Spring has returned! Some sakura (Japanese cherry blossom) and other spring flowers are blooming, plants are growing and birds are singing. Here is a drink that you can enjoy this season. With a lovely pink color, this creamy dreamy drink will surprise your friends and family.
Salt-Pickled Sakura Blossom and Grenadine
The key ingredient, salt-pickled sakura blossom. As well as the beautiful appearance, you can enjoy the special vanilla scent that emerges after salt-pickling. You can use the sakura blossom as herbal tea or make cakes or mochi (Japanese confectionary).
Recipes:
Gluten-Free Sakura Financier (French Almond Cake) Recipe
Sakura Daifuku Mochi (さくら大福) Recipe
Salt-pickled sakura blossom
Making the milk a lovely color is grenadine, which is a red syrup with tart flavor usually used for cocktails and drinks. The berry-like flavor matches the sakura flavor, too.
Sakura blossom on a plate, and milk and grenadine in the cups
Milk and Tea Leaves
You can enjoy this recipe with your favorite black tea and milk. Wakoucha, Japanese black tea and unsweetened soy milk are used for this recipe. In my opinion, Japanese black tea goes well with plant based milk.
Black tea grown in the Japanese climate tends to be milder and less astringent than black teas from other part of the world, also it contains some sweetness. You can even enjoy it without sugar and milk.
When I feel like having Japanese black tea with milk, I usually put soy milk although I enjoy cow milk for black tea from Kenia or Sri Lanka.
Sakura Tea Latte Recipe
Ingredients
[for 1 cup]
- black tea leaves 3g or a tea bag
- hot water 250ml
- your favorite milk 100ml
- grenadine 1tsp
- salt pickled sakura blossoms 2-3 for steeping and garnishing
Instructions
- Preperation for the sakura blossoms:Soak them in water, changing water 1-2 times for 10 minutes to remove salt. 1-2 blossoms for garnishing, remove some water with a paper napkin, and microwave it at 500W for 10-30 seconds until it dries.
Before microwaving (left), after microwaving (right)
- Make tea: Pour hot water in a pot with the tea leaves and one sakura blossom, and steep them for 3-5 minutes. Follow the steeping instructions of your tea.
- Froth the milk: Put the grenadine in the milk and heat the milk on the stove or microwave. Make it froth with a milk frother or whisk. You can also make frothy using a jar with a lid and shaking vigorously.
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Pour the milk in a cup, and pour the black tea gently. Add the blossom or crush the blossom with your hand and sprinkle on top.
Today's Recommendations
Salt-pickled Sakura Blossoms
Iijima Seitarou Shoten KN003: Salt-Pickled Sakura Blossoms (Japanese-grown) 桜花の塩漬
This family-run factory, located in Odawara, Kanagawa, grow sakura and ume trees, and use the techniques inherited over the generations to make these salt-pickled sakura, umeboshi (dried Japanese plums), and yukari (ume-pickled purple shiso leaves).
Wakoucha, Japanese Black Tea
Murakami Tea Garden: Mountain-Grown Second Flush Wakocha Benifuuki Black Tea 和紅茶べにふうき
Benifuuki is one of the cultivars which has developed for Japanese black tea.
Murakami tea garden is located in the Yoshiwara district, a mountainous region in Shizuoka. The Murakami family produces black tea as well as green tea, and they have been winning awards in Japan for their production.
Drink Recipes with Sakura and Japanese Black Tea
Sakura Kudzu-yu (Kudzu root tea) Recipe
Smoked Black Tea Mojito Recipe
