Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

For general/other topics related to tea.


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Jan 19th, '10, 17:04
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Janine » Jan 19th, '10, 17:04

Roy Fong of Imperial Tea has written what I think is a well-formatted book on Tea.

It's called Great Teas of China
http://www.imperialtea.com/Great-Teas-o ... -P869.aspx

Roy goes through several different types of tea in each category, and extensively details how production is done for each one. So, it's really a sort of guide to the details of production and how each tea becomes uniquely that tea. As if you were given a tour of production, factory, farm, etc. I think this is a good format because there are always so many questions about just how a tea is produced. It's easy to read and straightforward, a nice book and nice to look at. Delivers information without being boring, overtechnical or overly sentimental either.

Roy's experience is really extensive. He travels all over China to tea farms, is heavily involved with growing and producing in China and has been for decades. Recently he's bought farmland in California for beginning a California tea farm which I think is pretty fascinating and exciting. He's also involved in organic growing in China and new farm methods which you can read about on his blog
http://camelliasinensisblog.blogspot.com/

I find the book very useful and straightforward and accessible, especially about the kinds of questions and debates regarding production process of teas that come up so frequently on TeaChat and other places like it.

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Mar 23rd, '10, 11:28
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Herb_Master » Mar 23rd, '10, 11:28

I see that a new book by Mary and Robert Heiss is about to hit the UK bookshelves

The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook
A Guide to the World's Best Teas
Written by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss

I don't know if it is already out in the States :roll:

Does anyone know if it will cover much of the same ground as their earlier book :?:

The Story of Tea

or will it be a worthwhile addition :idea:

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Mar 23rd, '10, 11:40
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by debunix » Mar 23rd, '10, 11:40

Amazon lists it for pre-order, publication date 3/30.

And it looks like it is half the size of their earlier book (208 vs 432 pages), so can't really cover the same ground.

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Apr 10th, '10, 10:35
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by debunix » Apr 10th, '10, 10:35

Got the book, and it appears to be a shorter summary of much of the same background material on tea as Story of Tea, but the bulk of the book is addressing more individual teas than they could highlight in their very short and general infusion guide in the first book. It also discusses thing like buying fine teas online and in general is more about how to find and prepare fine teas than about how they are grown and processed. I haven't read all the way through the detailed tea listings yet, but I suspect I've already learned more from forums and email groups this past year than I will from this book, but if I were six or eight months back in my tea journey it would have been a perfect fit for me.

Dec 11th, '10, 21:26
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by mbanu » Dec 11th, '10, 21:26

The Hot Brew: The Assam Tea Industry's Most Turbulent Decade (1987-1997) by Nitin A. Gokhale (ISBN 81-85319-82-0)

Apparently in the late 80s, early 90s, unstable local government and deep dissatisfaction among the local Assamese over the poverty and harsh conditions lead to the creation of a group known as the United Liberation Front of Assam. While originally started as a sort of Robin Hood organization, that forced the tea industry to build hospitals and do charitable work under threat of violence, it eventually devolved into an extortion racket before falling apart.

One interesting note is that in 1990 Unilever apparently considered hiring mercenaries to take care of the ULFA before deciding to pull out of Assam entirely for a period of time, almost leading to the complete collapse of the local Guwahati auction system (!!), which was dominated by two Unilever companies and the bulk purchaser for the Soviets. :)

Great insight into a world few know existed.

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Mar 16th, '11, 18:44
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Herb_Master » Mar 16th, '11, 18:44

Because I purchased 'The Story of Tea' by Mary Lou Heiss from Amazon, they are sure I will be interested in buying a new book by Warren Peltier from them :P

Punlished march 10 2011

"The Ancient Art of Tea: Discover Happiness and Contentment in a Perfect Cup of Tea"
No Short Description
No Look Inside
No Customer reviews
In stock but may require up to 2 additional days to deliver.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Google Products search has
By Warren Peltier, John T. Kirby - Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd. (2011) - Hardback - 160 pages - ISBN 0804841535

Fine tea leaves and resplendent utensils are only two elements of what is a dynamic process to fully enjoy tea. However, without skill in steeping tea, without a suitable environment to drink tea, without good spring water, without proper fire to boil water, without understanding of tasting tea, such exquisiteness of tea leaves and utensils effectively become useless. The Ancient Art of Tea contains vital information to assist tea drinkers in their quest for yet another pot of delicious tea. Using the knowledge extracted from several ancient tea classics, we learn two fundamental secrets to tea as practiced in ancient China - technique and taste. Technique involves choosing water, heating water to its proper degree, brewing tea for a suitable length of time - all are common elements of tea technique since 3,000 years ago; though teas and brewing methods have changed over time. Tea is not a beverage to be gulped but rather sipped in refined surroundings, out of exquisite utensils, while listening to the rhythmic sound of the kettle, or viewing the bubbles and ripples that are the states of boiling water. These exemplify some of the basic concepts of the philosophical taste of tea, which greatly enhance tea enjoyment.
I cannot find any reviews of the book anywhere on the web - has anyone got the inside track on this book??

Mar 17th, '11, 09:38
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by niisonge » Mar 17th, '11, 09:38

I'm the author of this book. Most of the book contains extracts from many ancient Chinese tea books and other literary works; with a focus on tea preparation skills and the scholars' refined view of tea enjoyment.

If you have any questions about the book or the material in it, feel free to track me down and email me. Or join the group I started on Yahoo Groups and post your questions there:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teaclassics/


Since I'm in Mainland China, I'm limited by what I can do in blogs and forums. But email still works.
Herb_mas... wrote:Because I purchased 'The Story of Tea' by Mary Lou Heiss from Amazon, they are sure I will be interested in buying a new book by Warren Peltier from them :P

"The Ancient Art of Tea: Discover Happiness and Contentment in a Perfect Cup of Tea"

I cannot find any reviews of the book anywhere on the web - has anyone got the inside track on this book??

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Mar 17th, '11, 19:55
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Herb_Master » Mar 17th, '11, 19:55

Warren - Joined Nov 07 - 1st Post March 2011 :roll:

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Mar 17th, '11, 21:31
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by TokyoB » Mar 17th, '11, 21:31

He is a contributor to the Cha Dao blog.

http://chadao.blogspot.com/

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Mar 18th, '11, 07:56
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by brandon » Mar 18th, '11, 07:56

Herb_Master wrote:Warren - Joined Nov 07 - 1st Post March 2011 :roll:
Warren has participated in the chat before and I can vouch for him being who he says he is.

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Mar 18th, '11, 11:59
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by wyardley » Mar 18th, '11, 11:59

brandon wrote: Warren has participated in the chat before and I can vouch for him being who he says he is.
Same here.

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Mar 28th, '11, 07:12
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Wu De » Mar 28th, '11, 07:12

Issue # 10 of The Art of Tea is out now.

It has some decent articles on tetsubin, zhu lun ju teapots, some on Puerh as usual and a bunch of articles on red tea.

Bless
WuDe

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Jun 9th, '11, 09:34
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Wu De » Jun 9th, '11, 09:34

Not many posts in this section... Months and a single post away, issue #11 of The Art of Tea Magazine is now out.

In my opinion, it is the best so far. The last two issues have used exclusively Western, professional translators and the content has also gotten better. Sometimes it's a chore to edit them, but these last two issues have been a pleasure and I have learned a lot. There are some good articles on Liu Bao tea, Puerh, Tetsubins and some cool articles on various tea houses/spaces in Taiwan in issue 11.

All the issues will be available in Vegas if you are heading there. If not, you'll have to find them somewhere online.

A cup of light,
WuDe

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Oct 29th, '11, 11:18
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by debunix » Oct 29th, '11, 11:18

Just finished a marvelous little book about tea: "A Tea Lover's Travel Diary" by Jason C. S. Chen. (Amazon link)

It's a pair of photo essays of trips to Phoenix Mountain and to Anxi, to see the production of Phoenix oolong and Tie Guan Yin oolong, with lots of fascinating details and very clear photos of every step of the process. Pretty and interesting.

Hope he goes on to write about puerh....and some famous green teas too!

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Feb 5th, '12, 18:00
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Wu De » Feb 5th, '12, 18:00

Issue 12 of The Art of Tea Magazine has been printed. It has some nice articles on Lin Cang in it this time.

Fallen leaves
into your bowl,
WuDe

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