Stack: August

(I skipped July! I'll write something for it when I have more time.)

Judging by this cover design, what would you say this magazine is about? Boats? Travel? Exploration? You're wrong. It's about coffee. It's a surprisingly thick magazine about coffee.

August's Stack is Drift, each issue of which focuses on a different city and the coffee culture there. This issue is set in Stockholm. I made fun of this magazine when I first opened it up. It's so thick and the idea that this weighty tome was just about coffee in Stockholm seemed ridiculous to me. But then I started reading it and it was really fun.

Part of it is just that I love hearing about other people's niche interests. But part of it is that this magazine uses coffee as a starting point to talk about a place. There are interviews with baristas, cafe owners and coffee roasters, but there are also articles delving into topics such as the recent influx of refugees into Sweden, Swedish design, parental leave and the generational divide. Coffee acts as the connection between all of this, a common thread that the writers continually returns to. It's weird and interesting and not something I'd ever buy myself – everything I want from Stack deliveries.

Would I buy it again? I am not enough of a coffee connoisseur to buy this again, but I'm glad I had the chance to read it!