An illustrated guide to the world's teas. Tea is second only to water as the most-consumed beverage in the world. When recent studies revealed green tea's health benefits, North American consumption skyrocketed. Tea is a comprehensive guide to non-herbal tea, the plant Camellia sinensis. Concise and authoritative text and an abundance of color photographs take the reader on an escorted tour of the world's tea-growing China, Japan, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam and East Africa. Like a fine wine, it is the "terroir" — a region's soil and climate—that imparts unique characteristics to a tea. The book covers black, green, white, yellow, oolong, pu'er, perfumed, aromatic and smoked teas. Topics An overview of the history of tea Tea varieties The worldwide export of tea How tea is processed Signature tea cultivars The art of making, serving and tasting tea, incl