Steeped

Whether you want to drink the finest leaves and botanicals straight from the source or plant your own tea-themed garden, San Diego has more than a fair share of offerings to make for perfect tea party moments every day

BY HANNAH WENTE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BHADRI KUBENDRAN

Amy Truong and Lani Gobaleza bonded over tea while studying abroad in Japan. When they moved back to the US, they missed the quiet, unassuming tea shops located on nearly every corner in Japan. e couple started Paru in May 2017, naming it after Japanese pronunciations of the words pearl and pal. The brick-and-mortar Paru Tea Bar opened on Cañon Street in Point Loma in 2019, with Truong serving as tea educator and master blender, and Gobaleza as creative director.

Paru serves specialty teas with a focus on Asian teas, all inspired by Truong and Gobaleza’s travels and family roots. Truong’s parents are originally from Vietnam and she was born in Los Angeles. e family moved to Paris when she was young, inspiring the Europeanstyle herbal blends that the store o ers today. ere are two approaches to tea-making at Paru: rst, working with smaller, family-owned tea gardens to customize roasts, and second, blending teas to build and enhance their unique avor pro les. e honey orchid oolong, a tea style only produced in the southern Guandong province north of Hong Kong, is Truong’s favorite. It’s the relationships built with tea farmers that result in unique twists on teas that have been grown, roasted, and steeped for generations.

“Sometimes I have an idea and I bring it to the tea master,” Truong says, “and he either says ‘Oh, no, that might taste horrible,’ or it’s a new idea that they’ve actually never thought about and they’ll try it and then he’s like, ‘Ooh, that tastes really good.’” e second approach is blending teas and avors. Truong thinks of an inspiring food dish and builds layers of avor, like for the signature Pandan Wa e tea. e roasted toasty note simulates a wa e fresh out of an iron, and Truong uses sticky rice, dried coconut chips, and dates to sweeten it and mimic the Vietnamese dessert. Truong and the Paru team do not use arti cial sweeteners.

Most of the challenge is getting a great natural sweetness,” says Truong. “A lot of people love sweetened teas and we try to bring in other elements to do it in a dried form. at’s a challenging and fun part of the job.

Chamomile was her favorite tea as a child, but it gets pigeonholed as a tea for when one is sick. She wanted to make it more exciting and fun, so she blends chamomile owers with butter y pea owers that turn it a vibrant blue hue in the cup. Lavender and rose add additional ower power to create Blue Chamomile, a tea that is a far cry from its subtle forefather.

Making an iced ceremonial matcha is an easy art for Amy Truong and Lani Gobaleza. Paru Tea Bar recently celebrated it’s fourth anniversary and expects to announce the opening of a second location in La Jolla later this year.

Blue Chamomile Adds a Modern Twist to a Classic Beverage

Paru did a takeover at An’s Dry Cleaning and Blue Chamomile is still on the gelateria’s menu as a stand-out avor.

“A lot of tea blends mask the avor of the tea,” Truong says. “For us, we want to highlight it and accentuate a lot of the notes. It’s a lot of [research and development] and process and scribbles in my notebook, but that’s my favorite part of the job.” roughout the pandemic, she was grateful to have the support of the San Diego community. Tea served as a comfort for many during the lockdown. Paru o ered virtual shopping appointments, a monthly tea subscription ($25–30 per month), and virtual tastings for individuals, parties, and corporate get-togethers.

We love getting to know our customers and want to make everyone feel welcome as an LGBTQ+ and minority-owned business,” Truong says of her relationships with farmers and customers. “(It’s the) people that matter most.

Did you know?

Camellia sinensis, the plant used to make white, yellow, green, oolong, and black teas, originated in north Burma and southwest China. Tea was used as a medicinal beverage in the Yunnan province of China, where the oldest cultivated tea tree (3,200 years) lives to this day. Tea was carried by Portuguese priests and merchants from China to Europe in the 1500s and was popularized in England in the 1600s. Today, tea is the second most consumed beverage after water, solidifying its place above co ee and craft beer.

HONEY ORCHID CLOUD

Hot Tea Latte

Celebrate the fall harvest with this recipe by Paru Tea Bar. It highlights the roasted flavors of stone fruit and dark plum and makes for a simple latte-inspired drink to enjoy at home.

6 ounces filtered water

6 grams loose leaf Honey Orchid Oolong

2 ounces milk or milk substitute (oat milk recommended)

½ teaspoon dark maple syrup

1 cinnamon stick

TOOLS

Milk frother (handheld)

Loose leaf tea strainer

8-ounce cup

Boil 6 ounces of water up to 210°, add tea, and steep the tea for 5 minutes. Heat milk until small bubbles start to foam around the edges. Froth the milk with a frother for 15 seconds. Strain tea from water and stir in maple syrup. Pour frothed milk on top of the tea latte. Use a cinnamon stick to swirl the froth into the brewed Honey Orchid Oolong tea, then use it as a garnish on top. Enjoy!

How To Plant Your Own Tea Garden with City Farmers Nursery

Situated in the diverse neighborhood of City Heights, City Farmers Nursery specializes in herbs, vegetables, and methods that other stores in the area don’t o er. Sam and Rebecca Tall are second-generation owners, picking up the reins from their dad, legendary Bill Tall, who started the business in 1972. e educational nursery features goats, chickens, a cow, made-from-scratch soils, succulents, fruit trees, and more.

Each year, City Farmers Nursery showcases a tea plant section so San Diegans can build the tea gardens of their dreams.

Just about everything will grow here,” says Sam Tall. “ ere’s such an overall huge list of plants you can grow.

Most of the plants listed here need full sun unless speci ed and grow well in San Diego.

*Grows well in containers.

Mark Your Calendar

February through March

Find starters at local nurseries to plant. “If it’s too hot to dig a hole, it’s too hot to plant,” Sam Tall says. He recommends planting when it’s less than 90° out to prevent the starters from drying out. “Plant for the space that you have,” says Sam Tall. “Look at how big plants will be when they mature or how small you can keep them.”

April through September

Harvest and dry leaves and berries in a food dehydrator or spread on a baking sheet in the oven under the pilot light for a few days. Store teas in dry tins or sealed glass jars.

October through December

Make your own tea gifts using personal blends.

Bergamot (monarda stulosa)—Combine with Betony to make Earl Grey tea.

Betony* (betonica officinalus)— This hardy perennial grows well in rock gardens and can be used in place of black tea.

CAMELLIA

Camellia (camellia sinensis)—Makes green tea and grows well in San Diego (note: Los Angeles is too cold of a climate for this plant).

COMFREY

Comfrey* (symphytum officinale)—This a versatile plant that doesn’t need a lot of space—it does well in containers or in the ground. The flower is pretty so it’s a great addition to any garden.

Corsican mint* (mentha requienii)—This aromatic variety only grows a quarter-inch tall and the leaves are the size of a lentil so you don’t need to break it up to make tea. It grows well in the shade and the leaves taste great atop vanilla ice cream.

Echinacea* (echinacea purpurea)—This herb is commonly used as a cold and u remedy. Steep ¼ cup of dried or ½ cup fresh Echinacea leaves and owers in 8 ounces of hot water.

Ginger (zingiber officinale)—Used to combat nausea and decrease pain and inflammation.

Gotu kola (centella asiatica)—This large-flowered herb can be used for upset stomach and many other ailments. It’s low-growing, can be used as a ground cover, and grows well in the shade.

Lavender* (lavandula)—Lavender itself has long been used to relieve headaches and soothe bites and cuts. The tea is often used to calm and aid sleep.

Lemon verbena (aloysia citriodora)—Can be used as a substitute for lemongrass and doesn’t add bitterness. It is traditionally used for indigestion, gas, constipation, and joint pain.

Mexican elderberry (sambucus nigra)—Be careful to use only the ripened blue-black berries in teas made from this plant. They have a sour and tart flavor so add honey.

Mushrooms (agaricus bisporus) Sam Tall recommends trying mushroom kits to make teas, like MUD/WTR’s hen-of-the-woods pack.

Rose* (rosa)—“It’s nice to have a few rose petals to add to teas,” says Sam Tall. Miniature roses only grow to a foot tall by two feet Tall. Miniature roses only grow to a foot tall by two feet wide. wide.

San Miguel Savory (clinopodium chandleri)—This shrub of the mint family has small white owers in spring and summer and grows well in containers and in the shade.

Stevia (stevia rebaudiana)—Dry its leaves or use them fresh to sweeten tea.

Woolly Blue Curls (trichostema lanatum)—This native California plant has been used for thousands of years for colds, us, and headaches. It tastes good as a tea on its own or combined with lemon verbena, rose, and other owers. Sam Tall says it tastes like berry mint, with a little sweetness. If planting in a container, use a lighter potting soil because it needs more drainage.

We’re here for all kinds of growers,” Sam Tall says. “You don’t need a lot of space. If you have a small patio or a stoop, you can have a tea garden.

Heading Out for Tea? Here are Three More Must-Try Spots

Coffee & Tea Collective

704 J St., San Diego and 2911 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego

This place is perfect if someone in your crew wants a pour-over and another wants an herbal tea. In addition to teas on tap, they o er about ve varieties of loose leaf teas at a time from Taiwan, including Red Peony. Try a sparkling tea of chamomile, spearmint, berry leaf, and Cascade hops.

Mad Monk Tea

4966 Santa Monica Ave., Suite C, San Diego

Seasonal teas are the name of the game here. Best-sellers are GABA Oolong, with notes of apricot and dried berries, and Wild Mountain Red, a mix of sugar cane, honey, and strawberry fruit leather flavors. Try Qi Yun GABA Oolong, the latest tea from two- to three-year-old trees, handpicked in spring 2021. Each tea purchase at Mad Monk supports artisan farmers and sustainable growing practices around the world.

Point Loma Tea 2

770 Historic Decatur Rd., Suite 103, San Diego

Owner Cheryl Graf’s first job as a teenager was serving afternoon tea at an English-style guesthouse and gardens in Orange County. Today, she sells over 100 organic, handpicked teas in various styles and flavors at her shop in Liberty Station. Get the Garden Spa Blend with rose, chamomile, and lavender.