It's tea time. The tea industry is surging in America, and the experts want to know why. In honor of the nation's new-found appreciation for the brew, several of the world's tea and tech giants are converging in the Bay Area tonight at 5 pm to be featured on Samovar founder Jesse Jacobs' new video series "Tea With. . .", an entrepreneurial, inspirational show with bright businessmen who are trailblazers in their industries.

In a panel discussion hosted by Jacobs, Rishi Tea CEO Joshua Kaiser, Numi CEO Ahmed Rahim, Digg.com founder Kevin Rose, author James Norwood Pratt and tea pioneer David Lee Hoffman will explore tea's health benefits, sustainability trends, the industry's challenges, and why tea has become so popular. Each tea impresario will also bring his best tea leaves for a tasting.

The event and future episodes can be viewed live at Samovar's Yerba Buena locale (730 Howard St.), as well as on Jacobs' blog and Samovar's website. Future episodes will feature Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos, and Craig Newmark of Craigslist.

Image via Nino.Modugno on Flickr.com