The best way to get in the cherry blossom season mood? Food and drink.

While popular chains like Starbucks Japan opted for strawberry-flavored cherry blossom drinks this year, other spots have chosen the traditional sakura-flavored route. Japanese café chain Doutor Coffee has been holding their Cherry Blossom Matsuri since February 16. The festive lineup includes four drinks, delectable snacks, and pre-packaged coffee and sweets. Without further ado, here’s each item in the series:

▼ Sakura Au Lait Warabi Mochi (Iced) – 580 yen (US$4.25)

First up is the Sakura Au Lait Warabi Mochi, a milk-based drink that includes sakura petal paste to make its lovely pink color and flavor. It’s topped with whipped cream, arare puffed sweets, a sakura syrup swirl, and sakura-flavored chocolate bits.

▼ Sakura Au Lait (Hot) – 550 yen

This is the same as the iced drink but without the “warabi mochi” bit in the name. It includes the same sakura flavor, whipped cream, and other toppings.

▼ Sakura Green Tea Au Lait Warabi Mochi (Iced) – 580 yen

If you’re more of a matcha fan, you’ll love this one! It combines the subtly bitter and fresh-tasting Uji matcha powder with the subtle sweetness of sakura. It has the same toppings as the Sakura Au Lait.

▼ Sakura Green Tea Au Lait (Hot) – 550 yen

This one is the same as its iced green tea counterpart. Though they’re made with the same flavors, they offer different experiences based on their temperature!

We bet you’re waiting for the snack introduction, so here it is:

▼ Funwari Kaoru Sakura Cake – 480 yen

This cake was made to imitate the look of sakura, down to its leaves and different-hued petals. It has a layer of matcha-flavored and sakura-flavored sponge cake each, and in between is some tiramisu cream. It even has two little dollops of sakura-colored cream for a more realistic look.

▼ Mocchiri Sakura Dorayaki – 270 yen

This affordable snack combines the pancake-like dough of a dorayaki with sakura-flavored bean paste and Hokkaido-grown red beans. There are even real sakura leaves in the bean paste. It’s an excellently sweet treat to pair with your coffee or sakura-themed drink.

If you want some souvenirs or want to enjoy the goodness of Doutor at home, there are some takeaway goodies as well:

▼ Premium Roast Coffee Sakura – 1,170 yen for 200 grams of ground coffee, 480 yen for a five-pack drip coffee

This is the sixth year Doutor has released this seasonal sakura blend. Among the Ethiopian and Guatemalan beans are sakura chips to add a unique note to your coffee.

▼ Sakura Castella Made With Sakura Honey – 700 yen

This takeout-only snack includes five pieces of castella cake made in collaboration with Osaka-based Nagasaki-do, a bakery that’s been in business for over a century. Among its carefully selected ingredients is sakura-infused honey, and it also has the salty and tart bite of sakura leaves mixed in the dough.

▼ You can also buy the drip coffee and castella as a set for 1,100 yen!

All of these items are only sold in limited quantities, so don’t think twice. Enjoy the sakura before they even get here so you’ll be fully in the mood to see some beautiful blossoms starting mid-March.

Source and images: PR Times
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