A fancy hanami flower-viewing experience at one of Tokyo’s best cherry blossom sites. 

One of the best places to see the sakura bloom in Tokyo is along the Meguro River, where trees on either side of the water turn the landscape into a beautiful pink wonderland. It’s now also one of the best places to get a taste of the cherry blossoms too, as this is where the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo is located, and they’ve just released their lineup of exclusive limited-edition drinks and food for this year’s hanami flower-viewing season.

First up, we have a range of gorgeous drinks, starting with the Sakura Cream Latte (1,050 yen [US$6.93] for dine-in or 1,031 yen for takeout), which can be purchased at the Main Bar on the first floor.

Available hot or iced, this latte combines red bean paste and powder and pairs it with cinnamon to create an elegant sweetness reminiscent of cherry blossom paste. Made with soy milk, which is said to pair well with the espresso and bean paste in the drink, the flavours capture “the scent of spring in full bloom”, giving you a sense of the arrival of the cherry blossom season.

▼ Up on the next floor, at the Teavana Bar, we have the Sakura Tranquility (1,200 for dine-in or 1,178 yen for take-out).

Containing Teavana’s “Peach Tranquility” iced tea, this beverage delights the senses with notes of chamomile, pineapple, white peach, plum jam and salted cherry blossoms. While the first sip delivers the flavor of white peaches to the palate, stirring the drink adds cherry blossom notes to the mix, allowing you to enjoy a variety of salty sweet flavours.

▼ Up on the third floor, at the Arriviamo Bar, we have Celebrate Spring, which is only available for dine-in customers, priced at 2,200 yen.

This cocktail is perfect for celebrating special springtime occasions like graduation ceremonies and company induction ceremonies. Using Teavana’s Sakura Allure tea as the base, amazake (a traditional low-or non-alcoholic sweet Japanese drink made from fermented rice) and sparkling sake are added to create a very Japanese cocktail, complete with a skewer of cherry blossom sweets as a final embellishment.

▼ Finally we have a special White Soy Latte (800 yen for dine-in; 786 yen for takeout), which, despite not having any sakura enhancements, is said to capture the taste of the season.

This drink is being added to the menu as a new take on the already popular Soy Latte, with ristretto used in place of espresso for a mild taste and mellower flavour.

▼ While the above beverage will be on the menu indefinitely from 15 February, the sakura-themed drinks will be around for a limited time period, from 15 February to 8 May.

The cherry blossom fanfare continues at the in-store Italian-style bakery, Princi, where a series of treats that have been delighting customers during past sakura seasons will be returning for a limited time.

▼ Clockwise from top left: Sakura Torta (980 yen), Lampone & Ciliege (Raspberry and Cherries) Loafcake (785 yen), Sakura Cornetti (580 yen), Sakura Maritozzo (580 yen).

The prices listed above are for dine-in customers, with takeout prices being slightly cheaper. That means taking your treats outside to enjoy under the cherry blossoms in front of the roastery will not only save you money, but provide you with a beautiful hanami cherry blossom-viewing experience that you can cherish forever.

The treats themselves won’t be around for long, though, as the baked goods are only available from 15 February to 11 April, with the Loafcake sticking around a while longer, until 9 May. The sweets can also be purchase at other Princi outlets, namely Daikanyama T-Site, Ginza Maronier Street, Marunouchi Oazo Newman Yokohama, Tamagawa Takashimaya S・C, and Azabudai Hills, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get a taste of the cherry bloassoms at Starbucks this spring!

Source, images: PR Times
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