Starbucks sakura series 2015: Caramel, chocolate and a flowery chiffon cake

With Valentine’s Day out of the way, and plum blossoms still in bloom, it’s time for early spring marketing to burst onto the scene in Japan. Leading the pack, as it does every year, is popular coffee chain Starbucks, with the nation’s other favourite flower, the cherry blossom, taking centre stage in their annual line-up of sakura menu items and merchandise.

This year, the humble cherry blossom meets caramel and chocolate in latte and Frappucino forms, and also finds itself in a beautiful pink and white chiffon cake. Curious to know what sakura tastes like when blended with such sweet partners? Join us as we bring you all the photos and flavours from our recent visit.

Last year’s 2014 sakura series featured a Sakura Chocolate Latte and a Sakura Chocolate Frappucino with strawberry flavoured toppings. This year, the cute-sounding Caramelly Sakura Chocolate Frappuccino and Caramelly Sakura Chocolate Latte greet us as we approach the store.

Inside, we have the Bliss range of mugs, travel cups, Via coffee packs and specially designed beverage cards. This is the first batch of sakura-themed goods, featuring a subdued pink colour scheme to represent the first blush of blossoms.

Despite being released only days ago, two of the more popular limited-edition tumblers (not pictured) had already sold out at the location we visited. We’ll have to try again on 27 February, when Brilliant, the next line of sakura goods, is released in anticipation of the full-bloom period, featuring drinkware in more vibrant colours.

The Caramelly Sakura drinks are clearly the stars of the menu this season. While they’re usually made with dairy milk, for 50 yen more you can have your order made with soy milk, which is recommended as a great-tasting accompaniment to the sakura flavour.

▼ And because we’ve decided to go all-out on the cream today, let’s add a slice of Sakura Chiffon cake.

▼ With counter stock being continually topped up, this was definitely one of their best-selling items.

▼ First sighting of the sakura-patterned cups! What’s not to like about pink and green?

▼ Now to get started on our sweet cherry blossom meal.

The Caramelly Sakura Chocolate Frappuccino is a blend of cherry blossom and white chocolate flavours, topped with a heap of whipped cream and a good dollop of special Caramelly sauce.

Wonderfully frothy, you can see the sauce dripping through the drink, pooling at the very bottom of the sakura-adorned cup.

▼ Now it’s time to pop that lid and start salivating.

The sauce is actually made from sakura petals and leaves (much like the sakura beer we’re looking forward to) mixed with caramel, giving it a beautiful apricot colour.

The white chocolate topping, a beautiful blend of white and pink, is designed to look like fallen sakura petals.

The caramel and sakura blend gives the drink a delicious, sweetly tangy flavour. The cherry blossom taste is all there, despite all the added cream and chocolate.

The Caramelly Sakura Chocolate Latte may be showing less skin than its colder counterpart, but it’s no less sexy on the outside.

We all know it’s what’s inside that counts, though, and for this baby, it’s all sweet and beautiful.

The latte was equally creamy and sweet, yet the sakura flavour was incredibly subtle. If you really want cherry blossoms stimulating your taste buds, the Frappuccino is definitely the better option.

Now to the cake, which looks almost too good to eat.

Nestled in tiny mounds of whipped cream is a real cherry blossom bud. It’s delightfully salty, with a strong and intense cherry blossom flavour.

The sponge and the cream are both made with real sakura petals and leaves, giving the whole cake a subtle cherry blossom flavour.

▼ This is one of the lightest, airiest cakes we’ve had.

If you’re unable to get to a Starbucks in Japan and want to live through us vicariously, check out our ceremonial sponge-cutting below.

As always, these items are only available for a limited time. The chiffon cake will be on sale until March 31, while the drinks will only be around until March 17. Get in now while you can!

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