This book covers everything you could ever want to know about tea from the rich history of tea to how to brew it properly. There are chapters about the different types of teas, the pros and cons of teabags vs. loose leaf tea, how to determine the flavors and aftertaste of a tea blend, and how to brew the perfect cuppa.

There are excellent instructions on how to store tea, how to determine the caffeine content, and how to calculate the correct temperature and steeping time.

One of the details that make this book special is the inclusion of Asian tea ceremonies and traditions, along with fun things like a tea pet, which is a small unglazed clay figurine that can be saturated with the tea and takes on a beautiful patina and aroma of the tea. There are also tea ceremonies from Russia, Tibet, Britain, Turkey, New Zealand, India, Morroco, and a dozen other cultures. There is a section about the newly popular “bubble tea” from Taiwan, and it has inspired me to try it! But I was especially delighted to see a section for Southern Sweet Tea native to my own Southern United States. Continue reading →