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Sencha Kyoto Cherry Rose Festival comes from the Hunan Province of China. Early in the new season, the tea is a bright emerald green and has the best flavor noted by a spring fresh character with pungency and body. In Hunan, the tea starts growing about March 15th, and, between then and the end of April, the quality is very good. Once you pass April, the quality plummets on account of the volume of leaf taken in and the bushes growing too quickly. This pan fired green tea, Sencha, is commonly used in Japanese tea ceremonies marking events of personal importance. In this type of ceremony, it is the ritual that is of paramount importance as the individual is being acknowledged. Flavored tea is a relatively new phenomena and combining flavors with roses and Japanese style green tea is almost considered ‘avant garde' by our Japanese friends.

During the springtime, this area of Japan is ablaze with the new season cherry blossoms and the air is filled with sweet aroma. (The rose petals in this blend are intended to simulate these delicate cherry blossoms and the flavor is reminiscent of the beautiful smells on the springtime breezes.) It is little wonder that this ancient city has a very high ratio of tea rooms and this tea was created to honor (very important in Japan) this wonderful time of the year. This pale, yellow-green tea has a light liquoring, fresh and smooth with reasonable depth and body. The cherry flavoring and subtle rose hints give the tea a wonderful exotic character.