From time to time I like to take a look at some of my tea books that I have on my bookshelf. I recently replaced them after I put the Christmas decorations away and it made me happy to see my little collection of tea books back up on the shelf.

This little book was gifted to me by a friend who was cleaning out her house and shared several tea books with me. It is a small book but filled with lots of information for tea lovers and novices alike.

Some of the most helpful information in this book is the page that illustrates and gives details about the grading of tea. Grading is not an indication of quality but rather of size and appearance. Broken teas are graded as follows: Broken Orange Pekoe, Broken Pekoe, Broken Pekoe Souchong, Fannings and Dust.

Leaf teas are graded as Orange Pekoe, Pekoe and Pekoe Souchong.

Flowery grades are reserved almost exclusively for Darjeelings.

This book has some great illustrations of the different kinds of teas.

While my pictures are less than perfect today I think you get the idea that this is a book that is really packed with great information even with its small size.

From processing to blending, grading, trading, packaging and more, this little book is a perfect primer for the tea novice. If this looks like a book that you might be interested in click here for the Amazon link.