Spilling the Tea on Local Spots for Sipping

Sharon Stello
54 minutes ago
14 min read

From themed afternoon experiences to culturally inspired renditions, the tea trend is heating up in Orange County.

Friends and families enjoy dressing up for afternoon tea at The Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano. Photo courtesy of The Tea House on Los Rios

Whether it’s a themed afternoon tea or a cultural tea experience, the popularity of this drink – which dates back almost 5,000 years – has been brewing stronger lately in Orange County and beyond.

While the practice of consuming tea’s exact origins remain unclear, it’s believed to have started around 2700 B.C. in China and grew from there, spreading to regions far and wide. Of course, tea comes in many forms: black, white, green, oolong and more. And each culture has attached its own customs and ceremonies to drinking the revered beverage.

In early 19th century England, afternoon tea was adopted as a pick-me-up before the typically late evening dinner. This tradition – and tea drinking in general – eventually made its way to the United States and has seen a resurgence in recent years, complete with scones, finger sandwiches and mini desserts, often filling a multi-tiered tray tower.

“I think it’s becoming more popular,” said Kristen Larrea, co-owner of McKenna’s Tea Cottage in downtown Seal Beach. “I think people see the health benefits of it … and people see it as bonding time. I definitely see it has gotten bigger with more tea places popping up.”

Damian Orozco, owner of The Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano, said he believes afternoon tea has been embraced because it gives people permission to slow down.

“You’re sitting around a table, enjoying multiple courses of food, trying different teas and actually talking to each other,” Orozco said. “It’s also uniquely multigenerational – grandparents, parents, children, friends – everyone can experience it together. At a time when so much dining is built around speed and convenience, tea offers the opposite.”

PHOTO 1: The table setting for afternoon tea at the Hello Kitty Grand Cafe at Irvine Spectrum Center. PHOTO 2: The welcome signage for the themed Mad Hatter's Tea at Story in Anaheim Hills. PHOTO 3: The multi-tiered tower of sandwiches, pastries and fruit during the Mad Hatter's Tea at Story. Photos by Sharon Stello, Culture OC

Making Time for Tea

From longtime establishments like McKenna’s, in Seal Beach for 15 years, and The Tea House, in San Juan Capistrano for nearly three decades, and several spots in between, afternoon tea seems to keep pouring into O.C.

Story Bar & Kitchen in Anaheim Hills offers themed experiences like the Mad Hatter’s Tea and The Great Gatsby Tea. There’s Hello Kitty Grand Cafe’s tea service at Irvine Spectrum Center in the adorably pink Bow Room. Some local resorts like Montage Laguna Beach and The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach often present a formal afternoon tea. Others have come and gone through the years. One favorite, Pamela’s Tea Room at Old World Village in Huntington Beach, closed this summer when the owner retired after more than 30 years in business.

Meanwhile, a new afternoon tea experience has launched at Sherman Library & Gardens in Corona del Mar, presented by Orozco of The Tea House on Los Rios. While the monthly event is fully booked through October – the entire series sold out within 72 hours – there are plans to include afternoon tea once Hazeltine’s restaurant opens in the gardens next summer following the venue’s extensive renovations.

Orozco grew up helping at The Tea House, which his grandparents started, before assuming operations himself. And he will use that experience to inform the creation of Hazeltine’s as well.

PHOTO 1: The indoor dining area at McKenna's Tea Cottage, with its quaint, shabby chic decor, in downtown Seal Beach. PHOTO 2: The spread of sweet and savory items including the popular quiche on the afternoon tea menu at McKenna's. Photos courtesy of McKenna's Tea Cottage

“My grandparents, Allan and Claudia Niccola, opened The Tea House in 1998, when I was 10 years old,” Orozco said. “I remember opening day helping wash and slice strawberries for our very first customers. Growing up in a family business meant doing whatever needed to be done, from sweeping floors and helping in the kitchen to setting tables and washing dishes.”

Orozco eventually became a CPA and spent seven years in public accounting before returning in 2017 to take over running the business. While his grandparents are no longer involved with day-to-day operations, he said, their influence is still very much a part of The Tea House.

“It was never just a restaurant to me. I grew up watching my family create these really joyful experiences for people and seeing guests celebrate every kind of occasion with us – birthdays, showers, weddings and anniversaries. When I came back … I understood much more clearly what my grandparents had built. The Tea House had become part of people’s traditions and memories, and I wanted the opportunity to carry that forward.

“(My grandparents’) vision was simple: Create a beautiful place where people felt welcomed and cared for and could take time out of their day to reconnect with people they loved. My grandmother had an incredible gift for hospitality. The food, china, flowers and gardens mattered, but really it was about how people felt when they were here. That’s the part of their vision I feel the greatest responsibility to protect.”

Set in a charming 1911 cottage with seating inside and on the wraparound patio in Los Rios Historic District, The Tea House is surrounded by gardens, trees and homes that have been there for generations. Since the business opened, the recipes, scones, sandwiches, tea collection and service have evolved over time. “We want it to feel beautiful and special, but not stiff so that it stops being fun,” Orozco said.

At the Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano. PHOTO 1: A teapot shaped sign greets visitors. PHOTO 2: Afternoon tea has become a tradition for many families who enjoy coming to The Tea House. PHOTO 3: Gardens surround the cottage which was built in 1911. Photos courtesy of The Tea House on Los Rios

On the Menu

Some afternoon tea places offer one menu, while others have a range of packages that might add soup or salad, a glass of Champagne or other items. The Tea House is all about variety, with many menu choices from The Garden Tea to The Royal Tea, at prices from $46 to $84, plus individual lunch entrees such as salads, shepherd’s pie, an English pasty, Bombay curry and more. Orozco said the seasonal and holiday tea experiences are the most popular because they give the culinary team an opportunity to be creative with fresh flavors.

“I never want The Tea House to become a museum of what it was in 1998,” Orozco said. “Preserving its history and continuing to grow are equally important.”

McKenna’s Tea Cottage also offers various menu packages with cute names like The Empress ($75) or Little Duchess ($20), some including a slice of the popular quiche. Named after Larrea’s daughter – who was 1 year old when the family bought the business as an investment after Larrea’s father was laid off in 2011 – the location has a history as a tea house with different names going back to 1986.

Larrea, who had experience working in restaurants, has helped turn the spot into a favorite for bridal and baby showers, sorority gatherings, mother-daughter get-togethers and special celebrations for friends and families including children. With two patios and indoor seating with shabby chic decor and eclectic tea pots, cups and saucers – some donated by locals – there are many repeat visitors like at The Tea House.

Larrea said she believes the food quality is what brings people back again and again to McKenna’s.

“We buy our food fresh daily,” she said. “We make everything that day …. The reason we take reservations is so we know how many to prepare for and bake for …. I’m big on the quality. I’m all about keeping it fresh …. I think that makes a big difference.”

Although walk-ins are welcome based on availability, reservations are recommended, as they are at most afternoon tea places. Menu items change seasonally at McKenna’s, but lately the sandwich menu has included chicken salad, egg salad, cream cheese and cucumber with dill, turkey with cranberry, and orange marmalade with walnuts. Desserts also rotate: A recent offering included chocolate-dipped strawberries, lemon bars and macaroons. Scones, baked fresh daily, include a monthly scone such as the recent lemon-blueberry variety.

Afternoon tea menu items change seasonally at The Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano. Photo courtesy of The Tea House on Los Rios

When it comes to tea, McKenna’s stocks about 45 to 50 teas including a couple of herbal blends the owners make themselves: Manchester, a mix of blood orange peels, hibiscus and strawberry, and McKenna’s, which combines apple, elderberries, kiwi, strawberries and hibiscus.

“We have a tea for everybody,” Larrea said. “A lot of people will say, ‘I don’t really like tea.’ But we have some really great herbal teas. Even two of our house blends are herbal teas, and they taste like a fruit juice. … It’s got so much sweetness in there.”

McKenna’s also has seasonal teas including lavender-lemon and lemon meringue for summer, although they keep selling out as guests buy the loose-leaf tea by the ounce to take home. “I didn’t realize how popular they were going to be this summer,” said Larrea, who keeps reordering more.

On the main menu, Larrea said the bestselling teas are the McKenna’s herbal blend because of the name, as well as vanilla chai, vanilla hazelnut, almond tea, peach-mango and Peach Passion.

“And every time we have a seasonal one, people go crazy for them,” Larrea said. “The fall one is going to be pumpkin spice, of course. And I’m not sure what we’ll do for Christmastime, but in the past we’ve done a cranberry tea …. Whatever the season is, we try to change it up. It’s more fun that way. So if they come in the summer, and then they’re coming again in the fall, it’s kind of a different menu.”

At The Tea House on Los Rios, more than 58 loose-leaf teas are available.

“We have black, green, oolong, herbal, rooibos and white teas,” he said. “Taste comes first, but aroma is also a huge part of the experience; that first moment when a pot arrives at the table matters. Our exclusive blends are produced for us by our tea purveyors.”

Among the options, the signature Tea House Private Reserve has been served since the beginning.

“It’s a black tea with vanilla and grenadine that my grandparents originally had custom blended when we opened,” Orozco said. “Guests also love teas like Blackberry Bramble, Cream of Earl Grey, peach-apricot and Bourbon Street Vanilla. We have a lot of guests who tell us they aren’t ‘tea people,’ and our servers and TEAque team love helping them find the one that changes their mind.”

Orozco notes that everything from the tea selection to the food, pastries, gardens and decor evolve throughout the year at The Tea House.

“Fall feels completely different from Christmas, Valentine’s Day or spring. The holidays are my favorite season, when the entire property transforms and we create special tea experiences and family events. We want guests who visit several times a year to always discover something different. Tea with Santa, held on the Victorian Lawn, is a fabulous time with a curated selection of stations for people to decorate cookies, paint ornaments, make hot cocoa, enjoy food and, of course, have uninterrupted time with Santa and his elves.”

The Shamrock Tea, offered around St. Patrick’s Day, is another example. “We create special tea experiences throughout the year tied to different seasons and occasions,” Orozco said. “The menu, desserts, drinks and decor may change, but we always want the experience to still feel familiar and like The Tea House.”

A sold-out, monthly afternoon tea experience at Sherman Library & Gardens. Afternoon tea will be part of the offerings at Hazeltine's, once the restaurant opens next summer at the gardens. Photo courtesy of Hazeltine's

What’s Brewing

Orozco is also gearing up to bring Hazeltine’s to Sherman Library & Gardens in Corona del Mar next summer. For those who missed out on the monthly afternoon tea in the gardens before the event sold out this summer, it will be available at the new, two-story restaurant being built as part of the venue’s redevelopment. The ground floor will overlook the new Tea Garden, Orozco explained, with additional dining on the upper terrace. The former 608 Dahlia restaurant space will become a community room and kitchen where cooking classes, educational programming and other experiences will be presented.

“Hazeltine’s is being designed specifically for Sherman Library & Gardens,” Orozco said. “The menu will be rooted in California – seasonal produce, the coast and our farms – with European and particularly French influences. We’ve created the menu with a collection of recipes from our favorite travels through Europe and the western coast of the United States. We’ll serve brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, along with a full bar and plenty of garden-inspired cocktails. I want the food to be beautiful and thoughtful while approachable, and for the gardens and seasons around us to influence what ends up on the plate.”

Orozco was inspired by the beloved gardens’ long legacy and how it’s embraced by the community.

“The connection felt very natural to me,” he said. “I’ve spent most of my life at The Tea House thinking about food, gardens, history, hospitality and what it means to carry a family legacy forward. Sherman has its own extraordinary history and generations of people who have cared for it. That was a big part of what attracted me to it, because the space already means something to so many, and I feel privileged to usher in the next chapter.”

Orozco believes the gardens are an ideal setting for having afternoon tea. “Tea makes you linger,” he said, “and notice the flowers, the season, the china, the food and the people you’re with.”

He doesn’t plan to re-create The Tea House at this new site, but will instead develop an experience with its own identity.

“There are connections between the two – loose-leaf tea, freshly baked scones, tea sandwiches and beautiful pastries – but the two experiences are intentionally different,” he said. “Hazeltine’s currently begins with organic loose-leaf tea, strawberries and cream, a seasonal scone with housemade preserves, clotted cream and lemon curd, seasonal tea sandwiches and a chef’s selection of petit fours, with Champagne available as an addition.

“At The Tea House, certain things have become traditions over decades, like our currant scones, early California cream and classic sandwich selections. Hazeltine’s gives us the opportunity to be more seasonal and reflective of what is happening in the gardens around us.”

Offerings from Chafinity Tea House, at The Camp in Costa Mesa. PHOTO 1: A matcha bowl served with a sweet. PHOTO 2: A matcha latte and a sweet. PHOTO 3: A variety of traditional Japanese wagashi sweets. Photos courtesy of Chafinity/Cryille Uy

Steeped in Culture

Afternoon tea with a British influence isn’t the only way to enjoy tea locally. Other cultures are equally represented in the O.C. tea landscape.

Chafinity Tea House, opened at The Camp in Costa Mesa in March after five years at local farmers markets, serves direct-sourced Japanese loose-leaf teas, gyokuro (green tea), high-grade matcha and traditional wagashi sweets in a serene garden setting. The Zen Center of Orange County, also in Costa Mesa, features occasional classes in formal Japanese tea ceremonies and meditative practices led by trained masters.

Meanwhile, Village Tea Hut in Newport Beach offers a Chinese tea experience. Tea & Turmeric shop in Laguna Beach often holds tea-making classes while also selling loose-leaf tea and implements. And Persian tea is on the menu at Darya Restaurant in Santa Ana.

A chai tea-making class in October at Tea & Turmeric shop in Laguna Beach will allow students to add spices one at a time to understand how they layer together. Photo courtesy of Tea & Turmeric

Chafinity was started by husband-and-wife team Kentaro and Jennifer Chiba, who traveled to Japan in honor of the passing of Kentaro’s grandmother. On this trip, they connected deeply with Japanese tea and the culture’s traditional tea ceremony, according to Kentaro.

While there, they met organic matcha farmer Sakamoto-san, who happened to be from the same area where his mother lived in Kagoshima, Japan. It was as if the tea was waiting for Kentaro to return to his roots and come back home, he shared. The Chibas decided to bring this experience back to Orange County to share with people here.

“More consumers, especially in California, are seeking better health and wellness,” Kentaro said. “It is not even a trend – it is a choice that more people are making to live a healthier lifestyle. Historically, our ancestors discovered tea for medicinal reasons. In addition, alcohol consumption, especially in the younger generation, has been decreasing as of recent years. Instead, more are choosing tea as a healthier alternative beverage.”

Chafinity Tea House offers an authentic Japanese tea house experience. Guests order, then pick up their tea and sweets at the window and choose any open seat. “It is a peaceful, forest-like tea house atmosphere where customers are encouraged to slow down and sit peacefully with tea,” Kentaro said. “The store is set up as a garden patio, offering only outdoor seating.”

On the menu, the tea drinks are simple and clean. All teas are organic and high grade, sourced directly from small, family-owned tea farms in Japan.

“We are deeply interested in knowing where our food comes from,” Kentaro said of the brand’s commitment to working directly with Japanese farmers. “Our company’s top priority and ethos is promoting optimal health. Hence, sourcing only organic tea that isn’t sprayed with pesticides or any harmful chemicals is non-negotiable. We work with tea farmers that 100% align with our mission.”

The Chafinity tea lineup rotates based on availability. In addition to seasonal offerings of matcha, a fine powder made from shade-grown green tea, the loose-leaf selection currently consists of gyokuro, sencha, hojicha and Japanese oolong.

“The most popular type of tea is our organic matcha drinks, specifically our iced matcha lattes,” Kentaro said. “Also, our yuzu-cha Palmer, which is our take on the classic Arnold Palmer, has been popular. The most popular sweets are our strawberry daifuku mochi, made by local maker Hanaichi Mochi, and our traditional nerikiri, made by local maker WaSweets.”

Meanwhile, in Laguna Beach, Tea & Turmeric shop sells tea and offers cooking classes that are on hiatus for summer but restart in late September. A new tea-focused class is planned in October on chai dabba, a traditional masala dabba dedicated to chai ingredients, according to store co-owner Vidya Reddy; the date is yet to be announced.

“It's a hands-on one about making Indian chai the authentic way, on the stove rather than from a bag,” Reddy said. “We’ll build the … blend one spice at a time so people can taste what each one does, then show them how to simmer it properly and serve it with the snacks that traditionally go alongside. It’s the first time we’ve offered (this class) … and, every time we mention it to customers in the shop, their eyes light up.”

When it comes to the spices, a good Indian chai begins with a base of cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and ginger, “all simmered in malty Assam black tea,” said Reddy, adding that those essentials may be enhanced with fennel, rose, jaggery (specialty Indian sugar) and more, which students can use to customize their own chai.

“Students can see and smell each spice before it goes into the pot …. Students will learn how to proportion the spices and how to double boil the mixture to get that thick, silky texture you can’t achieve any other way,” Reddy said.

For the snacks, in India, chai is traditionally served with tea cookies, rusk cakes for dunking and a little “mixture,” a savory, crunchy snack mix, on the side. These will all be served with the tea that students make in the class, which will be priced under $80.

So whether you want a cuppa with British flair or a taste of Chinese, Japanese, Indian or Persian tradition, you’re sure to find a place that’s just your cup of tea in Orange County.