Tea Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide [Paperback]

Wendy Rasmussen (Author), Ric Rhinehart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 1998

TEA BASICS

Your complete guide to the perfect cup

Civilized, soothing, delicious, and relaxing . . . tea offers an ideal refuge from the fast pace and stressful demands of life today. But with the astonishing array of teas currently available, how do you find a cup you can really call your own?

Start with Tea Basics. This handy reference covers all of the essentials of tea buying, brewing, and tasting, and explores the comforts of ritual and healing that tea has provided through the centuries. As you sip and savor the wonderful flavors of black teas, green teas, oolongs, and scented/herbal teas, you'll understand why tea is consumed by more people worldwide than any other drink except water. So put the kettle on, put your feet up, and immerse yourself in Tea Basics! Inside you'll find:
* Tea facts: its origins, history, and many varieties
* Guidance on selection, blending, brewing, tasting, and storage
* Tips on tea etiquette
* A tea-tasting glossary
* Select sources of tea and related equipment

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Tea is quickly following coffee into the beverage spotlight. In this concise and accessible guide, you'll get a straightforward introduction to the fundamentals of fine tea. The authors--industry insiders--demystify the world of tea, giving insights into tea's botanical origins and history, as well as its varieties, processing, and grading. Tea Basics also offers tips for tea appreciation.

From the Back Cover

TEA BASICS

Your complete guide to the perfect cup

Civilized, soothing, delicious, and relaxing . . . tea offers an ideal refuge from the fast pace and stressful demands of life today. But with the astonishing array of teas currently available, how do you find a cup you can really call your own?

Start with Tea Basics. This handy reference covers all of the essentials of tea buying, brewing, and tasting, and explores the comforts of ritual and healing that tea has provided through the centuries. As you sip and savor the wonderful flavors of black teas, green teas, oolongs, and scented/herbal teas, you'll understand why tea is consumed by more people worldwide than any other drink except water. So put the kettle on, put your feet up, and immerse yourself in Tea Basics! Inside you'll find:

• Tea facts: its origins, history, and many varieties
• Guidance on selection, blending, brewing, tasting, and storage
• Tips on tea etiquette
• A tea-tasting glossary
• Select sources of tea and related equipment

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 7, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471185183
• ISBN-13: 978-0471185185
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #366,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for the Tea Beginner, January 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Tea Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide (Paperback)

This book impressed me. It is easy to read, has a personal feel, and covers all of the basics (what tea is, history, where it is produced, how to brew it, tea tasting, tea ceremonies, etc). Many resources are listed in the back. I have five books on tea so far (a beginner), and this is my favorite. If you only want one book on tea, this is my recommendation. The health section is pretty basic, so if that interests you, you might want to also look at a health-related tea book (green tea). This book describes the general regions, whereas the Tea Companion book describes the individual tea gardens (which may or may not be useful to you.)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An okay book, March 1, 2008

By 

A. Zimmermann "aug3zimm" (Texas, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tea Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide (Paperback)

I ordered both this book and The Tea Companion: A Connoisseur's Guide by Jane Pettigrew . Though I read this book first, I was most impressed by Tea Companion. Tea Basics seemed to have a bit more depth when talking about the history of tea, but it disappointed me most was the end. I had hoped to learn more about specific types of tea, but instead the author tells how to plan and execute a tea party. Not something I care about in the least and for something that (to me) is so insignificant, I found that too much time was given to the information.

All in all, not a bad book, but you can really do better. Check out Pettigrew's book. I would have been happier just getting that one alone.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great starter book on tea, May 5, 2007

By 

T. Ryan (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tea Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide (Paperback)

To try to prevent my niece from spending all of her time in college going to starb%#ks I recently put together a care package of tea brewer, a few starter books on tea, and some nice loose leaf teas in tins. Going through the recently published books on tea I found this one which is a nice paperback book on tea basics. It has a little filler but covers all of the fundamentals in a concise way, a brief history of camellia sinensis, where it is grown today, grades, types, how the market for tea works, tea vocabulary, some pros/cons on how to brew, and has a nice list of tea resources appended to the back. It even has a good brief description on how to cure a new yixing pot. I like it when a "book on basics" is done well for a topic, and this one is in that category. Not a lot of pretty pictures here... just some good basic information on tea. Throw in Okakura Kakuzo, one of the paperbacks by Diana Rosen and you have yourself a nice present to give someone just starting out with tea. WARNING to tea novices, this stuff is addicting and before you know it you will have an assortment of kettles cups and pots, thermometers, scales, infusers, tins and a dogeared copy of John Blofeld's book. You have been warned.