Cherry Blossom

A miss. I ordered this tea for my friend and he liked it, so I decided to pick one up for myself. Harney and Sons tend to use flavorings, so I wasn’t expecting much of the cherry blossom to come through. The scent of the tea is the tiniest bit artificial, but pleasant enough. The cherry blossom- if I could even call it that; I have tried cherry blossoms before and the tin itself lists “cherry flavoring” and not “cherry blossom flavoring”- taste is light but artificial enough for me to want to put this tea down. Unfortunate, as I do enjoy some of the other teas H & S produces.

Nice, soothing tea, but the cherry and floral notes are pretty subtle, and I wish they were a bit stronger.

Yesterday, after long, long time I have received a package from lovely ashmanra! I hope mine will arrive soon. And today, I checked the Steepster and saw all the tastin notes that were hidden from my eyes and 150 notices! Oh, how glad I am that Steepster is back, at least in that what was left working.

So, let’s read all the tasting notes I missed; write (at least) one myself.

Unfortunately I wasn’t that much impressed of this one . I haven’t noticed any cherry notes, only nice green tea notes. I steeped it for around 3 or 4 minutes. Nevermind, it was gift (exchange, right), and hopefully there will be other which will be better. Noticed minty, or some cooling aspect drinking this tea.

So, thank you ashmanra for the tea, thank you all being patient, thank you Michael in background working on our favorite website! It was long 10 days, but hopefully it won’t return.

Instagram tells me it’s sakura season so I had to get this tea in the adorable pink tin!

Smells a lot cherry-er than it tastes. Which is probably a good thing. It didn’t taste artificial to me. More like a nice green with a bit of flowery cherry taste. Good for a spring afternoon.

It is once again sakura season in Japan. Not that I will be there to witness it in person this year as I did last year, which makes me unspeakably melancholy. So, in honor of the lovely cherry blossoms, the perfect color of optimistic, beautiful, feminine pink, and a sure sign that the warmer weather is coming, I’m sipping on Harney’s cherry blossom.

I’ve had it before and neglected to review it, so this review is long overdue. By now this tea’s a bit old (maybe a year and half), but the cherry blossom flavor is still very much there, although it never was very overwhelming, making this a bit of a sophisticated cup. I keep forgetting how pleasant it is. There’s just one weird note that always threw me and still does. There’s a funkiness going on, like musty? Moldy? Not quite sure how to describe it. Maybe it’s from the green tea. If you don’t overbrew it, this strange note will hardly come through so I’d recommend sticking to steeps lasting no longer than 3 minutes.

Nice hot, but next time I’ll try it iced. And once I finish it, I’ll most likely want to try another type of cherry blossom tea. Sakura wa utsukushii desu!

Being a huge fan of the David’s Tea Cherry Blossom (I look forward to its seasonal release each Spring), I held off on trying this for a very long time. I credit a hint of laziness on my part (I was looking for a tea sachet, over looseleaf), regardless, this only recently found its way into my cup.

Although far more subtle than the David’s Tea version (a LOT less sweet), it is quite enjoyable. A chief differentiator is also that this is a green tea, as opposed to DT’s being a white tea. It’s this soft grassy flavor, with a hint of cherry florals.

A simply delightful cup.

Alas, I love this tea as an afternoon treat. I started drinking samples without knowing the ingredients. I like bag teas for ease in transporting and for others to make for me. So I kept purchasing more until I realized it has artificial ingredients (flavor). I don’t think that should be in my tea so now I must find a replacement. The tea when lightly steeped in cooler water (150 and under) tastes of green tea, warmer water releases the cherry flavor I like so much. Sweet, fruity and a bit of tobacco when steeped this way and some honey taste on the back of the tongue you wouldn’t know it was a green tea unless you steep it with the cooler water. If brewed lightly its a floral green with some grassy qualities. I remember a cherry sakura tea I bought many years ago in Virginia (and smelling the blossoming cherry trees then) this reminds me of it but with a much stronger cherry taste (less scent).

Thank you Marcel Duchamp for sharing this with me!
I am liking this. It is a light and floral green. I’m not sure exactly what cherry blossoms are supposed to taste like, but this is nice. It tastes similar to a Le Palais tea that I have and checking that bag reveals it is a cherry blossom tea too, so I guess I am learning the taste of the blossom! It isn’t as strong as the Le Palais tea, which I’m thinking I prefer, but it doesn’t have the astringency I was getting on the other either. It is in a convenient bag for steeping on the go, so I think I will save the other bag for when I need tea while out of the house.

This afternoon I have confirmed that the cherry flavoring of Harney & Sons Cherry Blossom is too strong for me. I don’t want to hold it against Harney & Sons, though, since I also prefer the second infusion of the Kusmi flavored green teas. It seems that, with rare exceptions, I really do prefer my green tea without adulterants…

While my favorite flavored loose green tea is Teavana’s Sakura Allure, sometimes I just don’t have the time or patience to brew it, especially if I’m running out the door trying to get to class. This is definitely a good stand-in for those kinds of days. It tastes slightly artificial, but nothing so bad that I can really complain about. Like Sakura Allure, you can taste both cherry and the green tea base, so it wins in my book for that. Granted, it doesn’t taste as fresh as SA, but in terms of being in a rush, beggars can’t be choosers. I would buy again, if only to stand in for my SA on occasion.