The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook: A Guide to Enjoying the World's Best Teas [Paperback]

Mary Lou Heiss (Author), Robert J. Heiss (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 30, 2010

AROUND THE WORLD IN A TEACUP
Did you know that tea is the most widely consumed beverage on the planet after water? Or that all of the world's tea originates from only three varieties of a single plant? While a cup of tea may be a simple pleasure for most of us, there are a dizzying number of tastes from which to choose. And every tea, whether a delicately sweet green tea from Japan or a bracing, brisk Darjeeling black, tells a story in the cup about the land that nurtured it and the tea-making skills that transformed it.
 
In this authoritative guide, veteran tea professionals Mary Lou and Robert J. Heiss provide decades of expertise on understanding tea and its origins, the many ways to buy tea, and how to explore and enjoy the six classes of tea (green, yellow, white, oolong, black, and Pu-erh). Additional advice on steeping the perfect cup and storing tea at home, alongside a gallery of more than thirty-five individual teas with tasting notes and descriptions make The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook a singular source of both practical information and rich detail about this fascinating beverage.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Making the perfect cuppa is not as easy as it may sound. How hot should the water be? How long should the tea steep? What kind of tea should be used in the first place? All pertinent tea-making questions are answered in knowlegeable, bouyant prose in this handy guide. The authors take readers along as they “explore the world of premium tea”; premium tea, once unknown in the West, is now very popular in the U.S. (“Tea,” by the way, is “the most widely consumed beverage on the planet after water” and “still proudly maintains its title as the world’s oldest beverage.”) Guidance is extended to purchasing and steeping tea, but the in-depth discussions of the properties and particular pleasures of the six classes of tea dominate most of the book’s pleasurable pages. Information on tea storage and a glossary round out this excellent introduction to a special world. --Brad Hooper

Review

Empty

“a map to have in your grasp as you head down the dozens of intricate, interconnected paths that define the landscape of the world’s best teas.”
—Fresh Cup magazine, December 2010

“Excellent, concise advice about tea. The Tea Enthusiast’s Handbook, a charming guide small enough to fit in a large pocket, brims with enthusiasm. ...The information is essential to appreciation; almost every word bears on taste. The Heisses write with impressive accuracy, having researched and lived the subject extensively.... All tea styles...are given equal attention and value, which is rarely the case in tea literature. ...All is laid out with succint clarity and precision.”
—Kevin Gascoyne, The Art of Eating, 7/1/10

"This book is like a mini encyclopedia dedicated to all things Camellia sinensis."
—Imbibe Magazine, March 2010

"The Heisses have written a valuable guide."
—Library Journal, 3/15/10

"All pertinent tea-making questions are answered in knowledgeable, buoyant prose in this handy guide."
—Booklist, 2/15/10

"Rich detail on how to buy, brew, and enjoy the six classes of tea. Questions...are answered with unparalleled passion."
—Tea A Magazine, February 2010

“This delightful, pocket-sized edition offers virtually everything one needs to know about selecting, brewing and enjoying the most consumed (after water) beverage on earth.”
—Gourmet Retailer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press; 1 edition (March 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158008804X
• ISBN-13: 978-1580088046
• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Drinks & Beverages > Coffee & Tea

More About the Author

I am a premium tea specialist and co-owner/co-founder of Tea Trekker and www.teatrekker.com, and also an adventurous tea trekker, a cultural ambassador for traditional artisan tea and tea drinking customs, and co-author and author of three books on tea.

Tea and tea culture consumes our waking hours and we feel lucky to be able introduce a world of artisan tea to Western tea drinkers. Knowing that centuries-old tea making traditions are continuing today because tea drinkers are more educated and are demanding better tea makes us smile.

As co-author and principal photographer for our book The Story of Tea:A Cultural History and Drinking Guide, I am extremely proud that our book was nominated for both an IACP and James Beard Cookbook Award, and received a Gourmand Award in the international competition/tea books category.

Our second tea book - The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook, A Guide to Enjoying the World's Best Teas - is a handy companion volume with practical advise for navigating the delicious maze of tea categories and styles available in tea shops today.

The New York Times dubbed us 'the Professors of Tea' and we are thrilled with that title. We have specialized in premium tea for 37 years. Because we know that not all tea is the same and quality varies wildly, we travel to East Asia as often as we can to select our rare and premium teas and to re-affirm our commitment to our suppliers. We look for the highest grades, the choicest leaf and small, hand-made batches.

Understanding tea is a complex study of how's and why's. Tea knowledge is comprised of minutia, lots of it, as well as recognizing the importance of both the large and small differences in each class of tea.

Studying tea is a lifelong quest; one cannot learn all there is to know about the styles of tea in a few broad strokes. When we visit tea-producing countries we become students to the tea masters that teach us and share their wisdom about tea with us.

We return home each time with additional knowledge, new insights, and a deeper appreciation for the craft of tea-making, and in turn share this information with our tea customers and readers.

Together and individually, we present professional and vocational seminars and classes on tea culture and history, and lead group tea tasting workshops. In our store we periodically conduct a series of Master Classes in Tea.

Please sign up on www.teatrekker.com for our e-newsletter for announcements of tea events and classes. And subscribe to Tea Trekker's blog, an informative and educational addendum to our website and tea books, which will be delivered directly into your in-box with each new post.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Game Changing Book About Tea May 28, 2010

By Austin Hodge

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

There are few books about tea that add to the discussion about tea in any meaningful way, but Mary Lou and Robert Heiss's new book, 'The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook' is one of them. This is a book about quality, although they sidestep the word because it has very little meaning in the industry, and instead use the word 'soundness', saying "We prefer to begin judging the potential merits of a tea by evaluating its soundness".

Their book points the reader in a sound direction. Serious students of tea may find that they disagree with some of the details, but it is indisputable that the path to the world's best teas is clearly defined in this book. The international tea industry has never been clear about this path because it points to China and unblended, unflavored tea, and the established industry has a hard time delivering such tea to consumers. Even though teas from other areas are mentioned, the heart of the book is about Chinese tea. China, after all, is where tea originated, and definitions about tea need to be consistent with Chinese standards.

They have taken a risk in writing this book. The industry has not been very supportive of writers that dare to write books that challenge conventional wisdom. It may not be obvious to the people reading that are outside of the industry, but a book like this really is a game changer. People will start to look at the tea that they are buying from the conventional sources and will start to realize that tea that they are buying and is being sold for 'good quality' is in reality very 'sound'. Then the open secret that people in the industry know, and increasingly 'tea enthusiasts' are becoming aware of, is that there is much better tea out there, it's just that it is difficult to come by in the US and Europe. Mary Lou and Robert have stirred that controversy just by providing good information.

Mary Lou and Robert Heiss are excellent teachers. The lessons presented in this book are clear and concise. This book contains lessons that professional tea buyers ought to pay attention to and gives the consumers a high standard with which to judge in buying tea. The book is intelligently organized, highlighted with good photography, and well written. There are no examples of flowery rhetoric in place of substance. They tell the reader what good tea is, and where to find it. It may seem like a small book, but it gives the reader everything they need to get started with, or to expand their experience with tea. This is a book that every tea drinker should own, enthusiast or not, and in my opinion it is the most substantive book about tea to be written in English. It is not a travel log or a romanticized history.

I get asked often to recommend books about tea. The Heiss's first bookThe Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide set the bar higher for tea education, but they have surpassed it with this book. I do recommend both of their books, but this one is really a game changer. Buy it.

-- Austin Hodge, Seven Cups Fine Teas
[...]

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Big book, small package April 3, 2010

By Paper Cake Scissors

Format:Paperback

The authors know tea. More importantly, they know how to make the world of tea accessible and interesting to all levels of steepers. Literally a "handbook," this small volume fits comfortably in the palm and packs quite a punch. A majority of the book's information is devoted to explaining the six classes of tea by describing processing techniques, mapping growing regions, and showing the leaves and liquor of specific teas, such as Tung Ting oolong. New to purchasing tea? Follow their well-informed advice on deciphering pricing, freshness and seasonality, and how to brew a proper cup. And make sure to flip to the glossary in the back to expand your tea vocabulary even further.

Don't be deceived by its small size-this book is a must-have for the tea enthusiast!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent historial handbook on "real" tea April 11, 2010

By Kathleen San Martino TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book explains what real tea is. All tea comes from one plant and variations on that one plant. It also talks about the six types of tea from least processed to most processed (green, yellow, white, oolong, black, and Pu-erh). You'll learn about tea processing in the countries of origin (China, Japan, Sri Lanka, India, etc.) and the different variations of tea and how the leaves should look and the tea should taste. There are also pictures of the brewed tea being described so you can get an idea of the liquid in your cup.

If you are looking for recipes or information about what the West calls tea but really isn't tea (like herbal infusions or tisanes), then you won't find information on that in this book. This book is strictly about real tea from the countries of origin that come from the camellia sinesis plant. I love this handbook and am impressed with the education I received just from reading it.