Robert and Mary Lou Heiss’ new book, The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook: A Guide to the World’s Best Teas, is due to be released on March 30. I’ve been looking forward to this for quite a while ? Mary Lou told us a bit about it last year when I interviewed her.

“This book is a great companion book to The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide as it covers different aspects of the tea experience. The working title right now is: The Tea Enthusiast?s Handbook: A Guide to Enjoying the World?s Best Tea. It is a tutorial on learning what one needs to know about tea in order to feel confident when faced with the choices on a tea menu and how to be discerning when purchasing loose-leaf tea. There are many discussions about all manner of topics regarding tea and a lengthy tea pictorial and tasting guide.”

Right now, you can pre-order a copy of The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook from Amazon.com for $11.46, which is a good $5.53 less than the list price. Click here to go to Amazon.

© Eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2010. | Pre-Order “The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook” from Amazon.com | No comment |
Post categories: Books about tea
Post tags: Amazon, Mary Lou Heiss, tea books, The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook

Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West by Beatrice Hohenegger

I finished university with a double major in History and Spanish. I pretty much never speak Spanish these days ? as multi-cultural as Melbourne is, Spanish-speaking folk aren’t that common ? and most of my days are spent working on things like newsletters, content management and spam killing for a certain travel community. Despite the fact that my day job really doesn’t have much to do with what I studied at university, history remains a passionate interest of mine.

And so I was very interested to read Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West, an engaging introduction to the tumultuous and intriguing history of tea.

Beatrice Hohenegger is an expert on the history and culture of tea. Incidentally, she is the guest curator of a traveling museum exhibition called Steeped in History: The Art of Tea, which is currently running at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. She is, without doubt, well qualified to write about tea.

While her research is thorough ? and thankfully she includes an extensive bibliography for those of us who want to learn more ? Hohenegger writes for the masses, not the academics. Anecdotes and illustrations from the annals of tea history are interspersed throughout the narrative, which leads the reader through tea’s origins and cultural heritage in the East, through to its discovery by the West and subsequent rise to global popularity. The third section of the book breaks away from the narrative approach, instead looking at an assortment of topics relating to tea, including such timeless classics as the caffeine content of tea, its health benefits, and the origin of the word tea. Finally, Hohenegger turns her attention to today’s tea industry, offering a compelling case for fair trade tea, organic agricultural practices and small-scale tea farmers (whose plight is hard in an industry dominated by large tea plantations).

One of the clear messages of Hohenegger’s narrative is the abrupt and traumatic nature of the West’s colonization of the East. At times, this message is a little excessive. The pre-colonial era of tea’s history is written of in adoring tones, while Hohenegger’s discussion of the West’s role in tea history felt somewhat one-dimensional at times. But there is no doubt that the West has much to be ashamed of in the history of tea. First and foremost, the story of how the East India Company used opium to obtain tea ?encouraging widespread opium addiction in China to bolster its coffers ? is a sinister, shameful tale. It’s fascinating history, but I couldn’t help but feel outraged at the extraordinary greed of colonial Europe.

Liquid Jade is 270 pages long, not counting the appendices. There is a lot to cover in that space. As a result, I found myself thinking of it as more of an introductory text than an in-depth study of tea history or culture. In broad brushstrokes, Hohenegger paints an expansive view of tea’s journey through history. If you want a broad overview of tea history, this is a good place to start.

Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West is available from Amazon.com.

© eric for Tea Finely Brewed, 2009. | Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West (book review) | 3 comments |
Post categories: Books about tea, Tea history
Post tags: Beatrice Hohenegger, Liquid Jade: the Story of Tea from East to West, Tea history