Tea tasting (Photo – Terry Madeley, flickr).
The first Pasadena Festival of Tea will debut in one week, providing tea lovers an opportunity to learn about different types of tea from Asia and beyond.
By Jessica Woo
The Pasadena Festival of Tea will take place at the nonprofit Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden, one of the few Japanese-style gardens that are still intact today. Six major local tea vendors will be present (at press time) sharing their knowledge and expertise:
- TeaMaster of Little Tokyo
- Chado Tea Room
- Hankook Tea
- JT & Tea, TeaFul
- People’s Potions (a medicinal, immunity-boosting tea).
What to expect
Tea Sampling
You will have the opportunity to participate in a Tea Sampling. Small tea tasting cups will be available for purchase at the event (and can be reserved beforehand at the garden’s website.
Tea ceremonies
A limited number of visitors will be able to participate in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony (held at 12pm and again at 2pm) with Mikko Nakatomi at the garden’s Japanese Niko tea-house.
Tea presentations
During the afternoon, three presentations will be given in the living room at the main house: What You Need to Know about Pu’er Tea by Linda Louie of Bana Tea Company, Cupping Taiwan’s Oolong Teas by Thomas Shu and Japanese Green Tea 101 by Tiffany Williams and Patti Harrison. Space is limited and early arrival is recommended.
Self guided tour
The festival is part of the garden’s regular “Open Day Last Sunday.” The garden, designed and created by Kinzuchi Fujii, a landscape designer and craftsman from Japan, will be open from 10am to 4pm to tour. The Pasadena Festival of Tea will begin at 12:00 pm and will end at 3:00 pm.
Date/Time
03/26/2017
12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Location
Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden
> Tickets are $10 at the gate and $7.50 reserved online in advance. Tea ceremony participation and Tea Sampling cups are additional.
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