“Famous fifth generation stone carver and artist, Takaaki Saida, is joining us all the way from Kyoto, Japan. The art of stone grinding tea was first brought over to Japan in the 12th century. Green tea leaves were ground into a fine powder, added to a bowl with hot water and whisked into a frothy cup of matcha.
This workshop is your chance to learn in depth about all forms of Japanese stone craftsmanship while touring the Gardens. This tour will include introductions on the hand chiseled stone lanterns often seen in Japanese Gardens as well as hand shaped stone mills used for matcha making.
Master Saida will demonstrate and introduce his hand hewn stone tea mill. Participants will have a chance to try using the stone mill on their own and grinding green tea leaves into extremely fine matcha powder.
Guests will use the resulting fresh matcha to drink a cup of tea as well as eat a traditional Japanese sweet while enjoying the Zen garden views.”
Advanced ticket reservation is required. This is a limited admission event.
General Admission $30 includes lecture, tour, milling lesson, Tea hand ground by Master Saida’s Japanese Stone Mill, tea sweet and Gardens Admission for the day.
Workshop Schedule:
– Introduction from Master Saida on the ancient art of stone carving in Japan.
– Strolling with a tour to discover and learn about stone lanterns in our Garden and in Japan.
– Experience Matcha (green tea) ground by Master Saida’s stone mill with a fresh cup of hand milled matcha and Japanese tea sweets.
– Q&A session with Master Saida