Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Introduction -- About This Book -- Foolish Assumptions -- Icons Used in This Book -- Beyond the Book -- Where to Go from Here -- Part 1 Getting Started with Tea -- Chapter 1 It's Time for Tea -- Understanding the Popularity of Tea -- Meeting tea drinkers the world over -- Seeing why tea is so popular -- Discovering some benefits of tea -- Begin Your Tea Journey Here -- Tea knows no age -- Teas to try first -- Where to buy your tea -- How much tea to buy -- Storing your tea leaves -- Chapter 2 Tea for You, Tea for Me -- Brewing the Perfect Cup of Tea -- Basic equipment -- Ways to heat water -- Cup or mug -- Strainer -- Making a cup of hot tea! -- Measuring your tea leaves -- Heating your water -- Brewing hot tea -- Making iced tea -- One Lump or Two: Discovering Other Ways to Enjoy Tea -- Milk and Sugar -- Lemon -- Tea Lattes -- Carbonated -- Trends and Fads -- Chapter 3 From Garden to Cup -- The Tea Plant, Where It All Begins -- Varieties -- Environment, or terroir -- Gardens -- Harvesting -- Discovering How Leaves Become Tea -- Processing steps -- Types of tea produced -- The Often-Confusing Terminology of Tea -- The "orange" of orange pekoe -- Orthodox versus CTC -- SFTGFOP -- The flush -- Sparrow beak -- Single estate -- Understanding How Teas Are Flavored -- Blending -- Oils and extracts -- Scented teas -- Part 2 Talking about Different Types of Tea -- Chapter 4 Black Tea -- Taking a Closer Look at Black Tea -- Considering the tea varieties -- How black tea is made -- Flavor profiles of black tea -- Searching Far and Wide for Black Tea -- China -- Gunpowder -- Keemun (qimen, qihong) -- Lapsang souchong -- Yunnan -- India -- Assam -- Darjeeling -- Sri Lanka: Ceylon tea -- Japan -- Wild-grown -- Classic blends -- Breakfast blends -- Earl grey -- Masala chai -- Chapter 5 Green Tea.

Taking a Closer Look at Green Tea -- How green tea is made -- Flavor profiles of green tea -- The difference between Chinese and Japanese green teas -- Looking at Chinese Green Teas -- Biluochun (green snail, bi lo chun, Dongting biluochun) -- Gunpowder -- Huangshan maofeng (Yellow Mountain fur peak) -- Jasmine and other scented teas -- Lung ching (dragon well, long jing) -- Palace needle (ocean green needle) -- Discovering Japanese Green Teas -- Bancha -- Genmaicha and matcha genmaicha -- Gyokuro (jade dew) -- Hojicha (houjicha) -- Kamairicha (tamaryokucha) -- Kukicha (twig tea, stem tea) -- Matcha and tencha -- Sencha and Kabusecha -- Finding Green Teas from Other Countries -- Chapter 6 Oolong (Wulong) Tea -- Taking a Closer Look at Oolong Tea -- How oolong tea is made -- Flavor profiles of oolong tea -- Discovering the Varieties of Oolong Teas -- Dan cong (guangdong, phoenix) -- Dong ding (tung ting) -- Dongfang meiren (oriental beauty) -- High mountain -- Jun chiyabari -- Taifu -- Tieguanyin (iron goddess of mercy, iron Buddha, ti kuan yin) -- Wuyi rock tea (da hong pao) -- Chapter 7 White Tea -- Taking a Closer Look at White Tea -- How white tea is made -- Flavor profiles of white tea -- Discovering the Different White Teas -- China -- Silver needle (baihao yinzhen) -- Pai mu tan (bai mu dan, white peony) -- Other white tea producers -- South Indian white tea from the state of Tamil Nadu -- Malawi antlers -- Chapter 8 Other Teas -- Exploring Fermented Teas -- Pu-erh tea -- Yellow tea -- Getting Chilly with Frost and Frozen Teas -- Nilgiri frost tea -- Frozen black tea -- Discovering Additional Rarities -- GABA teas -- Milk or milky oolong -- Old tree bancha -- Flowering or blooming tea -- Purple tea -- Chapter 9 Herbal Teas -- Why Are Herbal Teas Called "Tea" When They're Not Tea? -- Herbal Does Not Mean Caffeine Free -- Guayusa -- Guarana.

Mate (yerba mate, maté) -- Herbal Teas That Won't Keep You Up at Night -- Rooibos -- Honeybush (mountain tea, cape tea) -- Fruit teas -- Ayurvedic teas -- All the rest -- Flowers -- Spices -- Seeds -- Leaves -- Chapter 10 Drinking Tea Like an Expert -- Tasting - By the Experts -- Tea professionals -- Words the experts use -- How experts taste tea -- Examine the leaf -- Brew the tea -- Smell the tea and leaves -- Taste the tea -- Describe the tea -- Tasting - And Figuring Out How to Describe What You Taste -- It's simple: Look, smell, and taste -- Coming up with the (right?) words -- Accessories: Going Down the Rabbit Hole -- So, you want to buy a teapot -- Teapot material -- Teapot size -- Teapot shape -- Other considerations -- And maybe some teacups -- A note regarding aroma -- Size -- Material and porosity -- Handle -- Heat retention -- Color -- Convenience -- Other convenient accessories -- Tea tins -- Tea-measuring spoons and scales -- Timers -- Water kettles -- Infuser mugs -- Strainers and brewing baskets -- Coasters and tea trays -- Cozies and warmers -- Tea pets -- Part 3 Getting Curious about Caffeine -- Chapter 11 Caffeine: Tempest in a Teacup? -- The Ins and Outs (or Ups and Downs) of Caffeine -- Caffeine, a Stone Age drug? -- What caffeine is -- How caffeine works -- The benefits of caffeine -- The drawbacks of caffeine -- The Magic of Caffeine plus L-theanine, the Calming Factor -- Determining How Much Caffeine Is in Your Cup (Hint: It's Complicated) -- First, the tea plant itself -- Second, how the tea is processed -- Third, the caffeine-to-theanine ratio -- Fourth, how you brew and drink your tea -- Misconceptions and Myths about Caffeine in Tea -- Caffeine is bad for you -- You can avoid the caffeine by throwing out the first steep or "washing out" the caffeine -- Caffeine is separate from flavor.

Certain teas have less caffeine than other teas -- Chapter 12 Less Is Not Always More - Decaffeinated Tea -- Removing Caffeine from Tea Leaves -- Decaffeinating methods -- Organic solvents -- Water -- Carbon dioxide -- Putting the caffeine to other uses -- The Problems with Decaffeinating Tea -- Degradation of tea leaves -- Cost -- Demand -- Decaffeinated does not mean caffeine free -- Part 4 Spilling the Tea about Health Benefits -- Chapter 13 Tea and Its Powerful Antioxidants -- Polyphenols and Why They Matter -- Green Tea and Its Polyphenols -- Black Tea, with Polyphenol Conversion -- The Best Tea to Drink -- The benefits of green tea -- The benefits of black tea -- Does it matter which tea you drink? -- Chapter 14 Investigating the Health Benefits of Tea -- Seeking the Truth behind Health Claims -- Health benefits versus health claims -- The reliability of the research -- Real-world applications versus observational and laboratory studies -- Analysis on the ground -- Analysis in the lab -- What these studies mean to you -- Looking at the Potential Role of Tea in Illness and Disease -- Disease -- Cancer -- Cardiovascular disease -- Diabetes -- Osteoporosis -- Immune system and infection -- Neurological -- Pain -- Topical treatment -- Weight control -- Aging Well, with a Nod to Tea -- Cognition and dementia -- Motor function and muscle strength -- Life span -- Stay Calm and Drink Tea: Relieving Stress -- Tea for Two: Enhancing Your Social Life -- Chapter 15 Investigating the Health Benefits of Herbal Tea -- Seeking the Truth behind Health Claims -- Health benefits versus health claims -- The reliability of the research -- Real-world applications versus observational and laboratory studies -- Bioavailability complicates things -- Evaluating Common Herbal Teas -- Some that show promise -- Ashwagandha (winter cherry) -- Blackberry leaves -- Cinnamon.

Cornflowers -- Fireweed -- Fruit -- Greek mountain (shepherd's tea, ironwort) -- Guarana -- Hibiscus -- Honeybush (mountain tea, cape tea) -- Japanese mulberry leaves -- Licorice -- Mate (yerba mate, maté) -- Moringa -- Nettle (stinging nettle) -- Rooibos -- Rose hips -- The jury is still out -- Astragalus -- Barley -- Cistus incanus -- Chamomile -- Dandelion -- Echinacea -- Elderberries -- Ginger -- Ginkgo -- Ginseng (Asian ginseng) -- Goldenrod -- Lavender -- Lemon balm -- Lemongrass (lemon grass) -- Milk thistle (silymarin) -- Mint -- Valerian -- The many misconceptions around turmeric -- The problem with claims about herbal blends -- But if It Works for You, Then It Works -- Part 5 My Cup of Tea - Around the World -- Chapter 16 Exploring Tea-Producing Regions of the World -- Looking at Where Tea Is Grown -- Asia -- China -- India -- Assam -- Darjeeling -- South India -- Indonesia -- Japan -- Nepal -- South Korea -- Sri Lanka -- Taiwan -- Turkey -- Vietnam -- Europe -- Africa -- South Pacific -- The Americas -- United States -- South America -- Chapter 17 Embracing Age-Old Traditions and Ceremonies -- Heading to China, Where It All Began -- Tea ceremony -- The gaiwan -- Investigating India -- Examining Tea Traditions Around the World -- Japan -- Korea -- Britain (and the art of having tea) -- The Himalayas -- Morocco -- Germany -- Ireland -- Turkey -- Russia -- United States -- South America -- Chapter 18 Insight into the Tea Industry -- Looking at the Lives of Tea Workers -- Living and working conditions/wages -- Working in Japan, China, and India -- Working on large plantations -- Difficulties with medical care -- The struggle of the small farmer -- The dangers of chemical exposure -- Reviewing Tea Certifications -- Looking at Tea Purity and Quality -- Purity -- Quality -- Developing New Cultivars -- Fingerprinting Tea.

Traveling from the Garden to You.