While at the Coffee and Tea Festival last weekend, I picked up a copy of Imbibe Magazine. Reading it was on my to-do list but I still hadn’t gotten to it after a few days. Yesterday, I was trying to distract my very busy, bouncy grandson, Makhii, so I handed him the magazine and told him to count how many times he saw something to do with coffee. He was done much faster than I wanted him to be, but when he proclaimed proudly, “Eleven!” he had my attention. I decided that I really needed to give this magazine a thoughtful look.


Imbibe is a bi-monthly magazine that is focused on “liquid culture”. While I am all about the coffee, Imbibe gives equal attention to all drinks, but Imbibe is so much more. It’s a fresh new look with a focus on drinks but includes food, people, events and issues showing you the world through a different lens. With all of the negativity we are bombarded with in the media today, this is a welcome change. The imagery throughout is gorgeous eye candy and immediately draws you in.

“Brave New World—Your Passport to Coffee Nirvana”, is the theme for this particular issue. From the cover to cover—literally, you are transported. The front cover shows a spicy cocktail called the St. Elizabeth (made with espresso and bourbon) in a brandy snifter and the back cover has a full page ad from Bodum with just four words and then images of their latest French Press in so many eye-catching colors. The entire magazine is an assault on all of your senses and will have you salivating for food and drink in no time.

I had been searching for a magazine that catered, not just to the folks in the coffee industry like coffee bar owners and baristas, but to those of us who enjoy the subject of--“Imbibe” says it best--liquid culture.

There are great articles like:


“Around the World in 20 Cups”
The best and brightest and flat out most interesting coffee happenings across the globe.

“New Moon Rising”
Don’t tell the revenuers, but a new brand of moonshine is making illicit spirits respectable.

“Seeds of Change”
To save their coffee plantation, one family created their own crop-to-cup business model.

There is a Q&A that answers reader’s questions like, “Where does the oil that sometimes appears on top of a fresh-poured cup of coffee come from and why does the amount vary between styles of coffee?”

Mouth-watering recipes are accompanied by mouth-watering images like Orange-Steamed Mussels w/Tomatoes and Breadcrumbs, Honey-Espresso Glazed Scallops, Café de Olla and Homemade Masala Chai.

Comprehensive, sophisticated, fresh, informative, beautiful—for me, this best describes Imbibe Magazine. You don’t need to be an aficionado to get this magazine. It is an interesting read for anyone that imbibes or eats for that matter. In my book, it is also a coffee table must-have.

Please visit their website, for everything you ever wanted to know about Imbibe.