Bought this with my Tencha-Kuki Houjicha. I felt like I almost had to, haha. In the spirit of spring! We may not have many cherry blossom trees in New Jersey, but somehow my spring experience is incomplete without sakura something. I always found it amusing, though, how Japan has so many sakura-flavored things in the spring. I’ve had sakura-flavored Kit Kats… probably sakura-flavored Pocky, too.
Anyway, back to the tea! The leaves smell really, really nice! A liiiiittle bit like candy, but really it’s more like a light sweetness. This is definitely not what one would consider “cherry flavor,” but then again, “sakura” doesn’t mean “cherry” in the fruit sense. It means “cherry blossom” or “cherry tree.” (“Sakuranbou” is the fruit.) Definitely still smells like sencha underneath, though!
The package says to use a higher temp for a more fruity flavor, and a lower temp for more of a sencha flavor, and I used a bit of a low temp, thus resulting in mostly a sencha flavor. There’s a tiiiny bit of sweetness on the end, though. It’s yummy, but I’m looking forward to trying it with a higher temp, too. :) I want to try to recreate the scent of the leaves.
I should mention, too, that as the tea cools, a bit more of the flavoring comes forward in the aftertaste. It’s like floraly sweet.
