Strawberry Fields Forever - Chado Tea House March 2025
Five Buds Is All It Takes
Spring has sprung in Vancouver. The birds are singing; the cherry blossom is out; the daffodils are poking their heads up, and the rain is lashing down.
The buds mentioned above do not quantify how many beers I need to have consumed to get involved in Karaoke or the number I have to have subsequent days to try and forget making such a fool of myself.
The buds are the number required to appear on a designated tree at the Tokyo Meteorological Observatory to announce to the world that the cherry blossom season has arrived. The cherry tree, of type Somei Yoshino, is located at the Yasukuni Shrine on the observatory grounds, and when five buds are visible, we are ‘go for liftoff’ for the new season.
There is something about cherry blossom that cheers us right up; at this time of the year, you will see many people in Vancouver standing in the middle of the street taking photos of cherry trees. Japan gave Vancouver Cherry Blossom trees in the 1930s; now, over 40,000 trees are spread around Vancouver. According to various GPS traffic apps, Vancouver has the worst traffic congestion in North America – we find that hard to believe because it's not that bad, but that is what we are told. So, you tend to get a lot of impatient motorists, but you do not get any honking at people taking photos of cherry blossoms – it's like the frazzled drivers understand that the photographers just can't help blocking traffic, and the peace washes over the motorists – for a minute or two anyway.
There is a phenomenon called Thalassotherapy or The Blue Mind Theory, which explains why humans like to live near the ocean or large bodies of water; the theory goes that living in such proximity relieves stress, increases creativity, and generally makes us happier. We need to come up with something that explains Cherry Blossom – we suggest calling it the ‘Pink and White Flowery Mind Theory,’ and we will contact the committee responsible for categorizing theories and ask them to add it. We don’t know how these things work, but if you are approached by an official body asking about the Pink and White Flowery Mind Theory, please confirm it is a thing, and we can all enjoy it together.
We have been carrying Sakura-infused tea for a few seasons, and this year it's back
A friend of ours is a big fan of Chinese tea. One of her favorite teas is Jasmine tea. High-quality jasmine tea is made by layering freshly picked jasmine buds in tea. When the buds have infused their aroma, they are removed, and sometimes multiple additions of buds are added and removed over several days. The finished tea has the scent of jasmine, but the buds are not present in it.
Our sakura tea does contain parts of cherry blossoms and dried cherry tree leaves. We think these enhance the aroma and flavor of the tea and serve as a great visual reminder of the gifts of spring.
Sakura Sencha Green Tea with Cherry Blossom Petals 50g
Our original blend tea is PREMIUM SAKURA SENCHA. It is a medium-steamed premium Kagoshima Sencha with Cherry blossom petals. It is an umami-rich premium Sencha with a slight scent of Cherry blossom petals.
This tea shows variety with multiple infusions. After one brew, there are lots of great flavors left in the teapot, so try the second and third brews. They are quick and easy to try.
The first infusion tastes very satisfying Umami with a subtle touch of Cherry blossom. A very clean and refreshing second infusion. The third infusion is mild and gentle - still good and tasty!
The $20 Strawberry – and that’s USD!
Fumi, who owns Chado Tea House, comes from Tochigi Prefecture.
Most people have never heard of Tochigi, and Fumi tends to get a bit defensive of it. "It's close to Tokyo" and “it has terrific temples"— "the world heritage site Nikko Toshogu Temple is right on the doorstep" etc.
We visited that temple, which was stunning; equally impressive was the winding road which leads to Lake Chuzenji. The Irohazaka Winding Road is the windiest winding road you will ever see.
The Beatles were inspired to write the song ‘The Long and Winding Road’ when they were on tour in Japan and visited the Nikko. [See Note One].
We went there on a coach trip to the area and would recommend that method of travel rather than driving yourself (on the wrong side of the road for us in North America). The added bonus of the coach on this trip is that one can wonder at the driver's skill in getting the coach around the corners.
So, returning to Fumi and her defense of all things Tochigi, she now has a new thing to celebrate: the $20 strawberry.
Tochigi is famous for strawberries, and the Kit Kats from there are strawberry-flavored. The Japanese love their Kit Kats—a strange Japanese obsession with a chocolate-covered wafer that originated in the UK with one flavor and now has hundreds of different types in Japan, often with specialties linked to specific cities and regions.
The Erewhon shops in LA are selling single strawberries from Tochigi for $20 USD, and they are flying off the shelves. We have never been to Erewhon, but apparently, it is quite the place. We have not tried one because we haven’t been to the shop, but I am sure they go well with Matcha. Let's hope the Matcha shortage situation doesn’t push the price of that delicious treat any higher.
[Note One] Please note that the inspiration for the song was actually a road in Scotland, and we made up that bit about them writing it in Japan. Just making stuff up is all the rage now, so we decided to try it, but we apologize.
