IN CONNECTION WITH CMF/CAMOC’s 2004-5 LECTURES ON TEA (SEE LECTURES) HERE ARE SOME CLASSIC BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT
Fortune, Robert A Journey to the Tea Countries of China (London: John Murray, 1852) [by the observant Scottish botanist who first “smuggled” (in fact, openly exported) tea plants from China to India, excellent but out of print]
Blofeld, John The Chinese Art of Tea (Boston: Shambala, 1985) [an informed insider’s view by a noted Buddhist teacher; out of print but available in 2nd-hand bookstores]
Okakura, Kazuo The Book of Tea (Charles E. Tuttle, 2000; with new introduction by Liza Dalby) [probably the most influential book on tea in the English language; may be bought from Amazon.com or downloaded free from the Internet: see http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/769%5D
Lu Yu Cha Jing [“Tea Classic”] (written in the 8th century and reprinted many times, but mostly in Chinese) [we are not sure if the complete Cha Jing has ever been translated, but Lu’s book has been the bible of serious tea drinkers for 1200 years]
RECENT BOOKS ON TEA, NOT YET CLASSICS, INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING. ALL MAY BE PURCHASED FROM AMAZON.COM AND OTHER ON-LINE BOOKSTORES.
- All the Tea in China
by Kit Chow, Ione Kramer (Contributor) - All About Green Tea
by Victoria Dolby Toews, et al - Not All Teas Are Created Equal: A Mingcha Guide to Premium Chinese Tea
by Lee Kwan, Leo Kwan - A Pocket Guide to All the Tea in China
by Kit Boey Chow, et al - Tea Basics
by Wendy Rasmussen (Author), Ric Rhinehart (Author) - The New Tea Book
by Sara Perry, Alison Miksch - 20,000 Secrets of Tea
by Victoria Zak (Author) - The Way of Tea
by Km Chuen Lam (Author), Kai Sin Lam (Author) - The Tea Book
by Dawn L. Campbell - The Green Tea User’s Manual
by Helen Gustafson (Author) - The Book of Green Tea
by Diana Rosen - The Tea Companion
by Jane Pettigrew, et al - Tea & Etiquette
by Dorothea Johnson, James Norwood Pratt (Introduction)