The Book of Coffee and Tea is a passionate guide to selecting, tasting, preparing, and serving the beverages caffeine connoisseurs can't live without. Written by acknowledged experts in the coffee-roasting and tea-importing business, this book will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about that beloved cup of joe (or orange pekoe), including how to: distinguish between Kona, Jamaican, Mocha, Java, and the other varieties of coffee; choose the method of brewing that's best for you; make the perfect cup of coffee at the ideal temperature, no mater which method you choose; recognize ginseng, oolong, Earl Grey Ceylon, and the myriad other types of tea; blend and prepare your own herbal teas at home; recognize quality and freshness; find the best coffee, tea, equipment, and accessories, using the completely updated mail order section. Rich with the lore, steeped in tradition, and brimming with expert information, this is the only book coffee and tea lovers will ever need.

"Home Comforts" meets Miss Manners in this elegant, comprehensive guide to the table -- an invaluable resource for every aspect of formal and informal dining and entertainment. 130 line drawings throughout. 16 pages of color photos.

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 across the globe and provide a complete reference for choosing, drinking, and enjoying this beverage. The Story of Tea begins with a journey along the tea trail, from the lush forests of China, where tea cultivation first flourished, to the Buddhist temples of Japan, to the vast tea gardens of India, and beyond. Offering an insider'­s view of all aspects of tea trade, the Heisses examine Camellia sinensis, the tea bush, and show how subtle differences in territory and production contribute to the diversity of color, flavor, and quality in brewed tea. They profile more than thirty essential tea varietals, provide an in depth guide to tasting and brewing, and survey the customs and crafts associated with tea. Sharing the latest research, they discuss tea's health benefits and developments in organic production and fair trade practices. Finally, they present ten sweet and savory recipes, including Savory Chinese Marbled Eggs and Green Tea Pot de Crâme, 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 people for more than two thousand years.

This colorful history explores New York’s coffee culture from the brew’s initial arrival in the 1600s to today’s artisanal connoisseurs. The coffee industry was made for New York: complex, diverse, fascinating and full of attitude. Since arriving in seventeenth-century New Amsterdam, coffee held patriotic significance during wartime, fueled industrial revolution and transformed the city's foodways. The New York Coffee Exchange opened tumultuously in the Gilded Age. Alice Foote MacDougall founded a 1920s coffeehouse empire. In the same decade, Brooklyn teenager William Black started Chock Full o’Nuts with $250 and a dream. Today, third wave coffeeshops like Joe and Ninth Street Espresso offer single origin pour overs and push the limits of latte art. Through stories, interviews and photographs, author and coffee professional Erin Meister shares Gotham’s caffeinated past and explores the coffee-related reasons why the city never sleeps.