Chado on the Spot

Did you know that tea is the oldest recorded beverage in the history of the world?

As long as man has walked the earth, or thereabouts, there has been tea. And, as it grew in acceptance and popularity, culture after culture claimed it as their own. From Indians to Asians to the English, each built their own ceremonies and rituals around the leaves.

Did you also know that the US is now second only to Europe in tea consumption?

I learned these and other fascinating facts during a recent afternoon tea at Pasadena’s Chado Tea Room.

As General Manager Jordan Essey explained to me over a cup of Mauritius (sweet, full-bodied, with just the tiniest hint of chocolate), Chado Tea Room was born from owner Devan Shah’s lifelong love of tea. Shah actually grew up around tea, selling it on the street in India as a young boy. After moving to America in his 20s, Shah began to import and sell teas all over California, delivering and driving as far as San Francisco.

As his business grew and he opened storage room after storage room, he finally opened a warehouse in Pico Rivera, and then with his wife, seized the opportunity to open Chado in Pasadena, after the original owner struggled to make a go of it. Now there are Chado Tea Rooms in Pasadena, Downtown LA, and even India, in Mumbai and Bangalore.

The store itself is filled with over 350 different teas, each custom-blended. There is also a wide assortment of tea accouterments from cozies and cups, to kettles of every stripe.

Essey clearly loves explaining the essence and importance of teas. He and the Chado Tea Room will also be participating in the upcoming Camellia Festival at Descanso Gardens February 8 and 9, where Essey will discuss and explain the role, history and ceremonies of tea.

“There are only a few teas,” explained Essey, a former chef, “but the different flavors come from the processing, much like wine. In fact, wine and tea are very similar in their cultures and appreciation. Tea experts are even called ‘sommeliers.’

“If you grow a tea in a perfect environment, it will taste perfectly bland,” he explained. “But if you challenge it and create more difficult conditions for growing, then you’ll really see its strength and character. Just like people.”

Along with a rainbow of teas, Chado Tea Room also serves a delicious, traditional Afternoon Tea, in a three-tiered presentation featuring an assortment of finger sandwiches, fresh scones with jam, strawberries and fresh cream, as well as various other desserts.

Chado also prepares tea parties for groups, and serves brunch.

And it probably goes without saying that tea is long past the domain of white-haired little old ladies, sipping with pinkies extended. “Our male professional audience is also growing,” Essey revealed. “A lot of men are becoming real tea experts, in fact. They’ll come in and study, and buy a lot of our most exotic teas.”

Tea, finger sandwiches, scones and culture. All at a place called Chado.

Chado Tea Room is at 79 N. Raymond, Pasadena. (626) 431-2832. www.chadotea.com. Descanso Gardens is at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge.