EnchanTea Podcast - Episode 01: Tea Talk with Roy Fong

Welcome to EnchanTea, a podcast dedicated to tea lovers. A cup of humanity, tea comes from a mystical realm, boundless and bottomless.The EnchanTea podcast celebrates the divine spirit of the tea and the miraculous ways Camellia sinensis connects all of us. In each episode, you'll hear stories about tea and the meaningful connections she brings, from tea culture to her art and history. You'll be immersed in the boundless joy of the tea spirit. Sit down and let's enjoy this enchanting cup together.Episode 01 : Tea Master Roy Fong.About Roy Fong: Roy Fong is the founder of San Francisco’s Imperial Tea Court, the first traditional Chinese teahouse in America. Born in Hong Kong, Mr. Fong was introduced to tea early in life, and has spent many years cultivating relationships with tea gardens in mainland China and Taiwan. Each year he visits select producers to supervise all aspects of production, from planting and cultivation to harvesting, processing and grading. He has also built close ties with the historic pottery workshops of Yixing in Jiangsu province and imports dozens of exceptional “purple sand” teapots to the United States each year, many of which are his own special designs and commissions.During his term as Head of Research & Development for the International Tea Masters Association, Mr. Fong spent several years directing and personally overseeing the award-winning “Lotus Heart” Dragon Well tea program in the renowned West Lake area of Hangzhou, China. In 1997, an international jury awarded his “Imperial Green” tea first place at the Tea Masters annual conference. In 1998 he was invited to participate in ceremonies commemorating the restoration of the tea gardens at Jingshan in Zhejiang province – one of the oldest and most significant tea sites in China, dating back to the Tang dynasty (618-906).Presently, Mr. Fong, an ordained Daoist priest, is endeavoring to reestablish the ancient rite of tea dating back to the time of China’s greatest tea master, Lu Yu, who lived during the Tang dynasty and wrote his famous book the Cha Ching (“Tea Scripture”) around the year 780.Roy has been featured in numerous publications, including: The New York Times, Forbes, Gourmet, Sunset Magazine, and has appeared on the National Public Radio program “Talk of the Nation”. He, his wife Grace, and their two daughters make their home in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is the author of The Great Teas of China.