The Ultimate Tea Lover's Treasury

by James Norwood Pratt

The Romance, Wonder & Practice of Humanity's Favorite Habit. "Thirty years ago it felt like being knighted for M.F.K. Fisher to praise my writing in her introduction to The Tea Lover's Treasury. This book is a descendant of that distant ancestor. Because I am a better writer than before, it is better organized, better written, and shorter. Because I know vastly more than before about a vastly greater array of teas, it is more useful and interesting. I return to the subject like a simple, healthful habit I enjoy and enjoy sharing the language and lore of an age-old global trade that links tea producers, dealers and consumers in a single world-wide community. And because I do not hope to return again to this subject, my hope is you will make The Ultimate Tea Lover's Treasury your starting point and carry on."

Genres: Tea

314 pages, Paperback

Reviews

[Sarah Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars on account of my very fond memories of James Norwood Pratt when he came to talk about tea at UNC in the fall of 2018, where attendees were provided several servings of delicious tea and I acquired this book. James Norwood Pratt spoke about tea with serious enthusiasm. My love of tea, which was budding then, has only grown since. I enjoyed his enthusiasm and humorous remarks throughout and I learned a lot about the history of tea, the different locations where it is grown, and the various ways it is prepared. I also learned about how despicable bagged tea is, according to him…although my grandmother’s love of Red Rose tea and my associated memories have been left untainted. Notable aspects are ideas of the cult of tea, getting drunk off tea and the beautiful images and entertaining quotes about tea spread throughout the book, such as: “Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside: candles at four o’clock, warm hearth rugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whilst the wind and rain are raging audibly without” (Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater)

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 / 5.0 Purchased from Author. Signed and Dedicated. Both he and his wife are delightful. Easily accessible affectionate overview of history of tea. Enjoyable prose and deceptively informative.

[Gary Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

"... At first it was simply a safe fluid to drink in great quantities and therefore suitable for a compulsive drinker like me. Tea also gave me something to do and satisfied my need for ritual observances, occupying my hands not with glass and corkscrew but objects still more pleasurable to handle and behold."