Tea Chings: Appreciating the Varietals and Virtues of Fine Tea and Herbs [Hardcover]

The Republic of Tea (Compiler), The Republic of Tea (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2002

A beautifully designed, informative illustrated book about the flavors, benefits, and cultural lore surrounding this 5,000-year-old tea experience—from the Ministry of Information of The Republic of Tea, leading purveyor of only the finest teas and herbs in the world. Novice sippers and tea aficionados alike can journey from the tea gardens of Asia to the tea rooms of Europe and North America, sampling the finest teas in this accessible handbook about the history, culture, and customs of the long-honored brew. Included are guides to the leaves, plants, and manufacture of teas and other botanicals used in making tea, information on the medicinal benefits of teas and herbs, plus maps, diagrams, and recipes. Find the answers to such questions as: What makes green tea different from black tea...and herbal "teas" different from all others? What do Orange Pekoe, English Breakfast, tannic acid, and "naturally flavored" really mean? How did tea bags, iced tea, "high tea," and the spiritual art of the Japanese tea ceremony come to be? What are the ingredients and health benefits of yerba mate, rooibos, chai and Pu-erh? Plus much more TeaMinded knowledge. Two-color drawings throughout.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Tea drinking is so fundamentally a part of many cultures around the world that it's surprising so few Americans take part in the custom. The curious seeking to know more about tea-drinking habits and the nature of the brew itself may turn to the cleverly titled Tea Chings. Rob Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold, who together operate a major tea distribution corporation, share their vast knowledge in a simple, readable text that makes a highly useful reference book covering all sorts of tea lore. In addition to describing tea consumption habits in various nations, they distinguish among various teas and herb brews commonly available. A glossary of tea-drinking terms answers many a question that novice tea aficionados may have. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

In 1994, Ron Rubin bought and took charge of The Republic of Tea, a two-year old company that had been founded by the same people who created The Banana Republic. Shortly thereafter, marketing veteran Stuart Avery Gold joined Rubin in the company's mission to create a Tea Revolution. In keeping with its whimsical identity as an independent nation, The Republic of Tea calls its employees Ministers, its customers Citizens, and its sales outlets Embassies. Ron Rubin, the "Minister of Tea," is Chairman of the Board of The Republic of Tea. He resides with his family in Clayton, Missouri. Stuart Avery Gold, the "Minister of Travel," is COO, and the lauded editorial "voice" for the company's Tea Revolution. He resides with his family in Boca Raton, Florida. Headquartered in Novato, California, The Republic of Tea is one of the most successful and fastest growing cachet brands in America today. Selling only the finest teas and herbs in the world to specialty food and select department stores, cafés and restaurants, as well as through its award winning catalog, the Republic of Tea has enjoyed enormous success, capturing the imagination and loyalty of its customers by maintaining its high ideals despite the aggressive nature of today's business.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Newmarket Press; Second Edition edition (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557044910
• ISBN-13: 978-1557044914
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,121,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The I Ching in a cup?, July 24, 2003

By 

Dennis Littrell (SoCal) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tea Chings: Appreciating the Varietals and Virtues of Fine Tea and Herbs (Hardcover)

The emphasis here is on an attractive and somewhat cutesy presentation of tea and herbs very much in concert with Ron Rubin's The Republic of Tea retailing business. There are sidebar quotes from such anonymous "authors" as "The Minister of Travel," The Minister of Soil," The Minister of Herbs," etc., in frank imitation of Eastern mystical pronouncements. ("The Minister of Travel" is identified on the jacket as co-author Stuart Gold.) An example from page 72:

Who draws the water and boils it?
Who spoons the leaves from the tin and places them in the pot?
Who lifts the kettle and pours?
Who could be a greater friend?

This Zen and Taoist take on the consumption of tea is of course entirely appropriate. The Bodhidarma himself (legend has it) contributed his eyelids to the spawning of the first tea plant; and Zen and Taoist masters have from olden times used tea as an aid to meditation. Personally, as a long-time devotee myself, I believe that tea has mystical powers not easily quantified by modern science, and at any rate there is also a ceremonial and a devotional aspect to the drinking of tea than leads one to the quiet contemplation that makes for a life fully lived.

The text is easy to read and there are attractive thumbnail illustrations in green throughout. There are a few plugs for Rubin's company, but they are tastefully woven in. I must however call into question some of the information. For example on page 34 it is writ: "Homo erectus pekinensis, who lived in Southeast Asia where tea bushes grow wild, was boiling water and eating wild tea leaves more than 500,000 years ago." I would dearly like to see the reference for this supposition. (There are no footnotes.)

Also on page 20 it is claimed that white tea has "virtually no caffeine." I am having white tea myself this afternoon with lunch (Foojoy's Bai Mudan) which I have drunk many times before. I can say with complete confidence that it has noticeably more than "virtually no caffeine."

Indeed the whole question of the caffeine content of various teas seems a bit murky in this volume. On page 80 there is a table "Caffeine in Beverages" that indicates that five ounces of green tea contains 15 mg of caffeine while five ounces of black tea contains 40 mg. Needless to say it depends on which green or black tea you are talking about. Japanese green teas in my experience typically contain more caffeine that Chinese green teas. The caffeine in a typical Assam tea (a "black" tea) seems greater than in say Keemun the famous black tea from China. Furthermore, of course, it depends on how strong one brews one's tea and how long the leaves stay in the water and indeed at what temperature the water is when it hits the leaves.

Putting that aside and assuming such things are balanced, as I presume the authors do, consider this statement, also from page 80: "The more oxidized (or "fermented") the tea, the more caffeine it contains..."

I don't see how this can be true since the amount of caffeine in the bud and leaves does not gain from oxidation. It is not the processing of the tea (except for the deliberate removal of caffeine), but the tea leaves themselves that determine the amount of caffeine in the infusion. The authors imply that they know this when they end the paragraph with the observation that "The greatest concentration of caffeine...is in the bud and first two leaves of the tea bush."

I'm not even sure that this is correct. What IS correct is that the finer the tea the more likely it is to come from the bud and the first leaf or two, yet it will not be experienced as "strong"--which reveals perhaps a more important point about tea drinking: in the older leaves there is more tannin, and it is the experience of tannin that seems "strong" and bitter. The finest teas have only a hint of tannin and not a bit of bitterness.

Putting these peccadilloes aside, this is an attractive book that would make a nice gift for tea and herb lovers. For those who drink nothing but Lipton, it will be an eye-opener deluxe.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A basic fundamental on the subject of tea, September 27, 2003

By 

Michael Love (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tea Chings: Appreciating the Varietals and Virtues of Fine Tea and Herbs (Hardcover)

I'm a confirmed Tea drinker and have been for many years but with the explosion of coffee shops in recent decades Tea drinking seems to have fallen out of favor in our 'instant' and fast paced world. Not to sound counter culture but to me one of the attractions of drinking tea is its slow pace. When you decide to make a cup of tea its not just a ring-pull-glug beverage it's more like an experience, a quiet vacation from a busy day. Time is required to brew the tea, the longer you wait the stronger the brew but also the longer you wait the cooler the tea becomes.

When you order a 'hot' tea you normally end up with a cup of hot water with a tea bag floating in it, you still have to let it brew. So when I started seeing a Chai tea being offered with the same speed and efficiency as a latte I was curious about the Chai tea is it just some marketing fad or did it have some history?

I picked up the book "Tea Chings" for some light background information on my favorite beverage and I was surprised to find out that Chai Tea does have a history almost as old as tea in India. The book also opened my eyes to other delightful facts about tea.

"Tea Chings" by Ron Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold is a pleasant book to read with facts and history of various styles and blends of teas from traditional black and green leaf teas to Herbal and White leaf teas. Although the facts and the information are sprinkled with hint of propaganda for the 'Republic of Tea' the book does gives you a sound fundamental on the subject of tea.

Not to detract too much from the book but to me it read like a term paper rather than a reference book. For most of us this will be a sufficient level of facts, after all how much does any one really need to know about tea? But if you look a little deeper into the facts you notice a few holes in the information.

I liked the book a lot, even the lettering and the green ink illustrations add to the visual enjoyment of the book. It's a good book to read while waiting for your tea to brew.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The products of the Republic of Tea are as good as this book, February 16, 2002

By 

Edward Blum (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tea Chings: Appreciating the Varietals and Virtues of Fine Tea and Herbs (Hardcover)

Although I haven't totally abandoned my coffee---and my coffee lifestyle---the Republic of Tea's products and mission have brought a growing serenity to my everyday outlook. The sip-by-sip culture centered around the "event" of taking tea has been a release valve for my frenetic pace.

This book helped me appreciate the inner-workings---not just the taste---of tea. I will keep it next to my teapot where it will serve a valuable reference to this ageless beverage.