Healdburg's Taste on Tea offers unique experience

Bellying up to a bar in Healdsburg most often means drinking wine, though craft beers are readily available and spirits are becoming popular, as well. Taste of Tea, however, offers a unique take on the bar experience-iced and hot teas and tea “mocktails.” But, the bar isn’t the only unique place to experience the Asian teas poured or sold by the ounce at Taste of Tea.

From the street-side ambiance of the front patio, to the relaxation lounge where patrons can experience the hydrating effects of tea on face, hands and feet, to the comfortable sofa and easy chair in conversational settings, the focus is on tea and tea-infused products.

Donna, Nez and Tai Tokugawa are tea docents. And, just as museum docents impart information to visitors, the three family members are founts of information about all things tea. The family has been importing tea into the United States since 2003.

They began to supply tea to Osmosis Spa and to sell online as well. They also serve light food and a variety of tea-related items like glass infusers in the shop.

Some of the teas have informative names like “Stay Strong” and “Stay Focused.” They get high-mountain oolong teas from tea masters in Taiwan. They also sell green teas and Lapsong Susong, a dark tea with a smoky, tarry taste that is popular with the British.

“Tea is regional,” said Nez Tokugawa and it has been traded since the beginning of the Silk Road, when China exchanged tea for salt and horses.

Nez, 64, and Donna, 59, purchase teas from year to year, and they travel to meet farmers.

In Japan, the Tokugawa name, with its ancient Shogun connections, is an entrée to places they would not otherwise be welcome.

The Tokugawas get their teas from six major suppliers, as well as small tea-producing farms.

In the relaxation lounge, relaxation specialists, offer an all-encompassing, authentic experience. Tea is offered in a variety of ways. Tea is poured over a facial mask, then the patron drinks the same tea. A gentle hand and lower arm massage is next, while feet hydrate in tea water.

“If you wouldn’t eat a product, then it doesn’t belong on your skin,” said Donna said.

The Tokugawas offer a number of tips, from never using boiling water to steep tea, as the heat brings out the astringency. They also inform customers that their used tea leaves can be repurposed in the refrigerator to absorb odors.

Taste of Tea is open Thursday through Monday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. It is located at 109 North St., or visit thetasteoftea.com.