Winter Break Hours and Services
Shields Library is closed through January 4, 2026. Digitization and interlibrary loan requests will be fulfilled after the library reopens on January 5.
Coffee and Tea Collections
Steeped in ritual, brewing innovation
Coffee and tea are among the world’s most ancient beverages, with a rich history that stretches back centuries. In recent decades, emerging brewing techniques, new technologies, and evolving consumer tastes have revolutionized both industries.
The library’s collections on coffee and tea are curated to preserve individual and industry legacies; the science of cultivation, brewing and sensory perception; and research on product development, markets, and consumer choice. These materials provide valuable resources for unpacking the history of and driving future innovations in the field.
Inside the Collections
Rare Books and Pamphlets
Russ Kramer Coffee Book and Pamphlet Collection
Russ Kramer, president of Hacienda La Minita, veteran of Green Mountain Coffee and the Coffee Connection, and coffee expert and rare book collector, has facilitated the gifts of an extensive collection of rare and historical books and pamphlets related to coffee.
Among them is Le bon usage du thé, du caffé, et du chocolat pour la preservation & pour la guerison des maladies. This 1687 book by Nicolas de Blégny is the fourth oldest book about coffee in our collections.
Noling, A.W. Hurty-Peck Collection of Beverage Literature
One of the world’s largest collections of beverage literature, the Noling Collection contains over 6,000 volumes including several rare and valuable items, several hundred of which are about coffee and tea. The majority of works date from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, with some dating to the 16th and 17th century. The collection was donated by the family of A.W. Noling, an Indiana businessman who built a successful beverage flavoring firm, the Hurty-Peck Company, which was later taken over by Universal Foods Corporation. Examples include:
Coffee and Tea Pamphlet Collection (P-550)
This collection of pamphlets on coffee and tea range from the early 19th century to the 21st century, including pamphlets in English, Japanese, French, Spanish and Portuguese. This collection is especially strong in promotional materials, trade manuals, and ephemera.
Pamphlets donated by Russ Kramer are housed within this collection.
All related pamphlets may be found by searching the library catalog for P-550.
Fine Press and Artist Books
“Books as art” related to coffee and tea may be found by searching the Fine Press and Book Arts Collection in the library catalog. Examples include:
Rare Books on Tea and Coffee: Gifts of Darrell Corti
Darrell Corti, renowned culinary expert and owner of Sacramento’s gourmet grocer Corti Brothers, has gifted a number of rare books on tea to the library, including volumes in Japanese, Chinese, French and Italian.
Rare Coffee and Tea Industry Periodicals
Several late 19th and early-to-mid 20th century trade magazines and research journals published news and information about coffee and tea for business leaders, professionals, and scholars.
Agricultural Technology Collection
This collection of materials on research and development of farm machinery in the United States, with a subset addressing European interests and equipment, includes selected items related to coffee. These collections were originally established by F. Hal Higgins, who began collecting materials on the history of combines and tractors in 1927.
Manuscript Collections
Hunt (Thomas Forsyth) Papers
Thomas Forsyth Hunt (1862-1927) served as Professor of Agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley and Dean of the College of Agriculture (now the University of California, Davis). His papers contain a comparative study of the agriculture of Caribbean countries and a collection of photographs depicting agricultural methods in Jamaica, Hawaii, Haiti, Cuba, El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica, circa 1924-1925, including coffee harvesting.
(Courtesy: UC Berkeley Library)
Kearney Agricultural Research & Extension Center (KARE) Tea Trials Records
The UC Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center (KARE) is a research base for scientists from UC Riverside, UC Davis and UC Berkeley, and farm advisors from San Joaquin Valley UC Cooperative Extension. In the 1960s and 1970s, UC Agricultural Extension and Lipton Tea Co. conducted research at KARE to investigate the potential for commercial tea growing in California.
Corti Brothers, Inc. Collection
Founded in 1947 and currently owned by Darrell Corti, the Corti Brothers grocery store has been a Sacramento gourmet food destination for generations. The business records, correspondence, photographs, promotional materials and more in this collection include several dozen items related to coffee and tea.
Photographs and Advertising
Eastman’s Originals: Coffee shops
The Eastman’s Originals Collection includes more than 13,000 photographs produced by Eastman Studios, a Northern California photography and postcard studio, circa 1890-1960. Among the images are several dozen photographs of small-town coffee shops from Ashland, Oregon, to Donner Summit, California.
Hunt (Thomas Forsyth) Papers: Coffee-related photographs
Thomas Forsyth Hunt (1862-1927) served as Professor of Agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley and Dean of the College of Agriculture (now the University of California, Davis). His papers contain a collection of photographs depicting agricultural methods in Jamaica, Hawaii, Haiti, Cuba, El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica, circa 1924-1925, including coffee harvesting.
Lug and Can Label Collection: Coffee labels
Within this collection of over 4,000 labels for containers of fruits, vegetables, and other food goods (circa 1890-1970) are a small number of labels for Zodiac coffee.
Cookbooks and Menus
Coffee and Tea Cookbooks
Explore coffee- and tea-related cookbooks via the library catalog links below. You may find additional relevant results by using other search terms.
Menus Featuring Coffee and Tea
