Tea Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 208 pages
• Published by: Wiley December 7, 1998
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0471185183
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0471185185
• Book Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 9.6 ounces

Product Description
TEA BASICS

Your complete guide to the perfect cup

Civilized, soothing, delicious, and relaxing . . . tea offers an ideal refuge from the fast pace and stressful demands of life today. But with the amazing array of teas currently available, how do you find a cup you can really call your own?

Start with Tea Basics. This handy reference covers all of the essentials of tea buying, brewing, and tasting, and explores the comforts of ritual and healing that tea has provided through the centuries. As you sip and savor the wonderful flavors of black teas, green teas, oolongs, and scented/herbal teas, you'll understand why tea is consumed by more people worldwide than any other drink except water. So put the kettle on, put your feet up, and immerse yourself in Tea Basics! Inside you'll find:
* Tea facts: its origins, history, and many varieties
* Guidance on selection, blending, brewing, tasting, and storage
* Tips on tea etiquette
* A tea-tasting glossary
* Select sources of tea and related equipment

Publisher Description
Tea is quickly following coffee into the beverage spotlight. In this concise and accessible guide, you'll get a straightforward introduction to the basics of fine tea. The authors--industry insiders--demystify the world of tea, giving insights into tea's botanical origins and history, as well as its varieties, processing, and grading. Tea Basics also offers tips for tea appreciation.

Reader Reviews
To try to prevent my niece from spending all of her time in college going to starb%#ks I recently put together a care package of tea brewer, a few starter books on tea, and some nice loose leaf teas in tins. Going through the recently published books on tea I found this one which is a nice paperback book on tea basics. It has a little filler but covers all of the fundamentals in a concise way, a brief history of camellia sinensis, where it is grown today, grades, types, how the market for tea works, tea vocabulary, some pros/cons on how to brew, and has a nice list of tea resources appended to the back. It even has a good brief description on how to cure a new yixing pot. I like it when a "book on basics" is done well for a topic, and this one is in that category. Not a lot of pretty pictures here... just some good basic information on tea. Throw in Okakura Kakuzo, one of the paperbacks by Diana Rosen and you have yourself a nice present to give someone just starting out with tea. WARNING to tea novices, this stuff is addicting and before you know it you will have an assortment of kettles cups and pots, thermometers, scales, infusers, tins and a dogeared copy of John Blofeld's book. You have been warned.