Reviews

Darjeeling: The Colorful History and Precarious Fate of the World's Greatest Tea by Jeff Koehler

voicenextdoor's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.25

slim_oysterhiatus's review against another edition

I don't drink much Darjeeling tea. I don't get the hype, and for me Chinese tea will always be better than Indian. However, that didn't stop me enjoying this read. This is a thorough history of tea, and of tea's place in the history of India and British colonialism. It also explains what tea is and why Darjeeling tea is unique, how it was developed and popularized, and how it is grown, processed and prepared. Told through anecdotes and quotations, this non-fiction is informative without reading like a textbook.

mariesreads's review against another edition

4.0

What a great mix of history, current events, and the making of tea.

stephanieridiculous's review against another edition

2.75

There was a lot of useful and interesting stuff in here, but unfortunately it really slogged on for entirely too long. There was a lot of unnecessary overwriting and I think the tea gets lost in the sauce quite a few times. The first half of the book is super interesting and well formatted, but as it went on it seemed to lose focus and took winding paths to the point. 

susanj13's review against another edition

5.0

There was something about that cover and the blurb on the back that made me impulsively buy this book on a cold, snowy day last winter. And I definitely got my money's worth. The book has a little bit of everything in it - History, of how tea travelled to India from China thanks to the British, how the British rule developed the tree gardens as well as the plantation culture, Geography - of the Eastern states of India and especially Darjeeling and its development into the present day city, Sociology - of the lives of the people, their culture and the political conflict in their demand for statehood, Agriculture - of tea cultivation, the soil, the weather, the wildlife and the switch towards organic farming. Like I said, a little bit of everything and some more. And what delightful, poetic writing - describing the magic of tea and the hills. And wraps up with some very handy recipes that I can't wait to try.
This book had me brewing more cups of tea than my usual quota (even though I am more of an Assam tea person!) and I know I HAVE to visit beautiful Darjeeling as soon as I can. It also had me knowingly slow down my reading pace, like slowly savouring a fine cup of chai. A truly fantastic read.

urban_mermaid's review against another edition

3.0

Each chapter tackles a different aspect of Darjeeling tea - history, production, workers, recipes. Individual paragraphs were beautiful, but the density of information is almost overwhelming. I would suggest reading a chapter at a time rather than trying to do a single straight read.

urban_mermaid's review

3.0

Each chapter tackles a different aspect of Darjeeling tea - history, production, workers, recipes. Individual paragraphs were beautiful, but the density of information is almost overwhelming. I would suggest reading a chapter at a time rather than trying to do a single straight read.