Apr 10th, '08, 11:49
Posts: 552
Joined: Aug 23rd, '07, 00:42
Location: Somewhere in the wilds of Montana, but never without a teacup.
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skywarrior
We have something like 3000 volumes here, enough start a small bookstore. But not a single book on tea. I think it is a terrible oversight that must be remedied as soon as possible. I taking notes on titles and recommendations on this thread and the other book thread.
Had 2 cups of Assam in the morning and am now thinking about making some Lady Orchid from Victoria.
Had 2 cups of Assam in the morning and am now thinking about making some Lady Orchid from Victoria.
drinking some earl grey from harrods mixed in with cream flavored black tea from adagio.
My list:
-Tea Lovers' Treasury -Norwood Pratt (autographed)
-The Story of Tea Mary Lou and Robert Heiss (autographed)
-The Tea Companion Jane Pettigrew
-Cooking with Tea Rosen
At the office there is a bunch more we have, including some interesting ones sent to us by tea companies in China, that are perfect coffee table books.
My list:
-Tea Lovers' Treasury -Norwood Pratt (autographed)
-The Story of Tea Mary Lou and Robert Heiss (autographed)
-The Tea Companion Jane Pettigrew
-Cooking with Tea Rosen
At the office there is a bunch more we have, including some interesting ones sent to us by tea companies in China, that are perfect coffee table books.
Despite having a decent collection books between me and my father, I don't think we have any on tea. The closest that I have is a small cookbook about afternoon tea recipes like biscuits, sandwiches, and scones. I'd love to get some books on tea eventually though.
This morning is White Tip Oolong. Second steep of it is going in the fridge to see how it works as iced tea.
This morning is White Tip Oolong. Second steep of it is going in the fridge to see how it works as iced tea.
Apr 10th, '08, 14:25
Posts: 2299
Joined: Oct 23rd, '06, 19:46
Location: Seattle Area
Contact:
tenuki
Legend of Tung Ting from teahome - this was getting a bit stale so I did a quick refresh roast and bam, back to delicious. 
yay!
Interesting question - I have, um, a few books on tea, but the one I want to mention is not on tea per se but is the book that originally got me interested in 'real' tea. I had this longtime childhood friend who in retrospect introduced me to a whole lot of the good stuff (jazz, woody allen, monty python, and more..). She had an intellectual older brother who she mined for info which she passed to me I think.
Anyway, when I was about 17 or so during one of our jazz listening sessions she casually handed me the book 'Rituals' by Cees Nooteboom, the intelligent and poetic dutch author freshly translated to English. The book is a fantastic piece of literature which I won't go into here (plenty of reviews on the web by better people than me) but the third section of the book tells the story of the main character's interaction with the estranged son of a friend who is attempting to make order out of the chaos of life by studying the Japanese Tea Ceremony. That got me interested in tea, and I haven't stopped since.
(p.s. I like the more recent harvest book translation/edition better (seems more poetic) than the original LSU translation/edition for what it's worth (I don't speak dutch) but they are both excellent.)
yay!Interesting question - I have, um, a few books on tea, but the one I want to mention is not on tea per se but is the book that originally got me interested in 'real' tea. I had this longtime childhood friend who in retrospect introduced me to a whole lot of the good stuff (jazz, woody allen, monty python, and more..). She had an intellectual older brother who she mined for info which she passed to me I think.
Anyway, when I was about 17 or so during one of our jazz listening sessions she casually handed me the book 'Rituals' by Cees Nooteboom, the intelligent and poetic dutch author freshly translated to English. The book is a fantastic piece of literature which I won't go into here (plenty of reviews on the web by better people than me) but the third section of the book tells the story of the main character's interaction with the estranged son of a friend who is attempting to make order out of the chaos of life by studying the Japanese Tea Ceremony. That got me interested in tea, and I haven't stopped since.
(p.s. I like the more recent harvest book translation/edition better (seems more poetic) than the original LSU translation/edition for what it's worth (I don't speak dutch) but they are both excellent.)
Last edited by tenuki on Apr 11th, '08, 00:02, edited 1 time in total.
Jasmine pearls was my first real leaf tea. The best jasmine tea for me, along with jasmine silver needles (which are difficult to find, at least for high quality ones)Teasweetie wrote:Thanks for your post about the book. I am eager to read it.olivierco wrote: I hope you will find it interesting.
Now some jasmine pearls in my cup.
Yay, another jasmine pearls fan!!
Now it is sencha time! (Ippodo Kaboku)
Apr 10th, '08, 14:36
Posts: 5151
Joined: Dec 20th, '06, 23:33
Scrolling: scrolling
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Have you ever been to Le Palais des Thés? They seem to be a pervasive presence among the French blogueurs, have multiple locations (including shops in Belgium, Norway, and Japan) and I see they now even have an English language website. According to their website they were founded by about 50 tea lovers so they could get quality tea.olivierco wrote: a short guide from the shop "le palais des thés"
Are you able to give us any more insight or personal opinions about them? There seem to be a number of budding multinationals in the premium tea business, and Le Palais looks to be the chief French contender.
i only have two books on tea: "the tea ceremony", and "eat tea", an h&s-endorsed cookbook that is not terribly interesting.
when it comes to tea books, i feel like i'm always looking for something more scientifically rigorous so that i can know exactly what the deal is with tea, both now and historically, in all the areas where it is produced. when i mentioned this to a teashop proprietor in princeton, whom we may call "Master Shu," he said: "i do not know a really good book in english. they all tell half-truths, and from these you must work to discover the truth about tea."
started the day wearing the red robe, and now i've some some yunnan going to finish off my lunchtime.
when it comes to tea books, i feel like i'm always looking for something more scientifically rigorous so that i can know exactly what the deal is with tea, both now and historically, in all the areas where it is produced. when i mentioned this to a teashop proprietor in princeton, whom we may call "Master Shu," he said: "i do not know a really good book in english. they all tell half-truths, and from these you must work to discover the truth about tea."
started the day wearing the red robe, and now i've some some yunnan going to finish off my lunchtime.
Apr 10th, '08, 15:00
Posts: 2299
Joined: Oct 23rd, '06, 19:46
Location: Seattle Area
Contact:
tenuki
For Chinese tea history you must read - The Classic of Tea by Lu Yu, written around 770 CE. There are two english editions (same translation and pictures, different form factors, I own both and prefer the earlier) both currently out of print, which means that unfortunately the book is rather pricey right now.scotty X wrote:when it comes to tea books, i feel like i'm always looking for something more scientifically rigorous so that i can know exactly what the deal is with tea, both now and historically, in all the areas where it is produced.
It is the very first known monograph on tea in the world and should be in anyones tea library IMO.
Last edited by tenuki on Apr 10th, '08, 15:14, edited 2 times in total.
They have about ten shops in France, one in Tokyo, two in Oslo and two in Brussel.Salsero wrote:Have you ever been to Le Palais des Thés? They seem to be a pervasive presence among the French blogueurs, have multiple locations (including shops in Belgium, Norway, and Japan) and I see they now even have an English language website. According to their website they were founded by about 50 tea lovers so they could get quality tea.olivierco wrote: a short guide from the shop "le palais des thés"
Are you able to give us any more insight or personal opinions about them? There seem to be a number of budding multinationals in the premium tea business, and Le Palais looks to be the chief French contender.
They sell all kind of teas, many flavored teas but also some high quality teas.
I buy from them Keemun and Yunnan Gold, Darjeelings and Chinese greens which they get a good selection of spring harvest. I buy also from Mariage frères which offers a broader choice of high quality teas.
They are perhaps a bit expensive (typical prices 20 to 30€/100gr for their best teas: with the weak US dollar that's 30-45$ /100gr), but the good thing is that there is a shop in my town, so I am able to taste the tea before buying. And no shipping costs.
Their japanese greens lack of freshness, as it is for virtually all not based in Japan sellers. Their oolongs are too expensive regarding their quality. (They even sell some at ridiculous prices of 98€ (150$) /100 gr and even 135€ (200$)/100 gr...)
They started to sell Puer one or two years ago.
I am waiting for Adagio to open a tea store in Europe in order to compare their teas (and prices).
