Jeff Koehler
Auteur van Darjeeling: The Colorful History and Precarious Fate of the World's Greatest Tea
Over de Auteur
Jeff Koehler is a writer, traveler, and cook, and the author of books and articles on food and culture, including Spain: Recipes and Traditions, named one of 2013's top cookbooks by the New York Times; Morocco: A Culinary journey with Recipes; and La Paella: Deliciously Authentic Rice Dishes from toon meer Spain's Mediterranean Coast. His work has appeared in Saveur, Food Wine, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Afar, Tin House, Best Food Writing 2010, and on NPR.org. He lives in Barcelona. toon minder
Werken van Jeff Koehler
Darjeeling: The Colorful History and Precarious Fate of the World's Greatest Tea (2015) 113 exemplaren
Morocco: A Culinary Journey with Recipes from the Spice-Scented Markets of Marrakech to the Date-Filled Oasis of Zagora (2012) 60 exemplaren
Where the Wild Coffee Grows: The Untold Story of Coffee from the Cloud Forests of Ethiopia to Your Cup (2017) 47 exemplaren
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Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Geboortedatum
- 20th Century
- Geslacht
- male
- Land (voor op de kaart)
- USA
Spain - Woonplaatsen
- Barcelona, Spain
- Opleiding
- Gonzaga University
Leden
Besprekingen
Prijzen
Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk
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Statistieken
- Werken
- 7
- Ook door
- 2
- Leden
- 392
- Populariteit
- #61,822
- Waardering
- 3.6
- Besprekingen
- 12
- ISBNs
- 18
Written in a ‘feature article’ style, the author frames the book and its chapters within the tea-picking seasons, called flushes. Spring flush, second flush, monsoon flush and autumn flush, tying the trajectory Darjeeling tea finds itself into the advancement of the seasons. These ‘preludes’ to the chapters are written in a flowery, evocative style that mostly works, although at times seems to try a tiny bit too hard.
In general terms the book set out what it meant to do: educate me about tea. As someone whose circulatory system is, at any given time, roughly 75% tea, I was shockingly ignorant about my life’s blood, so the book was destined to succeed. I knew nothing about CTC vs. orthodox teas (CTC is the mechanical process of cut, tear, curl, while orthodox tea is still almost entirely hand processes) and while I’d heard of Darjeeling tea, of course, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you it’s considered the world’s best tea, or that the vast majority of it is certified organic. The importance when it’s picked has on its taste is also going to make it easier for me to find my go-to black teas; I’m pretty sure I’m a solid spring-flush kind of girl.
But what the author really succeeded in, was convincing me of the inherent romance surrounding the growing of teas in spite of all the challenges and barriers: the climate changes, labor issues and a fraught political climate in West Bengal. He touches on all of them in some depth, describing the ways owners are tackling the first two issues and trying to survive the fall out of the third, but still, it’s almost impossible not to imagine these tea gardens as romantic.
If nothing else, the book succeeded as a marketing tool: midway through I found myself online ordering 100g of a tea called “Gold Darjeeling” described by the Tao of Tea as a Light Black Tea, with a smooth, buttery, honey texture. Full-bodied brew with pleasant rose, muscatel grape-like aroma. I’m off two minds about my hopes for this tea: of course I want to like it, but given that you can only buy it by the gram, not so much that it ruins me for all the other black teas out there. Although, as long as I drink iced tea, I doubt I’m in any real danger of becoming the tea snob.… (meer)