In Japan, green teas are the most consumed beverage and play a significant role in the cuisine. Almost every Japanese individual consumes tea on a regular basis and considers it to be a necessity. Tea comes in many varieties and can be had at any time of the day. It is ubiquitous and frequently complimentary at dining establishments, just like water. You can find whatever you need someplace in Japan, whether you want tea in a mug, cup, or bottle, hot, cold, or lukewarm, right away or for later. Even better, you can occasionally find it being served for free at fairs, temples, and gardens.
One specific kind of tea you can enjoy is the Sakura tea from the well-known cherry blossoms in Japan. Sakura flower tea has a deeper meaning than your typical cup of green tea because sakura blossoms are viewed as a symbol of life's fleeting beauty. Having sakura tea in Japan is typically reserved for once-in-a-lifetime situations and symbolizes new beginnings. Read on and learn more about the Sakura culture and the best sakura tea in Japan.
What are Cherry Blossoms?
The cherry blossom is the flower of the Prunus tree, and has different types that can be found worldwide. This cherry tree is mostly found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Japan. In Japan, the word for cherry blossoms is sakura, and they are regarded as a national obsession. Cherry blossoms are well-known in Japan due to the variety of blooms and the numerous festivals that occur throughout the blooming season. When the buds bloom, people organize picnics and hanami (flower-watching) events throughout the country to commemorate the fleeting beauty of the flowers and the approach to warmer weather.
What is Hanami Festival?
Cherry Blossom season is a national tradition in Japan to admire and celebrate cherry blossoms, with early predictions for their blossoming in Tokyo, Japan, and the release of many sakura-inspired items. There will be heated debates about the best places to see the flowers, from well-known to top-secret locations. Moreover, friends, classmates, and coworkers will host viewing events to enjoy the flowers and unwind as they welcome springtime. This Hanami celebration (literally, "flower-viewing") gatherings are conducted throughout Japan to celebrate the arrival of spring or perhaps occasionally just as an excuse for a good time. These are frequently unofficial get-togethers of friends and family, but businesses also host their own celebrations, frequently in parks around their workplaces. These typically require picking a picnic location near a lot of sakura trees bringing bento boxes (lunch boxes), cherry flavor foods, alcohol or non-alcoholic drinks, white wine, and even cherry blossom tea.
What is Cherry Blossom Tea?
In Japan, sakura cherry blossom tea is a preferred beverage for special occasions like weddings, engagement parties, and other important ceremonies. Sakura cherry blossoms, a highly traditional Japanese ingredient, are used in its preparation. Sakura tea is known as "sakura cha" or "sakura yu" in Japanese. Sakura tea offers an astounding array of health benefits, much like most other types of tea. It is claimed to be anti-inflammatory, high in antioxidants, and healthy for your teeth. Additionally, sakura tea has a delicate, floral flavor and aroma that tastes and smells very much like Japan. It may be a little weird for other tea lovers to initially taste saltiness when drinking tea, but after that, a lovely floral scent begins to fill the tongue.
Since fresh cherry blossoms can only be gathered once a year, the Japanese began pickling them in salt and ume plum vinegar to extend the season for Sakura flavor. Sakura simply changes after being kept in salt, ume in plum vinegar, submerged in boiling water, and then covered with sugar. After this, the sakura brings a taste that represents Japan, a soft floral perfume and flavor, sugar's sweetness, and a faint saltiness. Overall, the resulting Sakura tea is a gorgeous pink, transparent herbal tea with a subtle fragrance of floral and earthy aroma.
How to Make Cherry Blossom Tea
Sakura tea is a traditional Japanese infusion made by steeping pickled cherry blossom flowers in boiling water. Cherry blossom petals must first be prepared by being pickled in salt and plum vinegar before being allowed to dry to brew the perfect Sakura tea. The pickled cherry blossoms and ume are preserved in salt and plum vinegar for sakura tea and steeped in boiling water to produce an unbelievably delicious beverage with sakura natural flavors. The collapsed petals unfurl and float after being submerged in hot water. The herbal tea is then steeped until the flavor reaches its desired intensity. In fact, there are two flavors of cherry blossom tea, the salty and sweet teas.
Salty Sakura Tea
This type of Sakura tea has a long history. A salty variation made with freshly harvested Sakura flowers and ume kept for nearly a month in plum vinegar. Immerse the sakura petals in warm or boiled water for 5 minutes to harvest some of the salt from the flowers before making a salted sakura tea. Then you can add one or two flowers to another tea cup and re-douse it with hot water. Adding some salty water with a spoon can change the flavor and saltiness.
Sweet Sakura Tea
Sweet Sakura tea is more difficult to make, requires more work, and requires that the salted sakura tea be washed several times to remove the salt before being dusted with sugar.
When Do Japanese Drink Sakura Tea?
For the Japanese, sakura tea is the preferred morning brew. They also consume it during their afternoon break or offer it to guests as a sign of hospitality. They will brew sakura flowers in a little teapot with hot water on various occasions during the day. Actually, tea is a part of every meal. In fact, in many Japanese restaurants, customers are offered a complimentary cup of tea as soon as they are seated, and they are allowed as many refills as they like. Better yet, you can invite your family or friends over for a tea party in the park and give them sakura tea in a stylish cup! It's even better on a day when you and your loved ones can sip on sakura tea while admiring the blossoms' beauty and the falling pink petals. Remember to bring desserts with sakura flavors and bento with sakura themes!
Best Sakura Tea Products
1. Sweet Sakura Tea: Black Tea
Here's a beautiful Japanese herbal tea called Sweet Sakura Tea that blossoms in the water. This Sweet Sakura Tea: Black Tea has an abundant cherry blossom aroma with the addition of cherry blossoms and cherry leaves to the blend. This tea was developed with great care to retain the sakura's beauty and flavor. Mix it with hot water to enjoy. These blossoms can also be used to impart a sakura taste to light alcoholic beverages like white wine or sake, as well as baked goods and jellies for a delightful treat. Both the sight and the taste buds will be delighted!
2. Lipton Sakura Tea (12 bags)
Lipton produced this limited-edition Sakura tea to mark the blooming of the cherry blossoms and the start of spring in Japan. Each box has twelve pyramid-shaped tea bags filled with sakura tea. The flavor of this sakura tea was influenced by "sakura mochi," or rice desserts flavored with cherry blossoms. This wonderful tea is only available during the cherry blossom season. Enjoy your tea with Lipton Sakura Tea rich taste and nice aroma.
3. Decaf Sakura Tea
Here is a Decaf Sakura Tea that wonderfully complements the Ceylon black tea by smelling like Sakura (cherry blossoms). Tea leaves from Sri Lanka's Ceylon region have been decaffeinated and mixed with dried cherry blossoms and leaves. The cherry flowers' natural flavor and aroma, waiting for spring to arrive under the cherry blossom trees in full bloom, are complemented by a faint saltiness. The Yoshino cherry blossoms, which stand in for Japan and are in full bloom with the approach of spring, are used as the inspiration for the package design.
4. Sweet Sakura Tea: Green Tea
This Sweet Sakura Tea: Green Tea is an opulent concoction of green tea leaves and cherry blossoms that expertly mimics the aroma of sweet flowers. In Japan, dried sakura (cherry blossom), sakura extract, and a faint dash of salt are combined to create this delectable green tea. There are 10 packs in each box, each containing 2g.
5. Sakura Sencha Tea
This rare Sakura Sencha Tea mix known as "sakura sencha" combines sencha with genuine sakura, whose sweetness provides a wonderful balance to the sencha's intensity. You can drink Sakura sencha either hot or iced. Sakura sencha is a wonderful substitute for regular sencha because of its natural sweetness and enticing spring aroma.
6. Muji Sakura Latte
While Muji is most known for its minimalist and affordable apparel, furniture, and stationery, the company also sells a wide range of delectable snacks and beverages in Japan. Take a sip of their fragrant, instant Sakura (Cherry Blossom) latte. This Muji Sakura Latte is somewhat less sweet and has a salty finish. It tastes like sakura and has a hint of white chocolate.
Fancy yourself a cup of Sakura tea? Discover some of the best Japanese Sakura tea in the Sugoi Mart tea collection. With these varieties of exquisite sakura tea, you may taste spring and enjoy flowers dancing on your tongue. You won't regret taking just one sip to feel posh and healthy!