Searching for a better cup of tea

While for most of us a cup of tea is an early morning wake-me-up or a bit of comfort on a rain day, for connoisseurs it's another thing entirely. As my colleague Rosanna Xia explains in her story today, for one group of Southern California tea aficionados, sipping tea is a way of exploring another culture. And they're willing to pay big money to do it, seeking out rare vintage pu-er teas from China that can cost thousands of dollars a pound. It's a great read.

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-- Russ Parsons

Photo: Tom Ivey pours tea for guests, from left, Jason Fasi, William Yardley and Louise Yang at his Echo Park home. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times