Bonsai workshop at Orlando lager house blends drinks and beginner-friendly learning

Bonsai & Cheers brought its Saturday, June 27, 2026 workshop to Ivanhoe Park Lager House in Orlando, turning a brewery setting into a hands-on entry point for beginners. The 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. session opened doors at 11:45 a.m. at 23 North Orange Blossom Trail, with free parking, ages 21+ entry and a no-refunds policy.

Each ticket included a live Barbados Cherry bonsai tree, bonsai shears, a bonsai pot and soil, two drinks and guided DIY instruction. The event also carried birthday giveaways for Jonathan, adding a celebratory edge to a class that was otherwise built around making the first cut, the first repot and the first wiring decisions feel less intimidating. Seating was limited, and the listing warned that these workshops regularly sold out.

That scarcity fits the way Bonsai & Cheers has positioned itself. The organizer page says the brand has hosted 128 events for 2.7k total attendees over three years, moving through breweries, coffee shops and other local venues across Central Florida. L&J Plant Nursery, the operation behind it, was established in 2008 in Venice, Florida, then expanded in 2020 with a propagation facility in Orlando.

The plant choice mattered as much as the setting. Barbados cherry, also called acerola, is a tropical and subtropical fruit tree adapted to Florida, valued for ornamental flowers and vitamin C-rich fruit, according to UF/IFAS Extension St. Lucie County. In bonsai terms, that makes it a practical beginner species for a warm climate: compact leaves, a tropical growth habit and a tree that does not feel alien to Florida’s conditions.

The workshop also sat comfortably inside Orlando’s larger bonsai ecosystem. Ivanhoe Park Lager House is in the Historic Ivanhoe District, and Ivanhoe Park Brewing Company leans on community, education and approachable craft beer in its own identity. The Central Florida Bonsai Club says its purpose is to provide training, inspiration and examples for developing and caring for bonsai, while Bonsai Societies of Florida lists clubs statewide. Put together, the lager house class looked less like a one-off novelty than another sign that bonsai is being introduced through relaxed, social venues, where a beginner can leave with a tree, tools and a first lesson that actually feels usable.