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Coffee-Hub.biz - The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide
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List Price: $32.50
Our Price: $19.98
Your Save: $ 12.52 ( 39% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.3372
EAN: 9781580087452
ISBN: 1580087450
Label: Ten Speed Press
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 417
Publication Date: 2007-10
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Studio: Ten Speed Press
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A treasure - passion, love, and deep knowledge of tea served strongly brewed.
Comment: What a revelation! I'm a tea nut (I drink mostly exotic high grade green and Wulong whole leaf teas - often 3 16 ounce jars a day) - so I'm particularly ripe for the charms of this volume - but the achievements of this book are above and beyond. First, there is the artistry of the photography and presentation. This book initially comes off as a coffee table (forgive me - that's the expression) book because it's so beautiful. I didn't read it for over a year because I figured such a pretty book would be textually a lightweight.
However, what's in the text is the real strong suit of "The Story of Tea". First off, you get the story - the history - of tea. It's quite unpredictably fascinating - from ancient roots to England's centuries long struggle with the Dutch over trade with China, the belated discovery of Assam's native teas and the global transformation that followed. The Boston tea party gets in there. Tea is woven deep in the crossroads of East and West. Then you get a rigorous analysis of the drinking practices and their history - and then the production techniques and their history. All of this is beautifully illustrated. The sections on traditional tea production methodology have National Geographic quality photographs of really obscure tea production in really exotic places. The same goes for tea drinking practice and ritual. It's part epicurean, part anthropological, and part pure art.
If you are the kind of person who has sought out these exotic teas (I know I am) then this visual information is really wonderful and will directly translate into your appreciation for your exotic teas. All the world's tea regions are covered. It's not all context. There's a drinker's catalog: a section where the major tea types are depicted as unbrewed leaves on a white background with a brewed cup (in a white cup) immediately above with excellent tasting notes. This section alone is worth the price of admission although it's just a tiny section of the whole book. It also makes this book suitable as an introduction.
This is the best book on the subject of tea that I've encountered. If your interest in tea extends beyond the tea bag you owe it to yourself to devour this and then continue your journey through the incredible world revealed there.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Rich in information but lacking in graphic design
Comment: I cannot imagine there is anything you might want to know about tea that you would not find in this book. The Heisses know their tea - and they obviously love their tea. They have traveled the world and brought back a trove of detail on history, geography, horticulture, processing, brewing, culture, ceramic art, you name it. And it is a handsome book.
For a reader the chief drawback is that all of the information is in prose form and it can be heavy going, replete with comma-separated lists of tea gardens, regions, producers, etc. In this form the detail may enter the brain but does not linger.
So I just can't bring myself to give The Story of Tea five stars because it could have been a much, much better book. The Heisses went to a huge amount of trouble and care to produce it, but I fear they have been let down by their editors at Ten Speed Press. I may sound like I am channeling Edward Tufte (Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative), but how can you discuss geography without maps, or history without timelines, or process without flowcharts and diagrams? It is as though they have gone out of their way to make the information in the book difficult to grasp.
Nonetheless, even without graphics it is a rich text and worth reading if you want to learn about tea.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Comment: This is the end all book on tea. It tells you everything you would ever want to know about tea. Having bought tea from the authors numerous times, I can honestly say that they know what they are talking about!
You wont be disappointed by this book if you love tea.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nice to look at, informative, poorly written.
Comment: As other reviewers have mentioned, this is a beautiful book to page through. And it's pretty clear, I think, that the authors are real experts on their subject. I was going to buy it from Amazon on the strength of the other reviews here, but frankly I'm glad I borrowed it from the library instead. The writing is really quite poor throughout, and much as I found the subject interesting, I found it tedious to untangle one ill-constructed sentence after another as I made my arduous way through the book. The writers don't seem to be quite sure of who their audience is, or what tone is appropriate for this sort of book. At times, it reads like a textbook; at others, like a reflective essay. But it never reads very smoothly. A thoroughly revised new edition would be nice!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic book about a fantastic drink!
Comment: This is an amazing and informative book on tea. I am very pleased with the quality of its publication and the amount of information compiled and composed within such a beautiful book. The pages of which allowed me to rediscover one of my favorite drinks. I had forgotten how truly wonderful a good, properly made cup of tea can be. Our society has become super sized and highly caffeinated to the point that we no longer recognize the complexities as well as subtleties of tea. This book will show you how to buy, brew, and appreciate this fascinating beverage. From the first sentence to the last prepare to escape on a wonderful journey back in time when this drink was first presenting itself to humans right up to modern day. From the dynasties of the east to the aristocratic monarchies of the west, tea has traveled a long way to what we know today and the Heiss' will take you on that Journey. Sit back and make a cup of tea and prepare to be filled with the knowledge that The Story of Tea will bring you. Forget what your corporate retailer has taught you about tea and allow yourself to be educated on this historical and healthy drink. After reading the book you will most definitely want good quality tea. There are good teas out there and the book will give you listings of places to get them as well. They are not as hard to get as you might think.
So get yourself a teapot, some good loose tea, and a strainer and enjoy this wonderful drink, not to mention the book itself!
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Editorial Reviews:
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Whether it's a delicate green tea from China or a bracing Assam black, a seemingly mild-mannered cup of tea represents a turbulent history of intrigue and conquest, tradition and revolution, East and West. In this sweeping tour through the history, culture, and lore of this 2,000-year-old beverage, veteran tea professionals Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss provide an in-depth resource for tea lovers, covering all aspects of production and consumption--from the terroir in which a tea bush is cultivated to the time-honored rituals of brewing and drinking. At once passionate and carefully researched, this weighty tome will infuse readers with a deep appreciation for the illustrious, invigorating, and elusive leaf.
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