I’m still trying to work through the very old Lupicia sakura teas in my stash. Most of them just aren’t for me, because despite how much I like sakura, I’m really turned off by the “salty” taste in the cup from the salt preserves they use. (I’m also really upset to learn that the Ume Vert I ordered on my birthday order has… salt-preserved ingredients. If Lupicia would just freaking disclose the ingredient lists as printed on their bags on their actual website, I never would have ordered it…)
The Ume Vert will, undoubtedly, have to be rice-flavoring tea for me to use up the pouch. The sakura ones are at least sweet enough that I have found I can usually hide the salinity of the salt by making sweet lattes using a vanilla plant milk (vanilla almond or vanilla oat, depending on what I have on hand). Which is how I’ve prepared this cup. 3 parts tea to 1 part warm, frothed vanilla oat milk. I used two heaping teaspoons of leaf and steeped in 205F water for 5 minutes.
The aroma is warm wood and sakura. The sakura is getting overpowered a bit in the flavor by the houjicha, though. I’m getting a strong woodiness, some roasted nuts, and only a subtle hint of sakura sweetness left on my tongue after the sip when some of the deeper, roastier houjicha notes start to fade.
It’s a nice enough latte, but I honestly could’ve made a plain houjicha latte and probably wouldn’t have noticed much difference. Not my favorite execution of the flavor. Maybe it’s stronger in a plain cup, but then I’d just be turned off by the salt, so I guess I’ll have to make do with plain houjicha with a sprinkle of sakura flavor. Not a favorite, despite how much I love both houjicha and sakura.
Flavors: Cherry Wood, Nutty, Roasted, Roasted Nuts, Sakura, Wood
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I guess I find sakura a bit savory in general, so maybe that’s why the salt doesn’t bother me?
Also, let me know if you end up wanting to rehome that Ume Vert! I had hoped to order it this time around, but it’s not on the website anymore. (grumble)
To me, florals in general (including sakura) give me a “sweet vibe” and the only thing that makes it savory is the salt preserve.
And sure, you can have the Ume Vert. It’s still sealed and everything. The ingredients look very spot on for the Ume Shiso Bancha I just sipped down, and the only way I found I could stomach that tea was making rice with it.
I guess I find sakura a bit savory in general, so maybe that’s why the salt doesn’t bother me?
Also, let me know if you end up wanting to rehome that Ume Vert! I had hoped to order it this time around, but it’s not on the website anymore. (grumble)
To me, florals in general (including sakura) give me a “sweet vibe” and the only thing that makes it savory is the salt preserve.
And sure, you can have the Ume Vert. It’s still sealed and everything. The ingredients look very spot on for the Ume Shiso Bancha I just sipped down, and the only way I found I could stomach that tea was making rice with it.