Special release includes a Sakura Roasted Green Tea Latte filled with Japanese ingredients. 

As we prepare for this year’s blossoming of the sakura trees, forecast to begin around 21 March in Tokyo, Starbucks is releasing its second cherry blossom Frappuccino of the season: the Matcha and Sakura Warabi Mochi Frappuccino.

This stunning pink-and-green beverage is a trifecta of traditional Japanese flavours, with matcha powder added to the milky body of the drink, and sakura flavour added to the jiggly pieces of warabi mochi (a jelly-like bracken starch confection) in the base. These traditional ingredients are finished with a mound of whipped cream and a drizzle of sakura-and-strawberry sauce, creating an explosion of flavours that are sometimes fruity, sometimes floral and sometimes green, depending on how you stir the different components together.

▼ Joining the Frappuccino for this outing is another new drink: the Hojicha & Classic Tea Latte with Cherry Blossom Warabi Mochi.

Whereas the Frappuccino plays up the delightful contrast between pink and green, and is said to let you enjoy “the afterglow of sakura“, the latte captures the freshness of the cherry blossoms, with milky tea-pink hues. The body of the drink contains a blend of black tea and hojicha (roasted green tea), with white chocolate-flavoured syrup and fresh cream adding sweetness and richness to the refreshing blend. Small pieces of sakura-flavoured warabi mochi provide exciting bursts of taste and texture throughout, while the slight saltiness from salt-pickled sakura helps to make the drink taste like a traditional Japanese sweet.

According to Starbucks, both drinks have an elegant cherry blossom flavour, with a subtle sweetness reminiscent of traditional confectionery. Priced at 690 yen (US$4.59) for the Frappuccino and from 609-750 yen for the latte, the two new drinks will be on the menu at Starbucks stores nationwide from 28 February until 11 March, alongside the first cherry blossom Frappuccino of the season and the new Sakura Soy Latte.

Source, images: Press release
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