Stray Leaves Tea

A collaboration between photographer Michael Freeman and tea expert Timothy d’Offay that covers a wide introduction to the major tea regions, processing, and the impact of tea on culture.

A wonderful collection of stories, history, tasting notes, meetings with farmers, and colourful characters in the tea trade. A must read for anyone with an interest in tea. (review)

Written in 1902 by Okakura Kakuzo, this is a mix of tea culture, tea history, and tea philosophy. Based in Japanese tradition, it is an introduction to where Zen and Tea intersect.

Briefly skimming across tea history, culture and processing, this is a fun and quick read (or great gift). The book is illustrated with images from the British Museum’s collection.

Everything I learnt over three years of intense research on Chinese tea is in this book, and so much more. If you want one book on Chinese tea, get this one. Most useful if you’ve already started. Lots of great details, stories, pictures and history.

If your enjoy Puer tea, you’ll enjoy this book. It goes into the a range of history, including the recent rise and crash in 2007 in the Puer market. Very well written.

This and the follow on book, A Glossary of Chinese Puerh Tea, are an in depth study of the Chinese Puerh market through the lens of the Hong Kong tea industry. The author, Chan Kam Pong, reached out to many collectors in the region, and compiled pictures and descriptions of as many cakes as he could find. Now in reprint.

A wonderful set of insights into the tea business from Michelle and Rob, the owners of Comins Tea in Bath, UK. It is part the story of their love of tea, part the history of the world’s tea regions, and part the story of the growers who make the tea. (review)

The story of Robert Fortune, a Scottish plant hunter, who snuck out of China the plants and processing required to make tea and broke the Chinese monopoly on tea production.

Part academic text, part tea encyclopedia, this tome is densely packed with incredible details about tea. This includes many pages on where the word tea comes from.