Tea: History, Terroires, Varieties

An illustrated guide to the world's teas. Tea is second only to water as the most-consumed beverage in the world. When recent studies revealed green tea's health benefits, North American consumption skyrocketed. Tea is a comprehensive guide to non-herbal tea, the plant Camellia sinensis. Concise and authoritative text and an abundance of color photographs take the reader on an escorted tour of the world's tea-growing countries: China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam and East Africa. Like a fine wine, it is the "terroir" -- a region's soil and climate -- that imparts unique characteristics to a tea. The book covers black, green, white, yellow, oolong, pu'er, perfumed, aromatic and smoked teas. Topics include: An overview of the history of tea Tea varieties The worldwide export of tea How tea is processed Signature tea cultivars The art of making, serving and tasting tea, incl