“What kept you alive in the escarpment was knowledge. You had to know that a lion on a rock surrounded by females was good. A male lion alone on a rock was bad—the females were hunting. Never walk behind a giraffe; their rear feet would rip you from tip to toe. And the most dangerous animal by far was the hyena. The hyena is clever, ruthless, and powerful; even the lion is afraid of the hyena and its crazy laughter.”        –from the Introduction

Never Throw Rocks at a Baboon is an excerpt from a book by Barry W. Cooper (a.k.a. Bazza). The excerpt contains 10 brief stories, each of which provides an adventurous, humorous, or educational glimpse into life in Africa and the secrets of the tea trade.

With over 40 years of experience tasting and blending tea, Bazza is recognized as a master of his craft in both the herb and tea trades. He’s spent a lifetime traveling to remote reaches of the planet sourcing rare herbs and teas.           

But before he was a tea master, Barry was a small boy from England being raised in the highlands of Kenya. He spent his childhood playing in the wilds of Africa, and this experience instilled a love for adventure. In fact, adventure seems to follow him around. Routine work assignments somehow end up putting him on a charter flight out of a war zone, working the labor lines in a tea field, living in a brothel, facing the wrong end of a machine gun, and in a host of other unexpected situations.

Never Throw Rocks at a Baboon walks readers through this life of adventure, from Bazza’s African childhood to his teen defection to Britain and finally to the beginnings of his career in tea.

To order a copy: hbreese@coopertea.com