Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m., 2 p.m.
Sencha, “steeped tea,” is a method of tea drinking that evolved in China during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). After the collapse of the Ming, some Chinese Buddhist monks and scholars fled to Japan and brought with them dried tea leaves and the custom of steeping tea. In sencha, the leaves are spooned into a teapot and then covered with water and left to steep. The tea is then poured into small teacups that are usually placed on tables. The preparation and serving of sencha is very different from that of matcha, the powdered tea used in the better-known Chado or Chanoyu tea ceremony.
Sencha Tea Practitioner Mikko Nakatomi will perform two Sencha tea ceremonies. Ms. Nakatomi trained with the Ogasawara School of Sencha, the only school in the United States. The Ogasawara Ryu Sencha Do Japanese Tea Ceremony School was established in Japan about 100 years ago, and the Southern California Branch of the Ogasawara Ryu Sencha Do was established 42 years ago. Nakatomi-san will serve a high-quality green leaf tea known as gyokuro, or “jade dew” that was introduced to the Japanese sencha world in the 19th century.
Ms. Nakatomi will serve tea twice – at 1pm and 2pm. Space is limited so please RSVP on the website. Chairs will be provided. Visit http://www.huntington.org.
Open Day is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the last Sunday of every month (except December.) Reservations for Open Day can be made on our website for $7.50, or pay $10 cash or check upon arrival (12 and under free). The garden is wheelchair accessible. Sorry, no pets allowed.