Perhaps the most aromatic and interactive corner of a grocery store in Santa Cruz County materializes at the Seabright Staff of Life (1266 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz) a few times a month.
It pops when pioneering entrepreneur Ani Joshi—who resides in the same neighborhood—brews up her handmade Chai Five organic teas, like her original heirloom blend or intense golden chai, and shoppers can test drive the experience while chatting with their creator.
“I appreciate immensely that people care deeply about the origins of their food and the stories behind it,” she says. “Thinking globally and acting locally may be cliché but I see it in a lot of customers—I love seeing the way people connect through travel adventures, and food and beverages are a great conduit with that.”
A tasting goes a long way in revealing the power of her 100% regenerative organic, single-origin, black tea-forward brews, which she describes as “a simple but profound blend” designed, per her promotional materials, “to provide grounded energy, boosted immunity, and reduced inflammation.”
After trying her golden chai, I’m confident in predicting tea lovers will not be going back to what often passes for “chai” in many coffee houses but could be better titled “afterthought,” a la uninspired portobello burger tacked on menus for vegetarians.
The robust blends represent the result of her world travels, Ayurvedic training and Middlebury Institute of International Studies education, and—as her friend and fellow entrepreneur Casey Aguilar of Monterey Bay Food Tours adds—her Indian heritage.
“I love that Anita’s chai is her family’s recipe…and she truly cares about the farmers from whom she sources her ingredients,” Aguilar says. “You will always get a quality cup of chai that’s not only good for your body, but also helps support many small businesses.”
The next chai tea party in the aisles happens 4-6pm Thursday, July 24, and 4-6pm the following Thursday, July 31, chaifive.shop .
RISING TIDE
You can now sip a paloma with the penguins, a michelada with the moon jellies, a High Tide by the Great Tide Pool and a Coral Reef by the Kelp Forest. The Monterey Bay Aquarium (880 Cannery Row, Monterey) has long sizzled up a superlative food program stocked with Seafood Watch green listed fish and tasty expressions, and under Executive Chef Justin Robarge—now a full year in—that has evolved to even more ambitious and delicious places with dynamite dishes like a Oro King Salmon Poke Bowl, 50/50 beef-mushroom burger and seared tuna-and-pickled-seaweed nachos, montereybayaquarium.org …The Extra Tasty Tour is on its third month themed around the five taste profiles—sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami—with the Sour Jam Summer Slam going down noon-5pm Saturday, July 26, at Venus Spirits on the Westside (200 High Road, Santa Cruz), in collaboration with the Santa Cruz Collective and Santa Cruz Skateboards: smash burgers, lobster rolls, oysters, special sour cocktails, live music, a skate competition, 30+ local artists and makers, and pop-ups from other favorite food and drink vendors, for all ages, with no entry fee, venusspirits.com/public-events … English playwright Arthur Wing Pinero, pour us out: “Where there is tea, there is hope.”
