document: Ristretto | Modernist Coffee Nathan Myhrvold keeps busy . The former chief technology officer of Microsoft is an executive at DreamWorks Animation , once studied with Stephen Hawking and donated Tyrannosaurus rex fossils he uncovered in Montana to the Smithsonian . He was profiled by Malcolm Gladwell , is a pal of Bill Gates and spent the last several years working on '' `` Modernist Cuisine , '' '' an encyclopedic six-volume compendium of cutting-edge cooking that is not only one of the most expensive cookbooks ever published -LRB- the list price is $ 625 , though it 's available on Amazon.com for a mere $ 461.62 -RRB- but also one of the heaviest , a fire-door-stopper that tips the scales at more than 40 pounds . An initial print run of 6,000 editions has already sold out . Even more exciting for baristas and home brewers , there 's an entire chapter on coffee , 50 thick pages devoted to the topic . In culinary circles coffee is often a second-class subject , not worth the ink . In '' `` Modernist Cuisine '' '' it 's treated seriously , and takes its place right next to a section on wine . The chapter is essentially a detailed primer . It outlines how coffee is processed , stored and roasted , and discusses the best grinders -LRB- conical burr -RRB- and the best temperature for drinking -LRB- not scalding hot -RRB- . '' `` Modernist Cuisine '' '' has a boys-with-toys current running through it , so most of the chapter is devoted to espresso and assumes that you have access to a professional or prosumer machine and dream of pulling the perfect shot . I could almost see Mark Prince nodding in approval from across the continent . There 's no knocking the meticulous research that went into the chapter -LRB- there 's a lucid explanation of how coffee is extracted -RRB- , the conclusions -LRB- darker roasts do n't mean stronger coffee -RRB- or the overall sensibility -LRB- Myhrvold is right , restaurant coffee should be better -RRB- , but there is n't anything new here for the coffee nut . If you read Tim Wendelboe or Scott Rao , check in with Matt Buchanan at Gizmodo or James Hoffmann at jimseven , or even let yourself meander into a conversation with a chatty barista - you 'll already be familiar with much of what 's in the chapter , if not all of it . It 's a shame , because '' `` Modernist Cuisine '' '' is quickly becoming known for educating the educated , either by systematizing techniques -LRB- in his review for The New York Times , Michael Rhulman writes : '' `` The table for custard lets you pick your desired consistency based on what percentage of egg you use and the temperature you cook it to , to create a thick Anglaise-style sauce or a stand-alone custard . I tested it , it 's brilliant , I 'll use it forever . '' '' -RRB- or by explaining the arcane -LRB- John Lancaster of The New Yorker seemed fascinated to learn that because water boils at a higher temperature in New York City than in Mexico City , ovens effectively bake at higher temperatures in New York City than in Mexico City -RRB- . Too bad Myhrvold does n't do either with coffee . The espresso how-to wo n't hold any surprises for somebody who watches a professional at work , never mind the curious customer who takes an hour-long class at the local coffee shop . The book does n't even have a single photo of coffee gear sliced open with an abrasive water-jet cutter . -LRB- The cross-section of a flaming grill in action has become an iconic image from the book . -RRB- There 's a Synesso espresso machine with the front plate removed , but that 's too easy . Maybe that 's the point . If the chapter wo n't blow any minds within coffee , it might indoctrinate a generation of chefs and home cooks who never spent much time thinking about grinders or roast profiles . This probably wo n't sit well with Myhrvold , who ca n't handle qualified praise . So instead of fixating on shortcomings , I 'll spend a moment with something he does well : express his fanatical love of espresso . In a short passage he recalls confronting his skepticism of the so-called '' `` God shot , '' '' an espresso so transcendent that it changes your life . Myhrvold writes : Then one day at the Coffee Fest trade show in Seattle , a barista named Daniel Humphries of Victrola Coffee pulled me a shot of their Streamline roast in one of the earliest Synesso machines . '' `` It was like nothing else I have ever tasted , a phenomenal and complex layering of flavors . Yes , it was coffee , but with a richness and complexity unlike those of any coffee I 'd had before - unlike anything else I 'd ever tasted , for that matter . ... I walked around the rest of the day haunted by that taste ; it was with me for hours . '' `` I 'd had my first God shot . '' `` Of course now I feel foolish for doubting that God shots exist . Yes , the language used by coffee lovers to describe them is over the top , but that 's because the experience itself is , too . '' '' Preach it , brother .
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