Oh absolutely, and let's not forget the middle between leaves and teaware: brewing technique. It's incredibly wide, ranging from decorative chaxi to "obviously bullshit" mid-air hand gestures to straight up science (heat retention, fermentation, etc).

> but goodness me am I ever passionate about tea.

It's a great hobby. However, my advice to beginners is always to keep the passion and dreams in check when it comes to purchasing decisions. If you think software marketing is bad and full of buzzwords ... don't try tea.