Tea Blog

During my speaking engagements I often mention my mission statement (to bring back the teapot and to encourage people to take time with tea) and what better way to uphold my mission statement than to relax with a book of tea poetry (or as the author beau-tea-fully puts in ‘Poetea’).

I “met” Elizabeth Darcy Jones through the wonderful world of Twitter and after several tweetersations, emails and a couple of handwritten letters (I do enjoy putting pen to paper now and again), I waited eagerly for Mr Postie to deliver Distinguished Leaves — Poems for Tea Lovers.

It is such a special book as not only is the foreword by a very distinguished actor (recently seen in the hugely popular Downton Abbey), but there are notable mentions of tea artisans whom I have had the pleasure of meeting or tweeting with.

What I love about this book is that just as a tea jumps out of my tea cupboard every morning to greet me; each tea poem takes on its own persona and jumps out of the book to greet you too! You will never see an Earl Grey tea quite in the same light after reading the poem by the same name and I couldn’t help but smile into my cup as I read about Dong Ding.

The poem to Jasmine Pearls is a tribute, the sweet notes of a Fancy Oolong is sui-tea-bly matched to a genteel prose whilst the strength of an Assam tea is matched to an equally full-bodied poem. 

There is an author’s note to put the novice tea drinker at ease about using loose leaf tea, and each section has its own tea category description.  For the seasoned drinker, sipping a tea whilst reading the poem of the same name will be a joy as one sits back to imagine the persona of the tea in full character.  It doesn’t stop there.  If you have a look at the reviews on Amazon you can see how this little book has polarised readers with some wannabe poe-tea writers to boot! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend taking some me time with a cup of tea and enjoy Elizabeth Darcy Jones’ Distinguished Leaves – Poems for Tea Lovers.

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