H and H Coffee

Dedicated to the history of the Hoffmann-Hayman Coffee Co. founded 1899 in San Antonio, Texas.

The Art and Craft of Coffee by Kevin Sinnott, 2010

By Kevin Sinnott · 2010 · Quarry Books (Rockport Publishers)

Bibliographic detail

  • Title: The Art and Craft of Coffee: An Enthusiast’s Guide to Selecting, Roasting, and Brewing Exquisite Coffee
  • Author: Kevin Sinnott
  • Year: 2010
  • Publisher: Quarry Books (Rockport Publishers imprint)
  • ISBN: TBD — to be confirmed in-hand
  • Pagination: TBD — to be confirmed in-hand
  • Format: Paperback (presumed; verify in-hand)

Physical description

Standard trade paperback in the serious-enthusiast coffee genre.

Provenance

Physically in-hand prior to formal library accessioning; registered to the library 2026-05-24. Accessioned as HH-BOOK-2026-0012.

Why it matters

Sinnott’s book sits in the serious home enthusiast lane — clear explanations of origin and process, practical brewing advice, and enough craft context to interpret what modern bags promise. It does not replace archival research on historic brands, but it sharpens vocabulary for roast, grind, and extraction when comparing old labels to what was in the cup.

For H and H research, the book functions as:

  1. Modern terminology calibration — when reading period H and H ad copy and tin labels, Sinnott’s vocabulary (extraction, body, acidity, etc.) helps interpret claims like “rich body” or “smooth flavor” that appear repeatedly in H and H newspaper ads.
  2. Origin and process context — Sinnott’s origin primer is useful background for the San Antonio Nexapa Mexican-coffee-plantation thread (H and H’s Mexican green-bean sourcing).
  3. Enthusiast-friendly framing for visitor explanations — when explaining “why does an old coffee tin matter?” to museum visitors, Sinnott’s idiom is more accessible than Ukers’s trade voice.

Pairs in the library with the rest of the modern coffee-enthusiast shelf: Home Coffee Roasting (Davids), The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee (Freeman), The Coffeeist Manifesto (Ward), and Uncommon Grounds (Pendergrast).

Notable contents

  • Selecting coffee: origin, varietal, process, certification.
  • Roasting basics: home-roasting equipment and profiling.
  • Brewing methods: drip, French press, espresso, alternatives.
  • Tasting / cupping vocabulary for enthusiasts.

Related: Home Coffee Roasting (Davids, 2003) · The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee (Freeman, 2012) · The Coffeeist Manifesto (Ward, 2015) · Library