"LesBlank" news and stories

An admission: I get incredibly obsessed and excited about drinks. I don't know why, but liquidy goodness taps into the strongest part of my inner foodie. I have about 6 types of green coffee beans always ready for roasting, maybe 30 liquers, a selection of beer and wine, and lots of tea. Way too much tea. At last count, I think I had 30 different flavors -- loose leaf, bagged, and flowering, from Chinese to British classics.

My tea obsession went from bad to worse when I watched Les Blank's latest documentary, All in This Tea, at last year's Hot Docs. Focusing on American tea importer David Lee Hoffman, the doc travels to remote locations in China to find the rarest and finest handmade teas the country has to offer. We're not talking about simply perusing a street market or two; Hoffman and the crew deal with government regulations tricky travels to get to the small, struggling tea makers that none of us have ever heard of.

The doc dips into the history of tea, describes the classic Chinese tea service, and chronicles Hoffman's fight to get better tea to the masses. This was made a few years ago, and specialty tea has come a long way since, but this doc is still perfect for the foodie who loves tea, or digs the history behind food. At the end of my screening, poor Blank had to field more questions about where to get all these amazing teas than his technique, because the doc had mesmerized the entire audience into a tea haze.

The DVD is now available to buy off of Les Blank's site, so check it out and brew up your favorite tea for the experience!

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