As he tells it in his new book, “Stories of Japanese Tea,” Zach Mangan, a musician turned tea expert, first encountered fine Japanese tea in Paris. He went on to work for Ito En, a Japanese tea company in New York, then moved to Japan and established his tea company in Fukuoka Prefecture in southern Japan. After attracting clients like the chef David Bouley, Mr. Mangan began exporting teas and utensils to New York and now, with his wife, Minami Mangan, who is from Kanagawa Prefecture, owns Kettl, a serene teahouse with its flagship in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and a location on the Bowery. His extensive but easygoing handbook patiently takes the novice and the expert through just about every aspect of Japanese tea. He defines categories (the cha-cha-cha of sencha, matcha, bancha and so forth), interviews growers, brings the landscape to life, discusses the basics and subtleties of how to brew and includes recipes for tea-based food and cocktails.
“Stories of Japanese Tea: The Regions, the Growers and the Craft” by Zach Mangan (Princeton Architectural Press, $24.95).
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