This has been considered a favourite and a recommended read of many English-speaking tea-drinkers for many years, which meant it was low on my own priority list, as I tend to push past the more well-known reads and reach for the most obscure, out–of–print, niche-topic publications I can get my hands on.

Since this book has remained popular, I knew I wouldn’t have to look hard for it, so I just waited patiently for a good-condition edition to pop up at my usual used bookstore haunts.

I knew I’d likely be comparing this to similar books, like Chinese Tea Culture by Wang Ling, Chinese Tea by Liu Tong, The Spirit of Tea by Frank Hadley Murphy, and others when I finally did get around to reading it.

Blofeld’s was first published in 1985, and though it’s been re-released in several formats, the editions have not been updated, as far as I can tell. The books I listed above are all more recent, often a benefit for things like standardized naming, but luckily most of the tea information they choose to focus on remains the same, or at the very least, still relevant.

Blofeld’s opens in much the same way as several of these books, focusing its first chapter on the general history of tea. It diverges to move onto the history of tea literature, summarizing a few of the more popular (or representative) works for the early Dynasties, including of course Lu Yu’s Cha Ching, and Hui Tsung’s Treatise on Tea. These are not full translations, unfortunately, but several relevant passages.

I find Blofeld’s writing charming and easy to follow, as he weaves his own experiences in with extremely thorough descriptions, translations, and narrations of legends. You get glimpses of the then-modern-day culture he was experiencing during his visits (experiences with friends, and the burgeoning tea-culture among the 80’s youth of China). I was most impressed by Chapter 10, where he describes the layout of gongfu tea in great detail, including a diagram and summary of tools and the art itself. Not something I’ve seem much of in older Western works. It’s in-depth enough to recreate your own setup at home.

I can see why this work’s so well-regarded, and how it was a very accessible gateway into Chinese tea for many young tea-drinkers. It manages to stay relevant, even including a breakdown of transliterations in the glossary, summarizing Wade-Giles and pinyin. There are (as I found in many works) several teas described here that completely baffle me (are they defunct, did they ever exist at all?).

Comparing this work firstly to Chinese Tea Culture, I think the latter did a more comprehensive coverage of Chinese tea history, and definitely has a robust coverage of the spread of different tea-drinking traditions across modern China, which Blofeld’s lacks. Wang’s broke down China’s tea history very extensively, though they both focus on the culture of each Dynasty, Wang further defines the tea cultures of the different provinces. Daily rituals, customs. It does not, however, have Blofeld’s extensive breakdown of gongfu. I do also think Wang does a great summary of historic literature, but does not go into depth on specific works like Blofeld’s. Though Wang covers the representation of tea in historic paintings, something Blofeld does not touch upon, and even includes colour prints of the paintings discussed.

I think I still lean towards Wang’s as an underappreciated gem, but it’s a close comparison, and ultimately, I think if you can, getting both allows one to cover the blindspots of the other. But either is a worthy addition to anyone’s tea-shelf.

Comparing Blofeld’s to Murphy’s Spirit of Tea is looser, as it focuses a lot less on concrete history and culture, and more on feel and (as the title suggests) spirituality. Though Blofeld’s does include a lot of personal accounts, so it feels similar in that aspect.

Lastly, comparing it to Liu’s Chinese Tea is easier said than done, as it’s the only book out of the three that I don’t own a copy of (and it looks as if the library I checked it out from previously has since pulled their copy!). But, reviewing my notes: it covers a lot of the same topics, including tea publications, but does a more in-depth job of laying out major books. I recall it also covering China’s tea history with surrounding countries better (rather than defaulting to detailing relations with just Europe and Britain).

Each of these books also makes a point of covering common teas in some capacity (with the exception of Chinese Tea Culture). But I think in general, there are better books for those looking for guides on individual teas or tea types. All three of these books are better focused on history and culture. With Wang’s being my book of choice for history, and unique provincial tea culture. Blofeld’s would be my choice for brewing, an introduction to gongfu, and general overview/expansive coverage of topics (history and culture), and with a special-interest topics being a robust myth list. Liu’s being a good reference for surrounding tea history, and relations as well as those interested in the Tea Classics of literature (of which I would also suggest picking up The Ancient Art of Tea, a robust little book of quotes pulling from all the main classics).

I plan to do more of these comparisons in the future, if people find them useful. I have several “field guides” that I think are worth taking a look at in more detail.

As for Blofeld’s, this book has been republished a dozen times over the years, and as such appears in several different formats, paperbacks and hardcovers of varying prices. I don’t suspect it’s too difficult to pick up at a fair price, unless you’re looking for a particularly handsome cloth-bound hardback. $10-$15USD before shipping seems to be typical.