Teas loved by crazy rich Asians

It was a tea-loving author who started off my dalliance with cosy crimes that transformed into a 20-year affair before gently fizzling out. My current infatuation is also set off by a tea-loving author, Kevin Kwan, and his Crazy Rich Asia trilogy.

- Aravinda Anantharaman

It was a tea-loving author who started off my dalliance with cosy crimes that transformed into a 20-year affair before gently fizzling out. My current infatuation is also set off by a tea-loving author, Kevin Kwan, and his Crazy Rich Asia trilogy. With his latest book, Lies and Weddings, I made plans for an indulgent weekend, eagerly seeking the tea bits and trivia. Alas, the tea nerdery was completely missing. Not even a detour in Morocco for a proper lesson on mint tea traditions. Even as I googled for possible reasons why (Has he defected to the more caffeinated daily drink? Does his editor not like tea?), I couldn't help but recall and revisit Kwan's earlier books such as Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems for their outpouring of tea love.

Looking at this trilogy from a tea lens, all I see is tea and—liberally sprinkled lessons: "don't call it high tea, it's afternoon tea" (