Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

For general/other topics related to tea.


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Mar 19th, '15, 03:37
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by chamekke » Mar 19th, '15, 03:37

Drax wrote:Thanks, chamekke!

For what it's worth, that big red box in the order of the cover says that it uses large characters, so it's easy to read! :D
Thank you very much for the translation, Drax!

(I wonder if that implies something about the book's intended demographic?)

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Aug 26th, '15, 03:04
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Wu De » Aug 26th, '15, 03:04

Just wanted to announce that Global Tea Hut has translated the Cha Jing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UXs6qJQwLk

Apr 5th, '16, 05:13
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Saffron11 » Apr 5th, '16, 05:13

Hey, Thanks for this great discussion here. I have read many books of tea like "The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide (Hardcover) "," Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties (Paperback)", "The Tea Drinker's Handbook (Hardcover)", "Classic of Tea: Origins and Rituals (Hardcover)". I Liked all these books.

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Apr 6th, '16, 23:40
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by NateHevens » Apr 6th, '16, 23:40

What about podcasts? Does anyone listen to tea podcasts? I listen to three...

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Apr 7th, '16, 00:42
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by debunix » Apr 7th, '16, 00:42

NateHevens wrote:What about podcasts? Does anyone listen to tea podcasts? I listen to three...
Which ones? I listen to dozens of podcasts, but none are about tea. I'd love to add a few tea programs to my weekly or monthly listening menu.

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Apr 7th, '16, 00:45
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by NateHevens » Apr 7th, '16, 00:45

debunix wrote:
NateHevens wrote:What about podcasts? Does anyone listen to tea podcasts? I listen to three...
Which ones? I listen to dozens of podcasts, but none are about tea. I'd love to add a few tea programs to my weekly or monthly listening menu.
World Tea Podcast, Talking Tea, and My Japanese Green Tea

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Apr 7th, '16, 14:52
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by debunix » Apr 7th, '16, 14:52

NateHevens wrote:World Tea Podcast, Talking Tea, and My Japanese Green Tea
Thanks, I'll check them out.

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Apr 7th, '16, 15:01
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by NateHevens » Apr 7th, '16, 15:01

debunix wrote:
NateHevens wrote:World Tea Podcast, Talking Tea, and My Japanese Green Tea
Thanks, I'll check them out.
World Tea Podcast is my favorite (and I'm not just saying that because the host is a member here... :mrgreen: )

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May 29th, '16, 19:06
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Milo » May 29th, '16, 19:06

I'm surprised no one's mentioned The Tea Drinker's Handbook by Delmas, Minet, and Barbaste (http://www.abbeville.com/bookpage.asp?i ... 0789209887). It's been in print for nearly a decade. Best book on tea I've encountered so far. I even ditched my Heiss handbook soon after receiving my copy; it's that good. Here's an expanded summary of the table of contents:

WHAT IS TEA?
1 The tea bush (anatomy and physiology, cultivars, wild vs ancient)
2 The ecology of tea (climate, temperature, rainfall, light, soil quality, altitude)
3 The cultivation of tea (history, propagation methods, pruning, supplementation, pest and disease prevention)
4 The pluck (harvesting calendar, types of plucks, manual vs mechanized, socioeconomics of tea industry)
5 The colors of tea (black/red, green, wu-long, yellow, white, pu-erh, scented, smoked, flavored)

TASTING
6 Chemistry of tea (polyphenols, alkaloids, amino acids, glucose, minerals, vitamins, aromatic compounds)
Brewing time, quality and temperature of water, leaf:water ratio, measurement)
7 Equipment and techniques for tasting (tasting methods, Western vs Eastern style of brewing, teapot material, storing tea)
8 The physiology of taste (Taste vs smell, physiology of olfaction, texture, appearance, freakin' hearing)
9 How we express our sensations (classifying aromas, tea tasting vocabulary and terminology)

THE WORLD'S 50 BEST TEAS (overview of history, traditions, and notable cultivation areas of each country)
10 China
11 Taiwan
12 Japan
13 India
14 Nepal
15 Sri Lanka

APPENDICES
16 Tasting table
17 Tea chronology
18 Index
19 Bibliography

My only gripe is that the authors, in describing the physiology of taste, briefly cite the myth about the human tongue having designated 'taste zones' for sweetness, sour, etc. Fortunately, this aberration doesn't otherwise affect their extensive knowledge and contagious enthusiasm for tea. Especially recommended for those who'd prefer to keep their collection of books on tea to a minimum.

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May 29th, '16, 19:52
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Milo » May 29th, '16, 19:52

Addendum: if you are a true tea nerd (read: insatiable interest in tea) skip the books and just go to Hojo Tea's website. Akira Hojo is pretty much the Harold McGee of tea and has written a cumulative body of literature that puts every other tea expert to shame. Name a topic, he's almost certainly covered it, right down to the most minute detail. This online body of literature is a bit harder to navigate than that of a traditional edited book, but it's all there for the determined reader. He's proven fully capable of authoring a book on tea that would parallel, in scope and detail, McGee's opus On Food and Cooking and I really wish he'd get on that because I would pay ¥10,000 for just one hardcover copy.

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May 31st, '16, 01:21
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by NateHevens » May 31st, '16, 01:21

Okay... I hope I don't get flagged for spam. And I don't even work for the company. But I just wanted to let y'all know about this.

Tea Journey Magazine is a magazine I heard about via, I think, World Tea Podcast. They have a Kickstarter to fund the start of the magazine.

There's only 46 hours left, and they're $1,286 away from their goal. It'd be cool to see this funded, and I'm sure at least some of you would be interested...

Here's the link to their Kickstarter. Check it out?

And I promise not to do this again... :mrgreen:

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Jun 5th, '16, 05:40
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Arkose » Jun 5th, '16, 05:40

NateHevens wrote:
debunix wrote:
NateHevens wrote:What about podcasts? Does anyone listen to tea podcasts? I listen to three...
Which ones? I listen to dozens of podcasts, but none are about tea. I'd love to add a few tea programs to my weekly or monthly listening menu.
World Tea Podcast, Talking Tea, and My Japanese Green Tea
One I listened to was Laszlo's The History of Tea. It's finished now (he maintains a regular Chinese History podcast, and only did a short ten-part series on tea history), and I fell behind somewhere around episode four, but liked it well enough; it expanded a bit from the previous books I'd read on Chinese tea history already, plus hearing certain words pronounced aloud is always a bonus over just seeing it written.

He doesn't have a proper subsection for the podcast anymore, looks like: http://chinahistorypodcast.com/?s=tea

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Jun 7th, '16, 02:58
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by wyardley » Jun 7th, '16, 02:58

Milo wrote:Addendum: if you are a true tea nerd (read: insatiable interest in tea) skip the books and just go to Hojo Tea's website. Akira Hojo is pretty much the Harold McGee of tea and has written a cumulative body of literature that puts every other tea expert to shame.
I'm sorry, but I think that's a ridiculous comparison.

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Jun 7th, '16, 11:55
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by Milo » Jun 7th, '16, 11:55

wyardley wrote:
Milo wrote:Addendum: if you are a true tea nerd (read: insatiable interest in tea) skip the books and just go to Hojo Tea's website. Akira Hojo is pretty much the Harold McGee of tea and has written a cumulative body of literature that puts every other tea expert to shame.
I'm sorry, but I think that's a ridiculous comparison.
This sounds like a learning opportunity for me. Say more.

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Jun 8th, '16, 02:16
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Re: Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion

by wyardley » Jun 8th, '16, 02:16

Milo wrote:
wyardley wrote:
Milo wrote:Addendum: if you are a true tea nerd (read: insatiable interest in tea) skip the books and just go to Hojo Tea's website. Akira Hojo is pretty much the Harold McGee of tea and has written a cumulative body of literature that puts every other tea expert to shame.
I'm sorry, but I think that's a ridiculous comparison.
This sounds like a learning opportunity for me. Say more.
Harold McGee actually gets the science right (and cites research backing up his claims), and is well regarded for his writing about the science of food. That's not even remotely comparable to the kind of pseudo-science on Hojo's site, most of which is not backed up by anything, as best I can tell.

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