The Tea Drinker's Handbook [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

There are just so many things that are great about this book compared to all the others on my shelf.

The most important is that (contrary to many others) the book is extremely well edited and thought out. This makes a huge difference. First, the book contains almost no fluff. It's all essential information, including much that is not available in any of the other books I've read. Even better, the thought put into structure and sharpness also makes the information much easier to digest and absorb.

The final polish is that (again contrary to many other books on tea) all the information is accurate. And if seldom the authors don't delve into all the details, they still manage to stay away from generalizations. For a novice reader, this is extremely important. I've seen too many people get the wrong impression on some aspect of tea just because a tea book without sufficient attention to detail printed information pertaining for example only to a particular type of tea from a particular country as pertaining to the same tea from all sources.

To top it all off, even the pictures are great. Not only do they match the topic, they go above and beyond, giving additional information or a counterpoint to the text they accompany.

The content of the book is summarized as follows (shown because Amazon currently doesn't show the table of contents):

What is tea?

- 10 pages on the bush in general: form, the varieties sinensis, assamica and cambodiensis, the concept of a cultivar, wild and ancient tea trees
- 19 pages on tea cultivation: production areas and the requirements for success, propagation by seed versus cloning by cuttings, the lifespan of a tea tree, organic farming
- 12 pages on plucking and the various social and labor systems existent in plantations around the world, a table discussing how many shoots have to be picked for each quality class of tea, discussion on fair trade tea
- 20 pages on processing tea into the different types

Tasting

- 15 pages on the processes and factors affecting the taste of tea: amount of leaves, length of infusion, movement of leaves in the vessel, dimensions of the vessel, quality of water (pH, mineral content), temperature of water (including information on how the different chemical compounds in tea behave with regard to heat), a diagram on the speed of theine and tannins are released into water, ..
- 22 pages on preparing and storing tea: Indian tea tasting, Gong fu cha, Gaiwan, the large western teapot, the Japanese kyusu and tetsubin. The aging of dark tea
- 10 pages on the physiology of taste: taste, olfaction and aromas, mouthfeel and texture, vision and hearing. The parts of the tongue and brain that are involved in tasting.
- 11 pages on the mental side of tasting and tasting vocabulary

Teas around the world

- 81 pages of teas from around the world: The history, current status, main cultivation areas and example teas with descriptions from China, Taiwan, Japan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Excellent maps. Contains also production figures that for example tell that the Japanese produce double the amount of tea per hectare compared to the Chinese, and also best the Indians to a more limited extent.

Am an avid coffee drinker, but I am finding tea is so much more interesting and varied. These French authors have opened doors for me. If the book was translated, it doesn't show in the text. Explains the growing, production cycles, etc... of all kinds of teas from Black to white and all the "colors" in between. The fifty best teas list has given me a list to go down and try since I am new to better teas, and the tasting notes are very helpful on cluing me in on what to look for and notice. A great book for a new tea-lover like me. I only wish it would have discussed herbals such as Rooibos and others.

When recently asked: "What tea books do you return to as resources?", this book was on the short list.

The Tea Drinker's Handbook aims to provide insightful, expert information on tea growing & craftsmanship, tea preparation & appreciation, and a collection of must-try teas.

- use it when you want to understand tea growing and processing. The Tea Drinker's Handbook goes beyond many other books in explaining, for example, how oolong tea processing differs from black tea processing. It also gives some of the most thorough coverage on basic terrior and tea farming practices.

- use it when you want simple guidance on tea preparation methods. Basic steps on a variety of steeping methods are provided, including Japanese kyusu and Chinese gaiwan usage. You can also pick up some of tea tasters' lingo, potentially helpful when you need to interact with certain tea vendors and aficionados.

- use it to gain a glimpse of the many treasured teas waiting to be explored.

While there are flaws in the appreciation/preparation section, (decaffeination myth and taste regions of the tongue,) I still found the handbook to be one of the most extensive in coverage of the cultivation and production of tea.

In short, this reference book will give many readers the feeling that they too can start growing and processing their own teas. Or maybe jump into the tea business.