Just after their graduation from high school in the early 1970s, Dawn Campbell and Janet Smith traveled from Alberta to Quebec, settling in Ottawa to work for the winter and save up for a trip abroad. In their travels, they sampled coffee in Europe, the Middle East, and eastern Asia. This was the beginning of their international coffee experience, and it was then, twenty years ago, that they first entertained the idea of writing a coffee book. Janet Smith is an occupational therapy consultant who loves to travel, hike, and trek through mountains. She is a registered medical acupuncturist and herbalist. Smith lives with her husband in Edmonton, Alberta. Beauregard Tromp is a senior reporter at The Star newspaper in Johannes-burg. He was awarded the Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Journalist of the Year in 2009 for his coverage of the xenophobic violence in Johannesburg in 2008. He is a previous Africa Correspondent and has travelled extensively throughout the continent covering the events which have helped shape Africa in the past decade.