What is SAKURA TEA?

Sakura – Japanese cherry blossoms. This herbal tea is made with whole salt-pickled sakura blossoms.

The sakura, or Japanese cherry blossom, is one of the foremost symbols of Japan. Symbolizing the intense ephemeral nature of life, they bloom en masse once a year for a short week or two painting Japan pink and white before being blown away by the spring breeze in a beautiful shower of petals.

Sakura Tea is made with salt-pickled cherry blossoms (the kanzan variety) by our partner in Odawara, Kanagawa. The taste that results from the salt-pickling of the blossoms is a flavor standard in Japan for drinking as tea. However, the salted cherry blossoms are quite flexible as well, and taste great with Japanese sake, mixed with rice (to make sakura rice), cookies, and cakes! We also highly recommend adding them to sencha or genmaicha tea for that uniquely Japanese spring flavor.

The flavor of these sakura “cherry” blossoms (being the blossoms and not the fruit) is quite different from the cherry fruit flavor so common in Western sweets (as well as many “Japanese cherry green teas” where the “cherry” is actually cherry fruit flavoring). In Japan though, you’ll find sakura-flavored Kit Kats, sakura-flavored lattes at Starbucks, as well as traditional Japanese sweets. If you’ve never had sakura-flavored tea before, be prepared for a delicious and truly Japanese experience!!

PRODUCT INFO

Net Wt.
- 100 g (3.5 oz)
INGREDIENTS
- Salt, plum vinegar, cherry blossoms
Packaging
- Bag
Best If Used By
- See date on package
Standard Storage
- Store in an airtight container away from sunlight in a cool, dry place.

NOTES

The sakura blossoms offered from Tokyo Matcha Selection's are grown, harvested and pickled in the region outside of Odawara city, just an hour by the shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo and within sight of Mt. Fuji, the symbol of Japan.

Tisanes: Sakura Tea Steeping Instructions

Sakura Tea, or Cherry Blossom Tea, is made from salt-pickled cherry blossoms of the yaezakura type of Japanese cherry tree (not to be confused with fruit bearing cherry trees, a different species). These blossoms, representing the beginning of spring in late March / early April, are central images in both traditional and contemporary Japanese culture. The flavor of sakura, found in everything from rice cakes to Kit Kat chocolate in Japan, comes from these salt-pickled blossoms.

Instructions:

1. Take one sakura blossom and soak it in a cup of warm water for about 5 minutes to remove the salt. Keep the salty water for flavor adjustment (you can taste it to see what the strong sakura flavor is like).
2. After 5 minutes, place the blossom in your tea cup.
3. Pour fresh hot water into the tea cup with the blossom inside, then use a spoon to add the salt-flavored water according to taste.

Other ways to enjoy your Sakura blossoms:

1. Please the sakura blossom in your cup of sencha or genmaicha.
2. Place the sakura blossom in a cup of Japanese sake.
3. Use the sakura blossoms in baking cookies, cupcakes, etc.
4. Use the sakura blossoms mixed with white rice.