The Philosophy of Tea

The Philosophy of...

by Tony Gebely

How did drinking the infusions of a unique plant from China become a vital part of everyday life? This gift book presents an entertaining and illuminating introduction to the history and culture of tea, from its origins in the Far East to the flavors and properties of different varieties, and the rituals of tea preparation and drinking around the world. This simple hot beverage is suffused with artistic and religious overtones. The Chinese Ch'a Ching gave very precise guidelines to the preparation and sipping of tea, and the Japanese tea ceremony elevated it to an art form. Following its introduction to the royal court in the 17th century, the British created their own traditions, from the elaborate etiquette of afternoon tea to the humble pot of tea at the heart of family life, and the modern appreciation for specialty infusions.

Genres: Tea, Nonfiction, Food, History

112 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2020

Reviews

[Caleb Liu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a nicely designed book and a very good basic introduction to tea. It has brief chapters on different kinds of tea and various tea drinking culture around the world.

If you’re already steeped (ahem) in tea drinking culture and pick this up expecting a broader philosophical and social examination you’ll be disappointed, as many other reviews have pointed out.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a true tea fan and “The Philosophy of Tea” is simply a delightful treat.

The book is quite small, but has the basic information that all tea lovers should know – the History, the production process, the different types of tea and, of course, how to make a “good cuppa”.
The book is a good introduction to the topic and a starting point for more reading journeys into the World of Tea.

[Eddie Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small, beautifully produced gift book from the British library, with a lively, brief, but informative introduction to the world of tea by Tony Gebely and illustrated with historic out-of-copyright images from the BL’s archives. Entertaining and educative, a good gift for a fan of tea.

[Bodil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t really think there is much phIlosophy in this book, but it is surely about tea and teadrinking. It gives the story of tea, both it’s beginnings in China, an introduction and subsequent development in the West (well, the UK and the USA) and a short treatise on various types of tea. And it does this in a good and easily-read way. However, although this is a short book it is a nice introduction to the world of tea With many nice old illustrations, too.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Philosophy of Tea is a simple, concise, informative book on tea. The term “philosophy” is used here very loosely. I rather enjoyed the chapter on British tea culture and, in general, it made me want to try new styles of tea. In the end this book is like a cup of tea: it is enjoyable and it will do you no harm.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a pretty little book which I got as a gift, as an emerging tea enthusiast.

I'm giving it 2 stars for providing me with a handful of information that was new to me but in general, I think it's a waste of time and money.

1. Calling it "The Philosophy of Tea" is just false advertising. There was nothing in this book about philosophy. The cultural notes were very perfunctory and British-centric. If the author skipped the dozen or so pages of technical info on tiny differences in production of various teas, which I think for a Tea 101 book was a weird inclusion to begin with, there would be space for more substance on that.

2. Speaking of, I really feel like the full title should be "The Philosophy of Tea or the short History of British colonialism".

3. Thank you Tony Gebely for explaining to me, in the simplest terms possible, what this magical vessel called a "kettle" is. My life will never be the same.

4. There were multiple instances of repetitions, word for word, or references to information that was said a couple pages earlier. This book has all of 65 pages of full text (I counted!), in quite a big font. I feel both disrespected and boggled that this space was not used for again, some more substance.

5. Personally, I'd start the book with the history and the culture and then start on different kinds of teas, having already provided all the relevant context, but whatevs!

6. Bonus minus points for making me realize that two women invented tea bags, got ignored by the world at large and then a man accidentally reinvented one and is now credited with the thing. Just par for the course.

I know it's not that serious and I promise I'm not a tea snob, this is just not a good book by any measure.

[Edward Vanhoutte · Rating 3 out of 5]

One can hardly expect an in-depth treatment of a subject as complex as tea in a book as tiny as the ones published in the British Library's 'The Philosophy of'-series. In about 100 pages, Tony Gebely provides the reader with an informative introduction to the several types of tea and the geographical spread of its production and consumption. Unfortunately, this is also all this book offers. There is no discussion of the function of tea in contemporary society, media, or culture, for instance, and the book barely hints on 'the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence' as Gebely defines Philosophy in his first paragraph. Instead, this book is nothing more than a neatly organised, entertaining and easy-to-read introductory treatment of the subject, which I very much enjoyed reading. The last two chapters on Preparing Tea and Tea and Health, however, were my least favourite because I almost disagreed with everything the author proclaims here. In order to savour the delicate flavours and profit from its beneficial qualities, only a pinch of tea should be steeped for over 20 minutes in water of the right temperature. It is only after a long steeping time that the anti-oxidants and polyphenols are released into the water, which should have a minimal dry residue. This is what my tea master has taught me and what I will keep on teaching as a tea sommelier.

[Bruce Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a lifelong tea drinker, it pains me to admit this, but the book was a bit of a disappointment. I’ve enjoyed tea much of my life, but admittedly I am an uninformed imbiber rather than a connoisseur. (I’ll try to do better in the future.) The major shortcoming of this book is typical of those written by writers who have overwhelming amounts of information about their subject, but don’t know how to separate the interesting facts from the rest. They often spew information rather than tell interesting stories. This author simply tries to cover too much territory in just 91 pages. That said, I learned a little about the history of tea production and consumption, tea types (though without tea to taste the verbiage was overkill), customs, it’s many sources, supposed health benefits, and tips for brewing, among other things. Like a Twinning’s tea sampler—there’s something here for everyone, though many of us will not try, let alone enjoy, every option. SPOILER ALERT: like most philosophical tracts, read this at the risk of discovering how you’ve been doing

[Nayeli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book at the British Library this summer, I never thought I would actually ever visit it and though I only got to spend an hour or so there, it was great. I obviously wanted to buy a book and I chose this one because it’s small and it’s about tea, not sure why it’s called “The philosophy of…” because it reads more like a very short history of (that name is probably too similar to Oxford’s series, though). It does the job as an introduction to the topic and it makes you want to do some googling on the side. I must say I was surprised to learn the author is American - there’s probably a joke here somewhere about how the British stole everything anyway, hmm.

[Haziq Hakimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Expected to read the philosophy behind tea drinking across cultures and societies, instead i read a mix/cross between a Wikipedia page on tea and a coffee-table book. Nonetheless it did provide reading material for my flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Quite disappointed.

P.S - how the hell could the author leave out Turkey/Turkiye as a separate chapter, being the world's top tea consumers per capita.

[RaineShadow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun book explaining the history of tea and traditions from different countries and how it's prepared. I honestly didn't know some tea can be steeped only 30 seconds, and it encourages you to experiment with different brewing times to see what suits you.

I love the explanation on why some countries are calling it either chai or tea and it has a lot of quotes I liked and saved.

It's a delightful little read for any tea lover.

[Joan Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about tea growing, types of tea and tea culture. I was disappointed thought about the fact that although the author mentioned Kenya as being the worlds largest producer, he did not mention another word about tea in Kenya. Not how it got there, how it’s farmed or even if they drink tea. He did however report on tea in Sri Lanka, the world’s 4th largest producer, even indicated indicator that 95 % of their tea is exported. Go figure.

[Sam Bigus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the perfect first book for those looking to read about tea. An extremely quick read with a solid and entertaining overview of types of tea, tea culture, and some tea history. It isn't the once and for all fully comprehensive tea reference book the hardcore sipper might want, but it isn't trying to be that.

[Dominika · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good. Just the basics of how tea is made and how it got around. A very quick and easy read.

[Corbin Donoho · Rating 3 out of 5]

He is a researcher and lover of yes not an author if you like it than good for you

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book…short but very packed with information. Relaxing evening read.

[Joslyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

wrong author for an interesting concept

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let’s drink tea, because we love it!

[Emilia Vega · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que libro tan hermosooo
Que ganas de tenerlo a la mano siempre para tener más datos. Me dio la información básica que llevaba buscando por todos lados en el mismo lugar.
Hermoso y punto

[M. Bayoush · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an alright first book if you want a short book about origin, name tea vs chai, the different types of tea and how to make a good cup of tea. Not a great book and I'm a bit disappointed it wasn't much philosophy in it. But it was simple, easy to read and a good enough over view of the subject tea

[Myvanwy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't philosophy. There are no arguments, it's just a summary of information. No philosopher would be satisfied with the throw away one sentence description of philosophy at the start of the book. And for a book claiming to be about the philosophy of tea there was no mention of the philosophy of aesthetics, something I consider to be central to the broad study of philosophy of tea. Beyond the philosophy, the information itself is very basic. If you know nothing about tea this book would be interesting (but not super informative), but if you have already learnt anything about tea this book won't teach you anything more. I study philosophy at university so I was hoping for rigorous philosophy, and when I didn't get that I was at least hoping for knowledge I didn't already have. Some of the information is so vague and simple that it ends up being incorrect. For example saying that it makes no difference what vessel you brew your tea in so long as it's at the right temperature for the right time (which is listed). It's simply not true that steeping tea for 2 minutes in a gaiwan gives the same result as steeping for 2 minutes in an English teapot. Do not do this! You will burn your tea in the gaiwan if you do this!

[AmyH · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Philosophy of Tea is a perfectly adequate little book, fine for dipping into whilst having a cuppa, but as a lot of the other reviews point out, it falls pretty short on the 'philosophy' part. The opening page of the book defines philosophy as 'the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality and existence.' In reality what we get is mostly a list of tea types following the structure of Name-Meaning-Appearance-Location which by the middle of book is starting to drag.

The history sections start to perk up as Gebely gets into the movement of tea around the world (entry into a country by land or sea affecting whether its name in that country is derived from Tea or Cha was an fun fact) but again, it feels like there is little there of the culture's actual feelings about tea, instead concentrating on dates and stats rather than what it is about tea that has made it so special.

It's a shame that the book (ironically) ends up so dry, but on occasions something sparkles through, showing what the book could have been, such as the Moroccan tea proverb from the chapter on Moroccan tea culture:

The first glass is as bitter as life,
The second glass is as strong as love,
The third glass is as gentle as death.

[Michael Gordover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent pocket guide to different varieties of tea. The best part about the book is how it outlines the differences between the six major types. Great to have on hand while shopping for, or brewing tea.

[Jenny Nguyen]

It'a a simple yet informative small book for a cup of tea. Pleasantly illustrated and classy designed.