As luck would have it, this week I received my Tea Sommelier certificate and my children start school. In honor of all of this school news, I am delighted to share my review and a giveaway of Jane Pettigrew's new book, World of Tea.
World of Tea is Pettigrew's 18th book and her longest at 434 pages. You could read it cover to cover. It's worthwhile to do so even if you've been a longtime student of tea. Pettigrew's writing is anything but dry so don't worry that you'll be treated to a dull read about the world of tea. You could approach the book as a lively reference and use the excellent Table of Contents or Index to guide your journey.
The book is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the basics of tea: origin species and cultivars, terror, harvesting, processing, storage, and preparation. You may have read these elementary aspects of tea in other books before, but Pettigrew makes them seem fresh again. I especially like the graphic representation of how different categories of tea are processed.
The remaining six chapters cover the world. A chapter is dedicated to each continent on which tea is grown: North America, South America (Central America is included here and not with North America), Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. These six chapters are where Pettigrew's expertise really shines. The reader is presented with a staggering amount of detail about teas in each region in each country in each continent. Those details include number of gardens, total area of cultivation, terrain, altitude, main cultivars, types of tea, and more. The chapter on Asia is over 200 pages long. Furthermore, Pettigrew tells the story of how tea arose in each place. So many stories! Did you know that a five-acre experimental tea plot was planted in Washington, DC in the 1850s?
Related: United States of Tea - Mauna Kea Tea, Hawaii
I have found a new gold standard for tea books. It's World of Tea by Jane Pettigrew. Enter the giveaway below to win a copy for your library.
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A copy of World of Tea by Jane Pettigrew was provided for review.
I have always wanted to visit Japan, part for the tea and the other for a long food binge!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the foodie experience.
DeleteJapan for me too, green tea matcha is great
ReplyDeleteOh, matcha! So good.
DeleteWhat a wonderful read! I'm so glad that you have performed a review on this book and are doing a give-away...I hope I win! :-)
ReplyDeleteJapan does sounds very interesting to me.... Great place it would be to visit one day.
ReplyDeleteThat book looks incredible! I'd love to visit so many tea producing countries! I think visiting tea fields in Japan would be amazing.
ReplyDeleteMaybe an opportunity will arise soon...
DeleteWould be a great read any well know country that produces tea would be great to visit
ReplyDeleteJapan would be my #1 choice to visit
ReplyDeleteFor me, Japan, but China's a close second! I think visiting a tea plantation must be an AMAZING scent/taste experience!
ReplyDeleteThis book is definitely on my "must read" list. I've enjoyed all of Jane's other books so I'm sure it will be another treasure for my bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteFor sure Japan. They are huge on tea!!
ReplyDeleteJapan!
ReplyDeleteI am interested in visiting Madagascar.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a wonderful book! Please enter me in the give away!
ReplyDeleteAnd I would like to visit Sri Lanka!
ReplyDeleteI would love to visit and have butter tea in Tibet.
ReplyDeleteHawaii for me.
ReplyDeleteNancy
tis-so at hotmail dot com
I would like to visit Wuyi.
ReplyDeleteSri Lanka
ReplyDeleteI'd like to visit Japan's tea growers!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to visit Europe someday!
ReplyDeleteI would like to travel to West Bengal in the foothills of the Himalayas to see the cultivation of tea. Tea is my favourite beverage of choice during anytime of the day.
ReplyDeletelindacfast@hotmail.com
A very specific location! I like it.
DeleteJapan would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteJapan and china are both on my list.. hoping to visit Japan next year
ReplyDeleteChina!! I went to Japan last year and the matcha tea there was so delicious
ReplyDeleteJapan.
ReplyDeleteI would say Africa.
ReplyDeleteEurope would be a bucketlist visit for me!
ReplyDeleteI would pick Asia.
ReplyDeleteJapan for sure
ReplyDeleteThe Cederberg Mountains of South Africa for rooibos tea.
ReplyDeleteI would love to visit India.
ReplyDeleteWow, interesting read. Congratulations for you Tea Sommelier certificate! I’m excited for your future content, I guess your perspective is different now. Thanks for sharing ����
ReplyDeleteI'd love to visit China!
ReplyDeleteJapan sounds nice!
ReplyDeletejapan for me
ReplyDelete