James Norwood Pratt

James Norwood Pratt is one of the world's leading authorities on tea and tea lore.  A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was educated at Chapel Hill and abroad.  He has been Honorary Director of the first traditional Chinese teahouse in America, instrumental in creating the American Premium Tea Institute and editor-in-chief of Tea Trade - the Magazine of the World Tea Business.  He lives in San Francisco.

James Norwood Pratt is the author of New Tea Lover's Treasury:

Tea is a simple, healthful beverage, but one which will never taste the same to those who read this book. Here is the whole true story of a miracle of vegetation that became a treasure of the world as medicine, beverage, currency and communion, the wellspring of empires, industries and art. Tea is second only to water itself as mankind's favorite beverage today. This book is both a work of history and an incomparable guide to the teas of the world. It shows how history lives on in the teas we drink and reveals that to drink tea, whether we realize it or not, is to imbibe the spirit of Asia. Here is a passport to surprising delights from an amazing variety of teas and tea ways, ancient and modern. As the author says, "No pleasure is simpler, no luxury cheaper, no consciousness-altering substance more benign."