Aroma | Consumer Product Reviews

Tea is a product of leaves from the camellia sinensis plant where it is cured in a potpourri of dissimilar methods. What most persons are intimate with is loose leaf tea or organic black tea which is made with boiling water to make a delicious hot beverage. Tea is the second most consumed beverage behind water in the world and a lot of persons take delight in drinking it warm or iced and cold. There are a good deal of types of tea and the most mutual ones are white, black, green, oolong and blooming teas. Even though the dissimilar varieties all come from the same plant, the methods and the parts of the plant in curing them are dissimilar giving them all a dissimilar taste and aroma. The other popular kind of tea is an herbal one which has no caffeine and is made from leaves, flowers, fruits and herbs and does not have any constituents of the camellia sinensis plant in it.

The Yunnan Province of China is known as the birthplace of tea where persons living in this area came across that eating the leaves from the tea plant and also brewing it with water could taste good and be rather pleasant. China is also proud to assert that they have the world’s oldest tea tree which is said to be 3,200 years old. Green tea is one of the bestloved mixes that come from china and has been said to have wellness gains as well as helps to curb an appetite.

There are a heap of interesting myths surrounding the get started of drinking or consuming tea leaves. One is based on Shennong or (Divine Farmer) who was the Emperor of China as well as the inventor of agriculture and Chinese medicine. One myth states that he was drinking a bowl of water in 2737 B.C. when galore leaves from a nearby plant blew into his bowl altering the color. He tried it and came upon it had a pleasant taste. Another myth was that he often was testing dissimilar herbs and plants for their medicinal effects and most times the herbs he tried were poisonous. He would then drink boiled water with tea leaves to counteract the poison he had ingested.

In other countries and cultures tea was consumed for dissimilar reasons. In India, for example, it was mainly used as a type of medicine. It was initial cited to be employed as a medicine in 500 B.C. In fact so much tea was consumed in India that it was the leading country of tea consumption for 100 years until it was passed by China in the 21st century.

In Japan, tea was in the first place consumed as religious classes in the country when dissimilar priests were sent to China to learn respective things when it comes to their culture. Britain likewise became buyers of tea early on and it is highly consumed today still. It was in the first place a drink only considered for the aristocratic classes but now is widely consumed in the afternoons with milk and sugar for a good deal of residents living in Great Britain.

The Story Of Tea A Cultural History And

Whether it’s a delicate green tea or a bracing Assam black, a cup of tea is a complex brew of art and industry, tradition and revolution, East and West. In this sweeping tour through the world of tea, veteran tea traders Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss chronicle tea’s influence throughout the globe and provide a finish reference for choosing, drinking, and enjoying this beverage.THE STORY OF TEA begins with a traveling along the tea trail, from the lush forests of China, where tea cultivation firstborn flourished, to the Buddhist temples of Japan, to the tremendous tea gardens of India, and beyond. Offering an insider’s view of all distinct elements of tea trade, the Heisses consider in detail Camellia sinensis, the tea bush, and show how subtle divergences in territory and production bestow to the diversity of color, flavor, and quality in brewed tea. They profile more than thirty necessary tea varietals, provide an in depth guide to tasting and brewing, and survey the customs and crafts affiliated with tea. Sharing the latest research, they talk about tea’s health gains and developments in organic production and reasonable trade practices. Finally, they present ten sweet and savory recipes, including Savory Chinese Marbled Eggs and Green Tea Pot de Cr’â?¹me, and resources for purchasing fine tea.Vividly illustrated throughout, THE STORY OF TEA is an engrossing tribute to the illustrious, invigorating, and elusive leaf that has sustained and inspired persons for more than two thousand years.

From Publishers WeeklyPurveyors of fine tea, the Heisses’ documentary dexterously weaves through the wars, economic upheavals and embargoes surrounding what was once considered the elixir of immortality. Though tea usage may predate written history, proof proposes that Camellia sinensis‘s inspiring leaves were original cultivated centuries ago in the tea gardens of indigenous minorities in Northwestern China and along the Indian, Myanmar and Tibetan borders. Chinese monks recognized the energizing effects and medicinal value of this evergreen plant and, by touting it is benefits, ignited a thirst for tea that speedily disseminate west thru oceangoing tea clippers and along the Silk Road. The famed East India Company flourished, teatime became social tradition, and cream and sugar were found to remainder tea’s astringency. In this guide, the Heisses outline at length the production procedure from tea bush to tea cup, along with the subtle differences in meaning or opinion or attitude of territorial varietals like China’s sweet green tea and India’s Darjeeling. An engaging historical and cultural study, this guide is geared toward both novice and consummate buyers intrigued by the world’s 2,000-year-old tea habit. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Review”I knew it was extraordinary…No other book, to my knowledge, has contained as much arousing and attention holding and elaborated information.” — spicesoflife.com, September 18, 2007From the Publisher* A comprehensive, wholly illustrated connoisseur’s guide

to tea, including a international history, an encyclopedia of tea varietals, and guidelines for selecting, storing, and brewing tea. * Includes 150 full-color tea and emplacement photos and 10 recipes that use tea as an ingredient. * Informed by the authors’ 30+ years of experience researching methods of tea create and sourcing quality product in Asia. * Covers the latest exploration on the healthful gains of drinking tea, as well as current info on tea industry ethics, organic production, and reasonable trade practices.

Most helpful customer reviews

46 of 50 people found the following review helpful.
Ten star must read
By MotherLodeBeth
WOW….. Ever have a book come across your desk that leaves you in awe? This is what happened when The Story of Tea landed in my mailbox. What first catches your eye is the crisp clean design of the book and its cover. A sturdy book that has a sensual soothing feel. If the eyes are the gateway to the stomach, then this book was one that would make me want to drink tea. And I have never been a tea or coffee drinker, so this is an important point.

So I sat and ran my hand over the book and looked at the zen style teapot pouring a hot serving of tea, in the cover photo. Then I opened the book and an hour later when the sun had begun to set and I realized I needed to turn on a light, I realized how mesmerized I had become. To the point I reread areas because I was on the path to becoming a tea lover.

The photos are stunning and informative, which is rare in most books. I was intrigued about all the various cultures where tea is not only drunk, but used as an ingredient in medicine, cooking and baking. The Life of a Tea Bush one reads of the different types of tea bushes, their needs be it water, deeply rich soil, mountains or valleys. On page 51 one learns of the 8 elements of tea productions.

On page 257 one begins to read the encyclopedia of teas, from White, Yellow, Green, Oolong, Black, Pu-erh, Scented, Artisan, Presentation, or Display Tea. And then Brewing The Perfect Cup. No tea bags here thankfully. Then Storing tea, the best water, temperatures etc.

Tea Customs and Culture covers China, Japan, Europe, and other countries like north Africa and Arabia, teapots and cups, as well as Wagashi or what is called sweets that one can serve with various teas.

Like tea itself, this book is soothing and nice. And would make a GREAT gift for anyone who loves history, food, is a teacup or teapot collector, is living in a cabin or on Park Avenue. Have homeschooling friends and family whom I have and will recommend the book to.

70 of 81 people found the following review helpful.
Disappointing
By N. Suzuki
I would have so wished to love this book. I am a tea lover and tea is one of my passions. The wonderful pictures looked promising, so did the index and the chapter outline. However, information were repeated over and over again, at some times I felt the authors are rambling on and on without making a point. Often they talk about their tea store, their experiences while traveling, how there are other “bad” tea stores, who do not know anything about tea. A more appropriate title would have been “OUR story of tea”.

I would have wished, the authors would have explained better the different steps how the different white, oolongs, black, green and pu-err teas are made. The authors only mentioned the order of how the tea leaves are processed, no explanation for the whys, except “to make the tea more mellow, greener …”. This would have been a great chance to explain a bit about the chemistry, that is going on there.

Although, the context and lay out was so promising, the overall read ended up to be boring and disappointing. With too much repeated information on one side and too little at others, plus the never-ending passages without much point. The fascinating ways of tea with its drinking traditions and production and cultural evolution got lost under all the rambling and was burdened with too many words.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
Nice to look at, informative, poorly written.
By M. Parfitt
As other reviewers have mentioned, this is a beautiful book to page through. And it’s pretty clear, I think, that the authors are real experts on their subject. I was going to buy it from Amazon on the strength of the other reviews here, but frankly I’m glad I borrowed it from the library instead. The writing is really quite poor throughout, and much as I found the subject interesting, I found it tedious to untangle one ill-constructed sentence after another as I made my arduous way through the book. The writers don’t seem to be quite sure of who their audience is, or what tone is appropriate for this sort of book. At times, it reads like a textbook; at others, like a reflective essay. But it never reads very smoothly. A thoroughly revised new edition would be nice!

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