The Book of Herbal Teas: A Guide to Gathering, Brewing, and Drinking

Rating:
Summary: Reading about herbal teas, a soothing adventure
Review: Not only is this a lovely book to look at, it is a pleasure to read. Author Sara Perry combines her penchant for research, testing and detail with her calm, gracious writing style. A read through of her herbal tea book is a soothing adventure. Brew a fragrant cuppa and enjoy. Next year, enjoy tea made from the herbs and recipes Sara inspires us to create!

Rating:
Summary: Encourages creativity
Review: This is a really neat book - it starts out with the history of tea and definitions of different "tea speak" like infusion versus decoction etc. Then it talks to growing/finding and harvesting your own herbs. Then it talks to how to prepare tea and then there are a few recipes. I was expecting more recipes but there are some nice lists that you can just figure out the ratios yourself. For example there's a list of two-herb blends (e.g. bergamot and sweet cecely, chamomile and apple mint etc) - the point of these lists is to give you the basics you need to get more adventurous and create more of your own blends. There are lists for three-herb blends too. The recipes are for more complicated things like making a chai, or making specific teas (there are about 6 recipes like that which are good). Then there are recipes for syrups etc too. The last 50 pages or so are all about the herbs themselves, telling you which parts to use and text on taste, special propoerties, how to grow & harvest that specific herb, and more. Its really a great book. As I mentioned I had expected a book of just recipes but this book is different (and ultimately better I think) in that it gives you the information and some of the baby steps to actually create your own tea blends. Its a lot of fun. Definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys playing around with herbs, ghrows and herb garden or just loves teas.

Rating:
Summary: Encourages creativity
Review: This is a really neat book - it starts out with the history of tea and definitions of different "tea speak" like infusion versus decoction etc. Then it talks to growing/finding and harvesting your own herbs. Then it talks to how to prepare tea and then there are a few recipes. I was expecting more recipes but there are some nice lists that you can just figure out the ratios yourself. For example there's a list of two-herb blends (e.g. bergamot and sweet cecely, chamomile and apple mint etc) - the point of these lists is to give you the basics you need to get more adventurous and create more of your own blends. There are lists for three-herb blends too. The recipes are for more complicated things like making a chai, or making specific teas (there are about 6 recipes like that which are good). Then there are recipes for syrups etc too. The last 50 pages or so are all about the herbs themselves, telling you which parts to use and text on taste, special propoerties, how to grow & harvest that specific herb, and more. Its really a great book. As I mentioned I had expected a book of just recipes but this book is different (and ultimately better I think) in that it gives you the information and some of the baby steps to actually create your own tea blends. Its a lot of fun. Definitely recommend it for anyone who enjoys playing around with herbs, ghrows and herb garden or just loves teas.