coffee and restaurant community.

 

Some books are read.
Some are remembered.

And once in a while, a book begins to move quietly from hand to hand—crossing cafés, conversations, and continents.

We are grateful each time it does.

 

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