New Tea Lover's Treasury (1999), by James Norwood Pratt Hardcover (6x9"), 210 pages with color photos. Includes index. Tea - a simple, healthful beverage, but one which will never taste the same to those who read this book. Here is the story of a miracle of vegetation that became a treasure of the world as medicine, beverage, currency and communion - the well-spring of empires, industries and art. Tea is second only to water itself as mankind's favorite beverage today. This book is both a work of history and a guide to the teas of the world. It shows how history lives on in the teas we drink and reveals that to drink tea, whether we know it or not, is to imbibe the spirit of the East. Here is a passport to surprising delights from an amazing variety of teas and tea ways, ancient and modern. As the author says, "No pleasure is simpler, no luxury cheaper, no consciousness-altering substance more benign."
