While I don’t actually need to keep re-reading the basics of tea, I just cannot resist tea books. When I saw Good & Proper Tea, I was unable to stop myself from borrowing it. It’s a book about tea! I don’t really need more motivation to read it.

Good & Proper Tea contains the usual introduction to the world of tea and recommendations for brewing parameters, but what makes it stand out are its recipes for making tea lattes, cocktails, baking with tea, and even how to make ice cream with tea.

The information about tea is good, although it’s a bit disappointing to see that dark teas that are not puer are not mentioned. I also wished that in the brewing parameters, the recommendations for gongfu brewing were also included. There were quite a few Chinese teas inside, and since gaiwans and yixing pots were included in the teaware section, it would have been nice for the book to include the gongfu brewing parameters. I do brew Western-style now and then, but for Chinese teas, brewing gongfu-style (short infusions with high leaf to water ratio) can make a huge difference.

As for the recipes in the book, they all sounded delicious! I tried the recipe for iced green tea and apple and I really liked the flavour combination. I ended up brewing it two ways – once was the way recommended (which is to brew it for longer, probably because you’ll be adding ice to cool it down and hence dilute the tea) and once was a much longer cold brew where the tea and apples were infused from the start. I liked how the sweetness of the apple worked to really enhance the sweetness of the green tea without being overbearing. I’ll have to remember this for when guests come!

Overall, I found this to be an interesting introduction to tea. I personally liked the recipe section the best and might go back to this book if I ever want to try to work tea into more drinks and dishes.