Sakura , as they are known in Japan, or cherry blossoms, as they are affectionately called here, are the first harbinger of spring. Each year, legions of ‘bloom watchers’ eagerly travel to various locations in Japan in the hopes of arriving at just the right time to enjoy a spectacular show of delicate pink and white colors and inhale the soft, subtle fragrance during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival.
In North America, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Vancouver in British Columbia celebrate the flowering of their cherry trees, too, with annual Cherry Blossom Festivals. In 1912 Japan gave our nation’s capital a gift of 3,020 cherry trees, and another 3,800 trees in 1965. These graceful trees signal Washington’s right of spring with an explosion of white and pink color which is avidly witnessed by thousands of visitors from across the nation and around the world. Each year the peak season of bloom in Washington DC varies with the weather – from mid-March to early April is the window of time.
The very idea of thousands of cherry trees all in blossom all the same time is, for me, the quintessence of spring fever.
To celebrate Mother Nature’s spectacular show, we are introducing our Sencha Sakura tea. This sweetly perfumed tea is a delicious and satisfying blend of green tea – Japanese Sencha - from Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan and tiny pink Sakura blossoms. The subtle fragrance of these tiny pink cherry blossoms makes a fragrant and alluring cup that is a perfect harbinger of the fresh new season.
Our Sencha Sakura tea is, like the cherry blossoms themselves, available for a fleeting time only once a year. Be sure to order now – Sencha Sakura is a lovely gift to tuck inside of an Easter basket for your favorite tea drinker !
