Author Night at Hubbell Library: Gary M. Smith

Two Leaves and a Bud: Tea in Contemporary Times

Author Gary M. Smith leads a tea tasting as part of this talk on historical and contemporary tea farming, harvesting, processing, and serving, exploring tea cultivars, tisanes, and herbal infusions.

Two Leaves and a Bud explores tea through cultivated varieties (cultivars), natural mutations, numerous types of grading, and descriptions of the six categories, as well as some names and origins of each. It shares a large variety of drinks from around the world, and the potential health benefits of both tea and tisanes. Specifics for making tea are addressed to include steeping vs brewing, proper temperature for the various categories, and the importance of water quality and pH. Ceremonies from Chinese Gongfu and Japanese sadō/chadō to the various tea services of Edwardian England are explored, as is pairing with dairy, sweeteners, and food, along with tea used in food and as food.

The book explains the differences between tea gardens, farms, and plantations, as well as between tearooms, tea houses, tea shops, and tea bars. It details drinking and dining etiquette, and reveals official definitions of high tea, low tea, afternoon tea, and cream tea. It also covers the phenomenal growth of tea farming and tearooms throughout the US, and the latest in harvesting methods to include research into AI and humanoid robotics. Two Leaves and a Bud is not a coffee table picture book but rather a reference guide that includes an extensive glossary and is thoroughly indexed to help the reader navigate to their specific interests.

Gary M. Smith is an author and photojournalist based in New Orleans. Two Leaves and a Bud is his thirteenth trade/technical book, and his articles have appeared in periodicals from Journal of the American Medical Association to Cat Fancy. Two Leaves and a Bud is independently published, and the author is available for interviews, readings, and signings.

Sponsored by Friends of Hubbell Library.

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