Mary Lou Heiss

As reviews elsewhere have pointed out, this is an editorial failure now compounded by being dated (as far as concerns cultivars, production, and what is available on the US market). The botanical parts, and the specifics re: farming, harvesting, and processing are actually pretty interesting, and the photographs are quite lovely. But there are aspects repeated over and over, tea characteristics not at all described or explained, and except for one very general world map, there are no show more detailed maps of the growing regions which figure heavily throughout the prose: essentially, one has to have maps/atlases of China, India, Japan, or Sri Lanka open to have any idea where these authors are talking about.

This is an infomercial with some nice highlights, and a decent "Encyclopedia of Tea". Meh. show less

The Story of Tea is a beautiful piece of work, valuable to all tea lovers. Many gorgeous photographs suggest the cultivative art, while a strong discussion of production methods in various regions is the real heart of the book. For those interested in a description of production down to the village level, this is one of the few works that will provide it. This section is followed by a longish chapter called "Journeying along the tea trail," which is both meandering and somewhat redundant, show more while at the same time providing many interesting vignettes. By the finish of these two parts, the reader will have a decent knowledge of which regions produce the more famous teas, and why. With that said, I was disappointed by the rather spare, even perfunctory, history of tea, trade and the tea trade's role in the world economic system. As for the "drinking guide" section of the book, I much prefer the author's better known "The Tea Enthusiast's Handbook: A Guide to the World's Best Teas." Moreover, the structure of the book lends itself to overlap, leading to duplication of information. Even given these deficiencies, I consider The Story of Tea to be a must read for anyone seeking knowledge about the worlds most popular beverage. It remains the best single volume concerning all things tea-related. show less

Brilliant introduction to a complicated and multi-dimensional subject. I especially enjoyed the pages dedicated to individual teas and I reference them to make sure i have what i think and i'm brewing it correctly. Suffers from being too narrow in scope (ie. no discussion of Hawaiian tea groves).

Who knew tea could be so interesting? The Story of Tea gives insight into how tea is grown and prepared for market, where it came from, and how to make a perfect cup. Clearly, the authors know their tea, and I'm now in search of a local tea merchant to start sampling some of the brews they rave about!