In the late 16^th century, the Japanese Tea Master Sen No Rikyu said, “Tea is nothing more than this: heat the water, prepare the tea, and drink it properly. That is all you need to know.”

Though we love the idea that pouring the perfect cup of tea could be so simple, having recently published the new 3^rd edition of Camellia Sinensis Teahouse’s expert guide to tea, Tea: History, Terroirs, Varieties we know there’s a lot more to it.

Tea can react to various factors, from the ratio of tea to water to the length of infusion to the material of your teapot. Fortunately, there is a method you can learn that will help you brew a near-perfect cup of tea every time you boil the kettle.

Now that’s a skill that’s sure to come in handy!

“Dr. McAlister has captured her affection for the Diptera in The Secret Life of Flies, a short, rich book by turns informative and humorous, both a hymn of praise to her favourite creatures and a gleeful attempt to give readers the willies.”
—   New York Times

2019 has been named the International Year of the Fly, so we thought it only fitting to make The Secret Life of Flies by Erica McAlister our first Book of the Month of the new year.

In The Secret Life of Flies, entomology expert McAlister draws readers into the hidden world of pollinators, devious predators, and champions of dung, using a unique blend of playful humour, deft storytelling, and rigorous science to explore one of nature’s most complex and highly adaptive insects.

A fresh new year has arrived and with it the opportunity for exciting new experiences in the year ahead.

Last year we made it our New Year’s Resolution to spread happiness, and this year our goal is to learn something new. To help us get started we turned to Charlie Burton and his new book GQ How to Win at Life, which is filled with expert advice on everything from food to fashion and from politics to parkour.

This small but mighty book is filled with achievable New Year’s Resolution ideas and is where we found inspiration for the first segment in our Learn Something New in the New Year blog series: learning a new language.

The Foreign Service Institute’s James Bernhardt and Catherine Doughty — whose words of wisdom are included in GQ How to Win at Life — are experts in learning new languages quickly, as they regularly assist American diplomats in becoming fluent in new languages, sometimes over the course of just a few months.