Tea Book Reviews
If you are anything like me I enjoy drinking my tea, reading about tea, and well just about anything tea. I did a quick discussion search here and didn’t see one dedicated to reviews of books about tea. With so many choices I wanted to start this conversation. For me it helps me decide on if I want to purchase a book or not. I hope we can have fun with this as I do enjoy reading and would love to see what you are enjoying too.
Add links to reviews of books you have read below
I’ll start with this book I just reviewed by 27Press
19 Lessons On Tea – Review
http://iheartteas.teatra.de/2013/02/19-lessons-on-tea-review/
I have The Tea Companion (Connoisseurs Guide) by Jane Pettigrew. I have read this a few times. I love it because it goes through the whole history of tea. It also discusses traditional ways to brew tea. It’s a good resource for any tea junkie.
Great choice. It’s on my list of must reads. Last year at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas I had the honor of meeting and attending a class with Jane Pettigrew. She is such a kind and fascinating woman. :)
That book is definitely on my wishlist. I’m hoping I’ll receive it as a gift for Christmas or something :)
I have the 20,000 Secrets of Tea by Victoria Zak. I like it for quick reference of uses for types of tea. Plus I got it at a used book store for .50 so it was definitely worth it :-) I do want to read more tea books so I will keep an eye on this discussion.
Green Tea Living by Toshimi Kayaki — I love this little book about eco-living tips inspired by traditional Japanese living. The part about green tea could have been longer because I love to read about tea!
I am currently reading The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook. It starts slow and dry with long run on sentences and big words. A few pages into it I thought I probably wasn’t going to finish the book. Then I found myself engrossed and now I can only put it down long enough to check Steepster and brew another cuppa. I got this from the library – surprised they had anything tea related.
I wrote a review of this one.
http://theeverdayteablog.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-book-review-tea-enthusiasts-handbook.html
Oh, and after I finished the book I reread the first chapter. The problems I had reading it the first time – gone. Apparently, I was the problem.
Thanks for sharing I just left a comment on your blog. :)
I own Tea: History, Terroirs, and Varieties. I really love this book. It goes into how countries – China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam and East Africa in that order – uniquely cultivate and process their tea. Listed are some popular teas from each country – good way to get acquainted with them. There is also a brief history of tea, several interviews with tea farmers (I love this bit!), statistical tidbits, information on tea ceremonies, and so on. There are sections devoted to incorporating tea into cooking, to learning how to taste tea, and to a scientific analysis of the levels of caffeine and antioxidants in different varieties of tea.
I fear my list of books to read just keeps getting longer. :)
I just reviewed Lu Yü’s 8th century treatise on tea, The Classic of Tea. Considered the first book of tea…
The Story of Tea A Cultural History and Drinking Guide by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J Heiss is very good and informative. It has details on just about all the tea growing regions of the world. It is written by the owners of the tea shop Tea Trekker. They have a good website www.teatrekker.com.
That one’s next up on my list. Love the Heiss’s tea, tea knowledge, and their way of doing business.
I keep a teatra.de just for reviewing tea books. So if you don’t mind rambling half-reviews, it’s http://artoftea.teatra.de/.
Unfortunately, I also tend to review a lot of books that aren’t readily available to the public (out of print/not a wide-spread publication), since I do have access to university-level tea books. I’ve gotten into the habit of adding a disclaimer to those, though, and I also add links to obtaining the book.
Plus under “Bookshelf” is a list of my reads/to-reads and wishlist, so if you’re ever short of books to read, that’s there for inspiration (there’s a few joke books on there). It’s not a complete list (I keep a much longer paper list of library books I have access to…) but it’s there.
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