The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook - by Mary Lou Heiss & Robert J Heiss (Paperback)

About the Book

This pocket-sized guide offers concise, authoritative advice on understanding, buying, and enjoying the six classes of tea, with identification and location photography throughout for casual tea drinkers and tea connoisseurs alike.

Book Synopsis

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-fi ve 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.

Review Quotes

"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

About the Author

MARY LOU HEISS AND ROBERT J. HEISS have been premium tea retailers since 1974. They are adventurous tea trekkers and food and travel writers, and they also present popular educational tea workshops and tastings around the country. They are coauthors of The Story of Tea and Hot Drinks. When not traveling to source tea for their shop Tea Trekker, the Heisses make their home in western Massachusetts.