The Tea Companion

I've always been an aficionada of tea, however, I knew very little about it's history and most importantly I knew little about its many varieties. I bought this book with the hope of learning more about tea and it fulfilled my expectations. This book includes a concise and informative overview on the history of tea, several colorful photographs, brewing suggestions, and an extensive index of the world's tea growing regions. One thing about this book is that it is written from a British perspective of tea drinking. This is not problematic, just an observation. We, Americans, have a different orientation and imagination towards tea. Coffee has long been the drink of choice in the States and for many different social and political reasons. Pettigrew touches on some of the sociocultural themes in her text. I nod to that. The goal of the book is not to persuade people to drink tea anyway. I believe the goal is to reinforce and provide new knowledge about tea. With that said, this book is for people who have some experience and openness to tea drinking. I believe the audience for this is book is akin to people who enjoy wine or vegetarian cooking and want to learn more. Personally, I found this book to be intellectually stimulating and illuminating. I did find some of the drinking suggestions to be limiting. For example, Pettigrew believes sugar spoils the taste of many teas, but she recommends milk. I agree to an extent but there are many teas I enjoy with a teaspoon of sugar. Again, I think these are differences in British and American tastes. I also wanted to know more about the use of lemon or other citrus fruits in tea. In some teas, lemon is complimentary in others it destroys the chemical balance of the tea drinking experience. Recipes for tea blending (with flowers, nuts, fruit, etc.) would have been helpful as well. Enjoy.

I really enjoyed this book. It's a short, easy read but it has plenty of information. She breaks down each tea growing region and has pictures of the tea leaves before brewing, after brewing, and what the tea looks like. It's fairly concise, but it's so well organized and the pictures are so great, that its a really good reference book to keep coming back to.

I ordered both this book and Tea Basics: A Quick and Easy Guide by Wendy Rasmuseen. This book is by far the better book. While Tea Basics had a little more information about the history of tea, Tea Companion still covers the highlights. Also, Tea Companion is filled with great images on high quality pages. But my favorite part of the book by far was the last section which had recommended types of tea with images of the tea as well as a description and suggestions for brewing (time, temp, with/without milk, etc) and use (morning tea, special occasion, evening, etc). That is a section I know I will be flipping through again and again, at the very least to make sure my tea "wish list" always has some goodies on it!While this book is most likely a bit too basic for the already knowledgeable tea connoisseur, it a great intro to tea and tea types.

I recently became interested in tea -- various aspects, how they should be prepared, etc. This book is a great help in my tea education. Really liked the background of tea, it's growing, and the social/traditional aspects in different countries. The photos are wonderful too. I had no idea there was so much to learn, and I have enjoyed the book very much too. I also ordered the New Tea Companion, thinking I would give one to y sister-in-law. They are both so good and enough different, I decided I had to have them both and get another for her. I'll leave one at "home" and take the other to winter quarters.

A bit outdated. As tea industry is changing everyday with new method. Food reference book but need more other books to cross check.

If you have an interest in learning about the teas of the world, the history and challenges of tea production, the types and approaches of tea cultivation, brewing and equipment useage, as well as tips, tricks and customs, this book is a great resource.A great into book for someone moving from Lipton tea bags to first cutting Oolong loose leaf teas, the book will give the interested reader the intro information necessary to begin to appreciate, taste and brew the great teas of the world.Great beverages aren't only alcoholic, and teas are as interesting as wines. This book begins to show that to this reader.

Jane Pettigrew covers just about everything in the tea world in this book, from a little history to a taste of the different kinds of tea from their own regions.I was a bit disappointed that Puerh tea was not given more attention in the book, but this is also the older version and when it was published there wasn't much availability of Puerh in the US yet.There are a lot of pretty pictures in this book, and it's this imagery that wins the reader over. I also like how tea from individual estates in places like Assam and Ceylon is described.

I recently have fallen in love with loose-leaf tea. It has become so much of an obsession that I have given my coffee maker away, and designated a space on our kitchen counter the "Tea Zone".In my quest for more knowledge about tea, I found the Tea Companion. It has a great concise introduction to tea, including history, production and appreciation. The second part of the book contains regional information, which I found very interesting.This book is a must read for anybody who is interested in loose-leaf teas. Gotta Run; My Russian Caravan awaits.

Very informative!

I am no connoisseur of tea, rather an enthusiast with an interest in learning more.This book is a nice introduction and short reference for tea history, traditions, tea and food pairings and commonest types of tea. There is a bit of everything at the expense of any real detail or special insights.I would have given another star were it called 'An Enthusiast's Guide' rather than connoisseur's, which is a bit of a stretch. However a useful reference book and worth getting if you want a general guide to tea.