Tea & Wagashi Box: Spring

季節限定 旬の菓 

It is difficult not to celebrate Spring, as it comes on with so much splendour. Air sweetens, colours deepen, and flowering trees begin their wild procession of blooming all throughout the city. 

We have collaborated with our dear friend and wagashi artist Saki Fukuda to offer you something to enjoy alongside early Spring. You may think of this Tea & Wagashi pairing as an invitation addressed to all of your senses. Its intention is allied with the season, as it seeks to both sweeten and refresh you. 

The tea pairing for this set is a fresh harvest of Plum Blossom from Huangshan Mountain Range. Plum blossoms bloom in winter, and thus symbolize perseverance in Chinese culture. The beautiful qualities of these flowers are a result of their negotiation with adverse circumstances; could there be a better tea for us to enjoy at this time of year? 

Each set comes with 4 wagashi, 1 kuromoji pick to eat the wagashi with, and 1 serving of tea to be shared, inside a customized wooden box. 

Once purchased, the box must be picked up at our shop during store hours on the date that you selected with your pre-order, on Saturday April 12 (12-6 PM) or Sunday April 13 (12-5 PM).  The wagashi is best enjoyed fresh, within 1 day.

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Seasonal Wagashi

Butterfly 胡蝶 
Lemon-infused uiro mochi, cream cheese infused white bean paste

The prettiest yellow butterfly opens this wagashi set for us. Lemon’s bright, refreshing flavour is softened by this wagashi’s delicate presence and dense, creamy filling. Paired with Plum Blossom, it tastes just like lemon marzipan.  

Raining Cherry Blossoms 花嵐
Nerikiri, kokuto black sugar jelly, red bean paste

A particular spring moment is depicted on this wagashi’s psychedelic exterior: a blue rain comes with wind and blows pink blossoms off the sakura trees. Inside we find a layer of coarse red bean before meeting its jellied, translucent core and the deep sweetness of black sugar.

Mist of Spring 春霞　
Warabi mochi, cassis infused white bean paste

The softest mochi surrounds a tart, fuschia filling, bursting with cassis flavour. Mimicking the moisture that hangs in spring air and obscures the bright, returning colours, this vibrant white bean paste is enclosed in a fragile, semi-translucent veil. 

Sakura Mochi 桜餅 
Domyoji mochi, red bean paste, salted sakura leaf

Salt cured sakura leaves from Japan are wrapped around a luminous domyoji mochi, balanced with earthy red bean paste. This is the quintessential wagashi for spring, and the perfect wagashi to finish with, leaving a kiss of salt and flowers on our palate. 

Paired with:

Plum Blossom 黄山梅花

Harvested in February and perfectly preserved, this year’s flowers brew an especially sweet tea, disguising all of its potent medicinal qualities. It has the flavour profile of lemon pastry, and enough complexity that it tastes remarkably different alongside each of the 4 wagashi in this stunning set.