State of Bean

What defines a great coffee adventure? Fighting your coworkers for the last dregs in the break-room carafe? Managing to maintain highway speed after spilling hot java on your trousers? No and no. File those under "typical weekday morning" and "yet another reason to have backup pants." To discover a truly great coffee adventure, check out The Birth of Coffee exhibition at the Missouri Botanical Garden (4344 Shaw Boulevard). Daniel Lorenzetti and Linda Rice Lorenzetti traveled the world to learn exactly where coffee originates. In their beautiful book The Birth of Coffee (which includes 100 of Daniel's photographs), the Lorenzettis examine how coffee-growing affects lives around the globe. The exhibition is a companion to that book, and visitors have the opportunity to see fine-art photographs, examine coffee-related artifacts and learn from narrative text. Entrance to the show — which opens Friday, January 11, and runs through Sunday, March 16 — is free with garden admission ($2 to $8). The garden is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; call 314-577-9400 or visit www.mobot.org for more information.
Jan. 11-March 16, 2008