In California he wrote his first book "The Wine Bibber's Bible" (1971). He is best known for his books on tea "The Tea Lover's Treasury" (1982), "The Tea Lover's Companion" (1995), and the whimsical "Reading Tea Leaves" (1996) authored as "by a Highland Seer."

In 2000 he brought out "James Norwood Pratt's NEW Tea Lover's Treasury," a complete re-casting of his earlier work in the light of increased information. This book has been translated into German with the title "Tee fur Geniesse" and is often used as a training manual in the US tea trade.

He was named Honorary Director of the Imperial Tea Court, a traditional Chinese teahouse founded in 1993 by Roy Fong in San Francisco, now located in the San Francisco Ferry Building. Mr. Pratt has played a major role in disseminating China tea information and tea ways in America and the West. He first anglicized the name for the Chinese covered cup, for example, as “gaiwan” and on second thought changed the spelling to “guywan.” Both spellings are now found in English, French and German.

Also a speaker and teacher, Mr. Pratt has addressed audiences from Zurich, Switzerland (Le Club des Buveurs de The Suisse) and London's Kew Gardens to Hangzhou (China Tea Research Institute). He served as International Juror at India's first-ever tea competition, The Golden Leaf India Awards 2005, in Coonoor, India. He has served as a consultant, teacher, taster or spokesman for several tea companies.

Profiling him as "The Renaissance man of the tea industry" in Fresh Cup magazine's "1999 Tea Almanac", Michelle Williams wrote: "Parts historian, connoisseur, and world-travellerhe has carved out a reputation as the consummate spokesman for US tea consumers. His wit and dedication to the beverage have helped spread the gospel of tea to tens of thousands of people."

In 2007 he helped stage a Festival of Tea for Santa Fe Opera's premier production of "Tea: A Mirror of Soul" by Chinese composer Tan Dun. Extensive interviews with Mr. Pratt are featured in the 2009 book, The Meaning of Tea: A Tea Inspired Journey. He appears in Scott Chamberlin Hoyt's 2008 documentary film of the same name.

"America's new tea lovers are the people who have forced the tea trade to wake up. Elsewhere, tea has meant a certain way, a certain tradition, for centuries, but this is America! The American tea lover is heir to all the world's tea drinking traditions, from Japanese tea ceremonies to Russian samovars to English scones in the afternoon. India chai, China green, you name it and we can claim it and make it ours. And that's just what we are doing. In this respect, ours is the most innovative and exciting tea scene anywhere." ~James Norwood Pratt in "A Life in Tea: James Norwood Pratt's (not so) Mad Mission" by Julie Beals, Editor-in-Chief,

"Taking tea is a moment of windless calm, amid the bluster of daily events has always been one of humanity's favorite pleasures. But beyond pleasure, tea can always provide glimpses of the ultimate reality, usually when we least expect any."