Our Story

My enchantment with tea began seven years ago, when my husband first introduced me to afternoon tea at the Huntington Library in San Marino, Ca. The idea of having a hot beverage in such a civilized and serene manner was just my cup of tea!

This wonderful brew was bound to be a part of my life. When I was ten years old, my great aunt gave me her tea set from when she was a child, and at age eighteen, my paternal grandmother left me her teacup collection that she had accumulated since the early 1950's. I am honored to have these in my collection.

In 1992 my parents went on a vacation to Vancouver, British Columbia. It was there that they had the opportunity to partake in afternoon tea. When they came home, they told me about their adventure of afternoon tea. I was very intrigued and wanted to find where I could have tea as well. Because taking tea was still "new" to the states, and there were not many places to go for tea in the early 1990's. It would not be until 1998, when my husband and I moved to Los Angeles, that I would experience the wonderful world of taking tea.

As my love and knowledge for this brew expanded, I began to appreciate exceptional quality loose leaf tea. It became like a fine wine to me with each sip from my bone china teacup. I was delighted to find a few tearooms near me that had exceptional loose leaf tea and fine tea accoutrements. I soon began frequenting these tearooms and quickly became a "regular" tea guest. I also became friends with the tearoom owners and made friends with the other "regular" tea guests as well. I even joined a tea club that met once a month at one of the tearooms.

Tea was becoming an every day ritual for me. I enjoyed the whole process from heating the teapot and waiting for the kettle to sing, to watching the tea leaves infuse and pouring the amber liquid into my china teacup. This process became a tranquil ritual before sitting down to the tea table.

Wanting to share my love of tea, I took one of my antique teapots and a few cups and saucers from my collection, and made tea for everyone at my office. My co-workers were so thrilled to have a little refinement in their fast-paced day. Seeing my co-workers so happy by making tea for them and wanting to educate the community about fine loose leaf tea, I decided to put my passion to work. This is how The Perfect Tea came to be!