The Second Edition of master tea merchant Roy Fong's classic The Great Teas of China has been thoroughly revised, rewritten, and re-edited, with significant new material added, particularly around water, teaware, and the brewing process. Fong also included more memories, anecdotes, and photographs from over 30 years of travel and learning in China's tea regions. From hand-picked white teas from Fu Ding and expertly crafted oolongs from Taiwan, to patiently aged puerh from Yunnan and everything in between, Fong offers his insights on choosing, brewing, and enjoying more than a dozen iconic Chinese tea varieties. Since 1993, Fong's Imperial Tea Court in San Francisco has been educating and inspiring tea enthusiasts, who visit from all over the world to enjoy America's finest selection of Chinese tea. The Great Teas of China is a very personal and accessible introduction to contemporary connoisseurship of Camellia sinensis, the flowering perennial at the heart of Chinese culture for thousands of years.

Tea lovers will want to curl up - a pot of their favorite variety at hand - and linger over every informative page of this comprehensive account of tea's history and qualities. Chow and Kramer focus on Chinese teas and tea practices; their wonderfully detailed discussions leave no stone unturned in bringing to light all facets of tea as a plant, drink and institution. Two particularly interesting chapters center on tea's health benefits (which seem to be wide ranging and consequential) and how to make a good cup of tea (no easy task, to which any tea drinker can attest).

A dramatic historical narrative of the man who stole the secret of tea from China In 1848, the British East India Company, having lost its monopoly on the tea trade, engaged Robert Fortune, a Scottish gardener, botanist, and plant hunter, to make a clandestine trip into the interior of China—territory forbidden to foreigners—to steal the closely guarded secrets of tea horticulture and manufacturing. For All the Tea in China is the remarkable account of Fortune's journeys into China—a thrilling narrative that combines history, geography, botany, natural science, and old-fashioned adventure. Disguised in Mandarin robes, Fortune ventured deep into the country, confronting pirates, hostile climate, and his own untrustworthy men as he made his way to the epicenter of tea production, the remote Wu Yi Shan hills. One of the most daring acts of corporate espionage in history, Fortune's pursuit of China's ancient secret makes for a classic nineteenth-century adventure tale, one in which the fate of empires hinges on the feats of one extraordinary man.

First published in 1985, The Chinese Art of Tea is an exploration into the history of tea and the Chinese art of tea, known as ch’a-shu. The book begins by delving into the history and legends surrounding tea before moving on to a study of the Emperor Hui Tsung’s treatise on tea and approaches to tea during the Ming Dynasty. It discusses tea gardens, teahouses, the relationship between tea and ceramics, and the connection between tea and health. The book also features a detailed manual for practising the art of drinking tea, including advice for choosing tea, buying tea, different types of infusion and drinking vessels, and the attitude required for obtaining the fullest satisfaction from tea. The Chinese Art of Tea is ideal for anyone with an interest in the history and art of drinking tea, and the social and cultural history of China.