At the corner of 11th and T streets sits Signa, a rare plant shop and community event space that has been home to the recurring Taohua Tea ceremonies since creators Ziru Mo and Olive Olsen began hosting them in February 2025.<\/p>\n
Mo and Olsen first met while working at Scorpio Coffee and transformed from co-workers to best friends. In November 2024, they visited Taiwan together to attend a wedding and were inspired by the tea culture they experienced. \u201cIn the neighborhoods of Taipei, there\u2019s a bunch of tea houses everywhere, and it\u2019s just a place for people to commune and meet their community and their neighbors, where you\u2019re actually in no obligation to buy anything,\u201d said Olsen.<\/p>\n
As Mo and Olsen share this history, they are also preparing tea. They invite participants to choose their desired cups. The cups are heated with boiled water. They encourage participants to look at the tea before it\u2019s brewed, to smell it, to engage with the senses at each moment. <\/p>\n
![\"pouring](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Taohua-22-resized-1024x683.jpg.webp.webp\")
Brewed tea being served during a gongfu tea ceremony. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\n
Snacks made of sesame and mango are available on the wooden table. Each brewing vessel, adorable tea pet, tea leaf and person present has a story and a place they are from.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\tKeep up with Community Reporters<\/p>\n
Stories from Abridged by PBS KVIE Community Reporters are regularly featured in our morning newsletter.<\/p>\n
As a photographer and multimedia artist, home is a concept that Mo has often explored through art, including the photo album artwork they made titled \u201cHome is What We Made Of\u201d (2025). A work that started from a place of homesickness expanded Mo\u2019s conception of home to include both their culture and memories of China while recognizing Mo\u2019s rich sense of community in Sacramento. For Mo, hosting tea ceremonies is a way to \u201cstay connected to my culture and memories, but also connected to the people in Sacramento.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Olsen, Taohua Tea is also a way to connect to her culture. \u201cMy mom is Chinese, and she lives kind of far now, and so I don\u2019t get to see her very often, and I haven\u2019t been back to China in a long time, so I\u2019ve kind of felt like a daughter of an immigrant, you have to find your your own ways of connecting to the culture that your parents maybe won\u2019t give.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"tea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Taohua-8-resized-1024x683.jpg.webp.webp\")
Tea leaves are passed around to participants to smell before brewing during gongfu tea ceremonies. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\n
Finding a place<\/p>\n
In September 2024, before Taohua Tea was born, Mo had an art gallery exhibition at Signa. There, Mo met the shop\u2019s events coordinator, Michael Malloy, and learned the venue wanted to host more community gathering spaces, galleries, and workshops. After traveling to Taiwan, \u201cI figured that this will be a perfect environment and setting for us to do tea because it\u2019s very calming and cozy and they have a big table.\u201d And so they began to host intimate tea ceremonies for six people dedicated to education, mindfulness and community, brewing an intentional tea culture right here in Sacramento.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"person](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Taohua-6-resized-1024x683.jpg.webp.webp\")
Olive Olsen, right, serves tea from a gongdao bei, a tea pitcher used to ensure all partipants receive tea of the same strength and flavor. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\n
Like Taohua Tea, community is a driving factor of Signa\u2019s ethos. The spot is named for the founder\u2019s grandmother, who taught her grandson David Bramblett about botanicals, floral arrangements, and growing and using herbs. \u201cSigna is a Swedish word. It means a blessed event, means a sign, means a signal, significant. It\u2019s the root of all these remarkable words. And so I thought, well, that there\u2019s nothing better that we can call this business,\u201d shared Bramblett.<\/p>\n
After attending protests in the aftermath of George Floyd\u2019s death, Bramblett wanted to make sure that Signa was a space that was open to meet community needs, and soon after, the shop began hosting art exhibitions, music nights, comedy and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bhupy Singh, Bramblett\u2019s business partner, grew his love for plants when he first started working at the shop when it opened up a decade ago. He began noticing, \u201cthis plant\u2019s green, and this one\u2019s thick, and this one has stripes, and this one\u2019s different from this one. And then I was like, \u2018Oh my God, they\u2019re all different.\u2019\u201d Similarly, passersby are compelled by the vibrant greens pouring out of the store. Stumbling upon Signa is much like happening upon an oasis.<\/p>\n
![\"people](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Taohua-28-resized-1024x683.jpg.webp.webp\")
Taohua Tea\u2019s gongfu tea ceremonies are held inside Signa plant shop, and serve as a way for people to learn about teas from China and Taiwan. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\n
The tea tells a story<\/p>\n
Taohua Tea\u2019s name references an oasis in the Chinese tale that\u2019s title translates to \u201cPeach Blossom Spring.\u201d In the story, a man is rafting along a river, \u201dand all these peach blossom trees started appearing, and then he came across this group of people who were living in a beautiful town, and they had no earthly afflictions\u2026 He basically stumbled upon this piece of heaven,\u201d said Olsen.<\/p>\n
For Mo, Taohua Tea ceremonies are an invitation to that piece of heaven where participants \u201cenjoy, relax, and come out feeling better.\u201d In the original story, the paradise is not able to be found again, but through these ceremonies Olsen and Mo provide a mindful moment while equipping participants with education in the hope that the peace of the ceremony continues beyond the hour and 15 minute sessions they host.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"tea\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Taohua-11-resized-1024x683.jpg.webp.webp\")
Hot water being poured into a gaiwan, a lidded bowl used for the infusion of tea leaves. (Shelley Ho)<\/p>\n
One day while enjoying tea with a friend, Anashay Terreforte wished there were more places to intentionally drink tea, and a week later, she saw an Instagram post about Taohua Tea\u2019s ceremonies<\/a>. \u201cI felt like it was a nice balance between knowledge sharing and opportunities to connect and get to know the other people that were participating.\u201d This ceremony also blossomed a friendship and collaboration between Terreforte, Mo and Olsen.\u00a0<\/p>\n Taohua Tea will lead a ceremony in partnership with Terreforte on Saturday, June 20, at an event titled, \u201cEarth Body.\u201d The event will also feature ecstatic dance, community vendors, breathwork, and a soundbath.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like everybody has their own role or gift to share, and I think a part of my dharma here is to help support other people in returning to themselves. I think that, in caring for ourselves, and connecting in that way it has a ripple effect, you know?\u201d said Terreforte.<\/p>\n The tea ceremonies include attendees from a diverse range of ages, occupations, and backgrounds, and whether the group begins more social or more reserved, at the end of the tea ceremonies, Olsen says, \u201ceveryone\u2019s usually just so happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Natachi Mez\u00a0is a member of the Abridged Community Reporters program. Natachi is a poet, facilitator and event producer who was born and raised in the Sacramento region.<\/p>\n