I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
of what makes the book special

On May 28, 5:25 pm, pgwk > wrote:
> I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> of what makes the book special

There are abunch of tea books out there - few worth the effort.
I's start with James Norwood's Tea Treasury and LuYu's (of course!)
Tea Classic. Norwood also has a tea dictionary which is ungodly
expensive right now and not readily available - but excellent! Chado
carries it, I think, for $150.00.
Shen

I would definitely second Shen on Pratt's "Tea New Lover's Treasury". I
think Pratt is supposed to be coming out with one or more new books in the
near future.

"Tea Basics" by Rasmussen and Rhinehard is a decent, very basic intro for
Westerners to the tea world, though more toward the Euro/Brit subset
thereof.

"Tea and Chinese Culture" by Ling Wang is lightweight, but an interesting
intro for Westerners to the subject, with nice pictures.

"The Book of Tea" by Stella, Borchard and Donzel (preface by Burgess) has
lots of very nice pictures, though I'm not sure how trustworthy some of the
info is.

"First Step to Chinese Puerh Tea", by Chan Kam Pong is the first and only
book on Puer in English; it's a little lightweight, and half the book is
just a catalog of Puer cakes, and the editing leaves something to be
desired, but... it's the only book on Puer in English, so far.

I've read, but don't have (because it's out of print), THE CHINESE ART OF
TEA, by John Blofeld, which as I recall was pretty good - I wish I could
find a good copy for a reasonable price.

You should also check recent posts on the Cha Dao tea blog
(http://chadao.blogspot.com/), which has been reviewing tea books - some
new, some old - over the past month or two.

Doug

"pgwk" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> of what makes the book special
>

Hey guys, great thread! I've never read any English tea books so your
suggestions here will be very useful!

I have a library of great Chinese tea books, one of them VERY heavy
weight - literally an encyclopedia of chinese tea up to 1992.
Definititely the TOP 3 Chinese tea books in the last 20 years.

ä¸*国茶ç»� by 陈宗宪 (1992)

Julian

http://www.amazing-green-tea.com

I have arranged to get books that are out of copyright translated from
Chinese to English and distributed via my Print on Demand publisher.
Would that be of interest? I don't know how to handle translation
rights for books in copyright. It's always been a huge problem for my
own books (30 or so) -- surprise, surprise, two of the Chinese market
ones were bootlegs.

I'd love to produce the Li Yu classic this way.

Just a thought.

peter

On May 29, 4:10Â*am, juliantai > wrote:
> Hey guys, great thread! I've never read any English tea books so your
> suggestions here will be very useful!
>
> I have a library of great Chinese tea books, one of them VERY heavy
> weight - literally an encyclopedia of chinese tea up to 1992.
> Definititely the TOP 3 Chinese tea books in the last 20 years.
>
> ä¸*国茶ç»� by 陈宗宪 (1992)
>
> Julian
>
> http://www.amazing-green-tea.com

pgwk wrote:

> I have arranged to get books that are out of copyright translated from
> Chinese to English and distributed via my Print on Demand publisher.
> Would that be of interest? I don't know how to handle translation
> rights for books in copyright. It's always been a huge problem for my
> own books (30 or so) -- surprise, surprise, two of the Chinese market
> ones were bootlegs.
>
> I'd love to produce the Li Yu classic this way.
>
> Just a thought.
>
> peter

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/8jing10.txt
has 'Cha Jing' by 'Lu Yu'. The character set encoding is Big-5.
"Not copyrighted in the United States."
If you can translate it, please send a copy to me.

Thanks..........

If I do get it translated, you will of course get a free copy
immediately. Do you think that it would sell at, say, $9.95? I
estimate I'd have to pay around $2,500 to handle the translation, book
setup and POD publisher's fees. I wouldn't be looking to make a profit
but I'd like to avoid a loss.

On May 31, 8:10 pm, teaholic > wrote:
> pgwk wrote:
> > I have arranged to get books that are out of copyright translated from
> > Chinese to English and distributed via my Print on Demand publisher.
> > Would that be of interest? I don't know how to handle translation
> > rights for books in copyright. It's always been a huge problem for my
> > own books (30 or so) -- surprise, surprise, two of the Chinese market
> > ones were bootlegs.
>
> > I'd love to produce the Li Yu classic this way.
>
> > Just a thought.
>
> > peter
>
> http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext05/8jing10.txt
> has 'Cha Jing' by 'Lu Yu'. The character set encoding is Big-5.
> "Not copyrighted in the United States."
> If you can translate it, please send a copy to me.

> You should also check recent posts on the Cha Dao tea blog
> (http://chadao.blogspot.com/), which has been reviewing tea books - some
> new, some old - over the past month or two.

and will continue to do so, in the coming months [and i hope years].
thanks for reading us! you should also have a look at bill lengeman's
TEA GUY SPEAKS [http://www.teaguyspeaks.com/] -- he is doing some good
book reviews over there as well.

not everyone seems to know that blogs like this are searchable --
there's usually a box somewhere toward the top where you can type in
your search parameters and then click 'search blog'; this way you can
find reviews [or whatever you like] even from months or years back.

corax

Thanks, folks, for the recommendations. I'll track down the publishers
and buying information. Give me around two weeks for a full annotated
biblio -- and keep the references coming! I'm keeping away from fluff
books -- the oh how quaint school of tea-ism. I'm particularly
interested in finding books about the industry itself. So many changes
have occurred that are of substantial impact on the future of great
tea -- the drinks multinationals owning the elite English brands --
Twinings, Jackson's, etc., -- the labor and social issues in Africa
and India, the new generation of management in places like Ambootia,
the impacts of Fair Trade, tea technology/research/production
improvements, etc., etc. And, of course, good economic and historical
analysis.

Does it make sense to add also a list of periodicals and reliable,
high quality blogs/newsletters?

Again, thanks,
peter


On May 29, 5:03 am, corax > wrote:
> > You should also check recent posts on the Cha Dao tea blog
> > (http://chadao.blogspot.com/), which has been reviewing tea books - some
> > new, some old - over the past month or two.
>
> and will continue to do so, in the coming months [and i hope years].
> thanks for reading us! you should also have a look at bill lengeman's
> TEA GUY SPEAKS [http://www.teaguyspeaks.com/] -- he is doing some good
> book reviews over there as well.
>
> not everyone seems to know that blogs like this are searchable --
> there's usually a box somewhere toward the top where you can type in
> your search parameters and then click 'search blog'; this way you can
> find reviews [or whatever you like] even from months or years back.
>
> corax

On May 29, 5:03 am, corax > wrote:
> > You should also check recent posts on the Cha Dao tea blog


I like the Chadoa blog a lot. Interestingly, it includes a detailed
travelogue from our inestimable RFTD colleague, Lew Perrin, plus the
text of a speech by my somewhat less estimable self that I gave last
month to the biennial Liyang Tea Exposition on China's Great Teas; A
View from the US.

Thanks for the inf -- the reviews are very useful and my 1-click
Amazon purchase button is humming away.

with regards and appreciation

Peter

> > (http://chadao.blogspot.com/), which has been reviewing tea books - some
> > new, some old - over the past month or two.
>
> and will continue to do so, in the coming months [and i hope years].
> thanks for reading us! you should also have a look at bill lengeman's
> TEA GUY SPEAKS [http://www.teaguyspeaks.com/] -- he is doing some good
> book reviews over there as well.
>
> not everyone seems to know that blogs like this are searchable --
> there's usually a box somewhere toward the top where you can type in
> your search parameters and then click 'search blog'; this way you can
> find reviews [or whatever you like] even from months or years back.
>
> corax

On May 31, 4:39 pm, pgwk > wrote:
> I like the Chadao blog a lot. Interestingly, it includes a detailed
> travelogue from our inestimable RFTD colleague, Lew Perrin, plus the
> text of a speech by my somewhat less estimable self that I gave last
> month to the biennial Liyang Tea Exposition on China's Great Teas; A
> View from the US.

[corax]
peter, you are too modest. i happen to know that many people read the
text of your speech with interest and enjoyment. thanks for that
contribution.

--
http://chadao.blogspot.com

Thank you.

I would love to see a list of blogs we can all enjoy and benefit from.
Yours is so elegantly designed and so attractive to browse. I truly
and honestly feel privilidged that you published my speech on it --
and that it looks so much better than my Word version.

I offer to assemble a list of Great Blogs and newsletters for our
group. What do you all read and love? Cha Dao is very, very high on my
own list. This may sound like a putdown but I hope I find a dozen that
are better only because that will mean that I have even more great,
great stuff to enjoy.




On Jun 2, 11:56 am, corax > wrote:
> On May 31, 4:39 pm, pgwk > wrote:
>
> > I like the Chadao blog a lot. Interestingly, it includes a detailed
> > travelogue from our inestimable RFTD colleague, Lew Perrin, plus the
> > text of a speech by my somewhat less estimable self that I gave last
> > month to the biennial Liyang Tea Exposition on China's Great Teas; A
> > View from the US.
>
> [corax]
> peter, you are too modest. i happen to know that many people read the
> text of your speech with interest and enjoyment. thanks for that
> contribution.
>
> --http://chadao.blogspot.com

The book thread comes up often enough. Use Google Groups to find
others of note not mentioned here. I'm starting to keep an eye out
for Chinese history books that talk about tea which is where I got the
tea trade opium numbers. My books are collection dust on the
shelves. Not because I am a smarty pants, it is easier to get the
scoop here.

Jim

On May 28, 6:25 pm, pgwk > wrote:
> I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> of what makes the book special

On 28 May 2007 17:25:25 -0700, pgwk > wrote:

>I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
>offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
>know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
>of what makes the book special

I highly recommend "Tea in China" by John C. Evans, the best
Engish-language treatise on tea's history that I am aware of. Read it,
and you'll learn a few things about Chinese history too.

Two other books about Chinese tea are also worth mentioning:
"The Way of Tea" by Lam Kam Chuen and
"All the tea in China" by Cow & Kramer

Lars,
Bergen, Norway

Thanks Lars,

I have the Evans book already on order -- it has been recommended to
me by svereal people -- and will order the other two.

Let me recommend a book I haven't seen mentioned that is very good on
Indian history. It's Roy Moxham's Tea: Addiction and Empire (I haven't
got the title quite right -- we old guys get halfzheimer's memory
lapses quite often.) Hobhouse's Seeds of Change is brilliant, though
it includes teas as only one of the seeds and devotes just a section
to it. The others are quinine, sugar, the potato, cotton, and in the
new edition coca. It's mesmerizing and especially insightful on the
quinine/sugar/slave trade links.



On May 29, 4:09 pm, Lars I. Mehlum >
wrote:
> On 28 May 2007 17:25:25 -0700, pgwk > wrote:
>
> >I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> >offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> >know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> >of what makes the book special
>
> I highly recommend "Tea in China" by John C. Evans, the best
> Engish-language treatise on tea's history that I am aware of. Read it,
> and you'll learn a few things about Chinese history too.
>
> Two other books about Chinese tea are also worth mentioning:
> "The Way of Tea" by Lam Kam Chuen and
> "All the tea in China" by Cow & Kramer
>
> Lars,
> Bergen, Norway

On May 29, 2:44 pm, pgwk > wrote:
> Thanks Lars,
>
> I have the Evans book already on order -- it has been recommended to
> me by svereal people -- and will order the other two.
>
> Let me recommend a book I haven't seen mentioned that is very good on
> Indian history. It's Roy Moxham's Tea: Addiction and Empire (I haven't
> got the title quite right -- we old guys get halfzheimer's memory
> lapses quite often.) Hobhouse's Seeds of Change is brilliant, though
> it includes teas as only one of the seeds and devotes just a section
> to it. The others are quinine, sugar, the potato, cotton, and in the
> new edition coca. It's mesmerizing and especially insightful on the
> quinine/sugar/slave trade links.
>
> On May 29, 4:09 pm, Lars I. Mehlum >
> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On 28 May 2007 17:25:25 -0700, pgwk > wrote:
>
> > >I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> > >offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> > >know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> > >of what makes the book special
>
> > I highly recommend "Tea in China" by John C. Evans, the best
> > Engish-language treatise on tea's history that I am aware of. Read it,
> > and you'll learn a few things about Chinese history too.
>
> > Two other books about Chinese tea are also worth mentioning:
> > "The Way of Tea" by Lam Kam Chuen and
> > "All the tea in China" by Cow & Kramer
>
> > Lars,
> > Bergen, Norway- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Am still looking for a good copy of Lu Yu's Cha Ching (in English).
I'm surprised that the first bible of tea is out of print and hardly
available anywhere. This is bordering on heresy.

Phyll

On May 29, 9:31 pm, Phyll > wrote:
> On May 29, 2:44 pm, pgwk > wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Thanks Lars,
>
> > I have the Evans book already on order -- it has been recommended to
> > me by svereal people -- and will order the other two.
>
> > Let me recommend a book I haven't seen mentioned that is very good on
> > Indian history. It's Roy Moxham's Tea: Addiction and Empire (I haven't
> > got the title quite right -- we old guys get halfzheimer's memory
> > lapses quite often.) Hobhouse's Seeds of Change is brilliant, though
> > it includes teas as only one of the seeds and devotes just a section
> > to it. The others are quinine, sugar, the potato, cotton, and in the
> > new edition coca. It's mesmerizing and especially insightful on the
> > quinine/sugar/slave trade links.
>
> > On May 29, 4:09 pm, Lars I. Mehlum >
> > wrote:
>
> > > On 28 May 2007 17:25:25 -0700, pgwk > wrote:
>
> > > >I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> > > >offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> > > >know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> > > >of what makes the book special
>
> > > I highly recommend "Tea in China" by John C. Evans, the best
> > > Engish-language treatise on tea's history that I am aware of. Read it,
> > > and you'll learn a few things about Chinese history too.
>
> > > Two other books about Chinese tea are also worth mentioning:
> > > "The Way of Tea" by Lam Kam Chuen and
> > > "All the tea in China" by Cow & Kramer
Agreed. Do you know how to get a copy of the Chinese text? If so, I
would be interested in getting it translated and published as a POD
(Print on Demand) text.

>
> > > Lars,
> > > Bergen, Norway- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Am still looking for a good copy of Lu Yu's Cha Ching (in English).
> I'm surprised that the first bible of tea is out of print and hardly
> available anywhere. This is bordering on heresy.
>
> Phyll- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

pgwk wrote:
> Agreed. Do you know how to get a copy of the Chinese text? If so, I
> would be interested in getting it translated and published as a POD
> (Print on Demand) text.

Try: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7406

hth

Phyll wrote:

> Am still looking for a good copy of Lu Yu's Cha Ching (in English).
> I'm surprised that the first bible of tea is out of print and hardly
> available anywhere. This is bordering on heresy.
>
> Phyll

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7406

It's in Chinese (BIG-5), but not very large.
Maybe you could find a Taiwanese translator?

On May 29, 1:25 am, pgwk > wrote:
> I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> of what makes the book special

Peter - I have emailed you off group with a list of current 210 tea
books in my collection (mostly technical) but though many of them I
use frequently and a few travel with me constantly, alas never had
time to make a summary of any.

Nigel at Teacraft

On May 30, 4:56 am, Nigel > wrote:
> On May 29, 1:25 am, pgwk > wrote:
>
> > I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> > offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> > know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> > of what makes the book special
>
> Peter - I have emailed you off group with a list of current 210 tea
> books in my collection (mostly technical) but though many of them I
> use frequently and a few travel with me constantly, alas never had
> time to make a summary of any.
>
> Nigel at Teacraft

Peter,
When you get the list, will you kindly share it?
Thanks. And, thanks to Nigel, as well.
Shen

Bless you, Nigel.... It's a treasure trove and I expect to see my
Amazon and HP inkjet cartridge bills go through the roof!

Shen, I will indeed share it, with Nigel's approval, of course. If
it's OK with both of you, I will screen it a little only because it
includes conference proceedings, reports and lots of fairly
specialized stuff.

Jim's earler message about the "book thread" coming up regularly
seemed a little dismissive and, frankly, the opium figures he quoted
in a previous thread are in the domain of light romantic fiction -- a
century of trade captured down to the single yuan, coming from an old
Party sponsored publication with no attribution of sources,
methodology, etc. (Would you believe a figure that stated, for
instance, that in the period 1600-1800 the production of Virginia
tobacco was $120,988,321.32? Or would you insist that it was 36 cents,
not 32? So much of tea lore is myths -- Earl Grey nonsense -- and
hype. Google groups push a lot of this stuff and it doesn't help build
a coherent body of knowledge. Look at the Prince of Wales tea rubbish,
for example. Wikipedia restates the claim that the then PoW who became
King Edward VII graciously gave permission to Twinings to market "his"
tea, in 1921. He actually died in 1910.

Books are kinda useful in this regard. They provide information that
can often be validated in contrast with the misinformation of the tea
industry's marketing and the propogation of Google bits and pieces.
Plus, they make interesting reading. Jim, keep that in mind, please.
Some of us just like books. It's a harmless pursuit and not one to
dismiss. (I'd be interested in buying from you any of the most
interesting and useful books gathering dust on your shelf.)

regards
Peter

On May 30, 10:57 am, Shen > wrote:
> On May 30, 4:56 am, Nigel > wrote:
>
> > On May 29, 1:25 am, pgwk > wrote:
>
> > > I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> > > offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> > > know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> > > of what makes the book special
>
> > Peter - I have emailed you off group with a list of current 210 tea
> > books in my collection (mostly technical) but though many of them I
> > use frequently and a few travel with me constantly, alas never had
> > time to make a summary of any.
>
> > Nigel at Teacraft
>
> Peter,
> When you get the list, will you kindly share it?
> Thanks. And, thanks to Nigel, as well.
> Shen

Every book mentioned here has already been previously mentioned with
the exception of one or two. In fact, several if not all were
mentioned by me first because I have them. I suspect the opium
numbers quoted in the 565 page history book are well researched
considering the historical significance. Give me some numbers for the
silver trade from you own historical source, approximate or otherwise,
if you thought it so important lazy ass even though it was probably
the last straw before war.

Jim

PS You are not permitted to include in your bibliography anything I
quoted first. Anything I say is copyrighted.

pgwk wrote:
> Jim's earler message about the "book thread" coming up regularly
> seemed a little dismissive and, frankly, the opium figures he quoted
> in a previous thread are in the domain of light romantic fiction -- a
> century of trade captured down to the single yuan, coming from an old
> Party sponsored publication with no attribution of sources,
> methodology, etc.

1. I won't include anything from you in the biblio because you haven't
listed anything to include. Book titles are in the public domain
anyway.
2. No, I won't give you my sources but they are reliable. You're not
interested in them for information, only for attack purposes.
3. What's this "lazy ass" nonsense -- you have no basis for that silly
insult. It's childish.
4. I hope your anger management therapy classes are working out well
for you.



On May 30, 2:10 pm, Space Cowboy > wrote:
> Every book mentioned here has already been previously mentioned with
> the exception of one or two. In fact, several if not all were
> mentioned by me first because I have them. I suspect the opium
> numbers quoted in the 565 page history book are well researched
> considering the historical significance. Give me some numbers for the
> silver trade from you own historical source, approximate or otherwise,
> if you thought it so important lazy ass even though it was probably
> the last straw before war.
>
> Jim
>
> PS You are not permitted to include in your bibliography anything I
> quoted first. Anything I say is copyrighted.
>
>
>
> pgwk wrote:
> > Jim's earler message about the "book thread" coming up regularly
> > seemed a little dismissive and, frankly, the opium figures he quoted
> > in a previous thread are in the domain of light romantic fiction -- a
> > century of trade captured down to the single yuan, coming from an old
> > Party sponsored publication with no attribution of sources,
> > methodology, etc.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

On May 30, 8:20 am, pgwk > wrote:
> Bless you, Nigel.... It's a treasure trove and I expect to see my
> Amazon and HP inkjet cartridge bills go through the roof!
>
> Shen, I will indeed share it, with Nigel's approval, of course. If
> it's OK with both of you, I will screen it a little only because it
> includes conference proceedings, reports and lots of fairly
> specialized stuff.
>
> Jim's earler message about the "book thread" coming up regularly
> seemed a little dismissive and, frankly, the opium figures he quoted
> in a previous thread are in the domain of light romantic fiction -- a
> century of trade captured down to the single yuan, coming from an old
> Party sponsored publication with no attribution of sources,
> methodology, etc. (Would you believe a figure that stated, for
> instance, that in the period 1600-1800 the production of Virginia
> tobacco was $120,988,321.32? Or would you insist that it was 36 cents,
> not 32? So much of tea lore is myths -- Earl Grey nonsense -- and
> hype. Google groups push a lot of this stuff and it doesn't help build
> a coherent body of knowledge. Look at the Prince of Wales tea rubbish,
> for example. Wikipedia restates the claim that the then PoW who became
> King Edward VII graciously gave permission to Twinings to market "his"
> tea, in 1921. He actually died in 1910.
>
> Books are kinda useful in this regard. They provide information that
> can often be validated in contrast with the misinformation of the tea
> industry's marketing and the propogation of Google bits and pieces.
> Plus, they make interesting reading. Jim, keep that in mind, please.
> Some of us just like books. It's a harmless pursuit and not one to
> dismiss. (I'd be interested in buying from you any of the most
> interesting and useful books gathering dust on your shelf.)
>
> regards
> Peter
>
> On May 30, 10:57 am, Shen > wrote:
>
>
>
> > On May 30, 4:56 am, Nigel > wrote:
>
> > > On May 29, 1:25 am, pgwk > wrote:
>
> > > > I am always looking for good books on tea and finding very few. I
> > > > offer to assemble a bibliography for this group if you will let me
> > > > know books you have found interesting and useful, with a short summary
> > > > of what makes the book special
>
> > > Peter - I have emailed you off group with a list of current 210 tea
> > > books in my collection (mostly technical) but though many of them I
> > > use frequently and a few travel with me constantly, alas never had
> > > time to make a summary of any.
>
> > > Nigel at Teacraft
>
> > Peter,
> > When you get the list, will you kindly share it?
> > Thanks. And, thanks to Nigel, as well.
> > Shen- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks so much, Peter. I greatly appreciate your kindness.
Shen

Nigel, as usual, thanks. you are the TEA GOD! You really should set up
a tea university when you retire!

Julian
http://www.amazing-green-tea.com

On May 31, 9:07 am, juliantai > wrote:
> Nigel, as usual, thanks. you are the TEA GOD! You really should set up
> a tea university when you retire!
>
> Julianhttp://www.amazing-green-tea.com

With such flattery I am disposed to let Peter disseminate my tea book
list to anyone who wants to see it - and without any claim to
copyright!

Nigel at Teacraft