It's a Small World, After All September 28 2016

I just returned from the Canadian Coffee and Tea Show in Toronto. Beyond being a great excuse to visit a new city, it was a reminder how simultaneously small and large our world really is.

Next to my booth: a Canadian born in Mexico City who imports coffee from Africa and the Americas. Later, a friend from Africa stopped by to chat about the coming U.S. election.

And me, a boy from Iowa — in Canada for the second time ever — drinking it all in, literally and figuratively.

It was the perfect place to debut my new coffee tasting map.

With it, and the help of your local roaster, you can take a journey of your own around the world of coffee, trying (and logging) samples from the 40 countries growing the world’s best Arabica beans. 

It's the product of a lot of design experimentation, and an awful lot of research. I hope you enjoy your own journey. I know I did.

Behind the United States of Beer Map October 07 2013

When I first designed 33 Bottles of Beer, my goal was to create something small and portable that made taking notes on beers I tried fast and easy.

Four years later, I think I've succeeded, with nearly 100,000 copies printed, a fact I still find incredibly hard to believe. I agonized on printing that initial run, wondering if I'd be giving them away for gifts for decades to come, or using them to steady tipsy tables.

I've filled a good number of the books myself, most while attempting my "beer a day" project back in 2010. And while writing things down has helped me a great deal in remembering details about the beers I've enjoyed (or not), it's always felt a little solipsistic.

So I created this map.

With it, you can try a beer from each state in the US, logging it as you would with the standard 33 Beers book. There's a flavor wheel, and space for recording the beer's name, brewer, date you tried it, and your own rating, from 1 to 5 stars. Here's a great beer from Minnesota, Surly Brewing's Overrated! West Coast IPA.

The poster lets you take your reviews out of your pocket 33 Beers book, and put them on display for all to see. It makes a great visual for your cube, office, home bar, man cave, lady lair, dorm room ... I can't wait to see where they end up.

Post your poster photos on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #unitedstatesofbeer and let's see who fills one out first, starting ... NOW.