Cookbook: The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook—A Guide to Enjoying the World's Best Teas

the appetizer:

The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook: A Guide to Enjoying the World's Best Teas by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss, includes excerpts like Pu-erh Tea; Gallery of Pu-erh Teas; and The Perfect Cup: Specifics for Steeping Pu-erh Tea.

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

by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss

Click to buy
The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook

From the authors of the James Beard and IACP-nominated The Story of Tea comes a pocket guide edition no tea lover should ever be without. The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook: A Guide to Enjoying the World's Best Teas is a singular blend of practical know-how and rich detail on how to buy, brew, and enjoy the six classes of tea. In their thirty-five years as retailers of premium tea, veteran tea professionals Mary Lou and Robert J. Heiss have been asked just about every possible question regarding tea, tea steeping, and tea storage—questions that are answered with unparalleled passion in this handsome guide for casual tea drinkers and connoisseurs alike.

Today, premium tea is enjoying an unprecedented spotlight. Until the 1990s, retail purveyors of premium tea in the United States could be counted on one hand, and specialty food stores stocked just a few of the most basic black tea blends. Today's tea availability rivals fine wine in number and cost, and people are learning how enticing and distinctive premium teas really are.

Tea can be subtle and alluring, bold and bracing, sweet and fresh, young and full of vigor, or rich and mature. As premium teas once unknown in the West become increasingly popular, more tea shops and tea houses are opening across the country. For tea enthusiasts, this offers a superb opportunity to travel the world of tea one delicious cup at a time. This new book is the ideal companion for the journey.

The Heisses know that crafting fine tea requires a highly developed sense of perception that no machine can replicate, and that every tea tells a story in the cup about the soil and air that nurtured it and the teamaking skills that transformed and shaped it. So get ready to explore the world of premium tea, with information to decipher tea lists, tea labels, and tea menus and to purchase a varied selection of wonderful and delicious tea with assurance. This concise and authoritative guide to the world of fine tea offers the perfect brew to fill one's cup.

About the Authors

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 co-authors 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.