A cup of tea is more than just a soothing beverage or a bracing tonic. Acclaimed documentarist Les Blank, together with co-director Gina Leibrecht, introduces viewers to the world of tea by following David Lee Hoffman, an internationally-renowned tea expert, as he travels some of the most remote regions of China in search of the best handmade teas available.

Hoffman, who during his youth spent four years with Tibetan monks in Nepal, is determined to help small Chinese farmers preserve their ancient craft and resist the pressure to mass produce. His efforts to champion organic growers and fair trade take him to a pastoral China rarely glimpsed by westerners. In the San Francisco Chronicle, critic David Wiegand called the film "An exquisite little documentary... both delightful and informative at every turn."

(U.S., 2007, 70 minutes.)