The Tea Centre Japanese Cherry Green Tea is a flavoured green tea with ‘soft rosy undertones [that] enhance the delicate tartness of cherries in this light brew’. With no instructions accompanying the packaging, I brewed about 3 g for 2-3 minutes in 200 mL of near boiling water. That resulted in a pleasant tea that reflected the description for the most part.

The rose is rather strong in the scent of the tea but mellowed out upon tasting to make for a pleasantly light brew. The cherries are more evident in the gentle tartness of each sip – if you just smelled the tea, you might be forgiven for thinking it’s just a rose flavoured green tea. I’m not sure if the scent of cherries deteriorated with time, given its age, but the balance of rose and cherry with the green tea was very enjoyable. The cherries and the rose petals add a natural sweetness to the tea, which is much preferred over artificial flavouring or sweeteners added to some teas.

While the tea selection at The Tea Centre is only a fraction of that offered by Lupicia, it’s something worth exploring if this tea is anything to go by.

This The Tea Centre Japanese Cherry Green Tea contained 50 g. The tea originated in Japan and gifted by family from Sydney, Australia in 2008.