Books about tea

[Selaphiel]

I've been browsing around in different bookstores lately trying to find books about tea or the philosophy behind tea, I'm especially interested in the Japanese teas. I've ordered The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura which is more of a philosophical and cultural reflection around Japanese tea. I found a lot of books about the Chado (Japanese tea ceremony), so trying to figure out which book to get.

However, I can not seem to find any books that writes primarily about the other teas of Japan. I would love a good book about Sencha, Gyokuro, Bancha and so forth. Anything from general philosophy around them to more of descriptive about the different varieties of the different teas. So my this topic is for asking if any of you know about a book or five about this? And feel free to discuss other books about tea as well.

[chamekke]

Hi Selaphiel,

There is already a sticky thread devoted to tea books under TeaChat > Miscellany:

Tea Book and Magazine Reviews/Discussion"

It is very hard to find books in English devoted (or even tangentially related) to sencha and the other leaf teas of Japan. Take a look here for the ones I know of.

If only Sencha no Kokoroe were available in translation! However, it's entirely in Japanese. As I can read no more than a handful of kanji, I bought it for the photos - which are great.

[Jack_teachat]

I've not read it but I did find this book on Amazon a while ago when I too was looking for books on tea. "Tea of the Sages: The art of Sencha" by Patricia Graham. You are definitely right though about books on Japanese tea, the ceromony aspect does very much dominate the existing literature.

http://www.amazon.com/Tea-Sages-Patrici ... 184&sr=8-1

I also have seen this book in a local shop of mine and might treat myself to it at Christmas... Mary & Robert Heiss "The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide"

http://www.amazon.com/Story-Tea-Cultura ... 768&sr=1-1

Jack

[Selaphiel]

Whoops, was not aware of that topic. I'll have a look at what you posted. Thanks

[chamekke]

Selaphiel,

I've entered all my tea ceremony-related books on LibraryThing, along with a few short reviews, so if you want to see the range of tea ceremony books out there, take a peek:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/cha ... a+ceremony

Sort the Entry Date column in ascending order so that you get the English-language books at the top. (I've been entering a ton of Japanese-language books lately.)

I would suggest that if you are looking an introductory book that describes the background of tea ceremony, its meaning, and a little info on how it is actually performed, try anything by Sen Soshitsu (Chado: The Japanese Way of Tea is the most readily available, but I think that in terms of conveying the feeling of tea, The Spirit of Tea is the best) or Sen'O Tanaka's The Tea Ceremony.