The Tea Book, by Sara Perry

by Alison
(United States)

The Tea Book is an excellent book for someone who is just beginning to get serious about tea.

The first part of the book covers basic information about how tea is grown and how the different types are processed.

There is a chapter that explains how to brew tea, but watch out-the instructions the author gives are really only appropriate for black tea.

She advises to use boiling water, and doesn't note that this can cause green teas to turn bitter.

The majority of the book is recipes. The recipes range from familiar fare such as iced tea and herb teas to more creative tea drinks, like tea-flavored egg nog and tea infused vodka.

There are also recipes for traditional tea time snacks like scones and for foods that use tea as an ingredient.

I'd recommend this book primarily for the recipes, in fact.

The chapters on tea history are extremely basic-if you've ever studied the subject, you probably won't learn much from the first part of the book.

But jasmine tea ice cream? Strawberry shortcake with rosewater-scented cream? Tea-smoked chicken wings?

Mmmm...If your local library stocks this book, I recommend checking it out!