Cherry trees & cherry tea

When I was a child, our family moved from Charlottetown to the cottage along the river in Dunstaffnage, PEI for the whole summer. I have such great memories and still feel very nostalgic when visiting the old site even though we only picnic there now.

Whenever I eat cherries, I think of the two cherry trees in front of our cottage. We would go late in the spring down the mile long lane and be greeted in the clearing by cherry blossoms. Then later in the summer, the cherries were picked and eaten mostly by us kids. Cherry pie has always been my favourite. Sadly the trees succumbed to a disease and had to be cut down.

Imagine my delight to taste a cherry flavoured tea, now one of the best selling green teas that I have on the shelf at the Farmers Market. Organic Sencha Cherry tea takes me back to my childhood.

Sencha tea is a Japanese style green tea known for its fresh, smooth taste. The blossoming of the cherry tree is quite an event in Japan, and is known as 'the spirit of the season.’ The Camellia Sinensis leaf  used to make my Sencha Cherry tea grows 4500 feet above sea level in the Hunan Province of China, and is picked between mid March and mid April. Hunan Province produces some excellent Japanese style green teas. The added natural cherry flavouring and rose petals make it even more scrumptious. To enhance the sweetness I add Prince Edward Island rose petals for that final touch!

Sencha Cherry is high in antioxidants and low in caffeine. It is the perfect springtime tea—refreshing both hot and cold. Make yourself a cup of Sencha Cherry tea, and join me on the cottage shore of the Hillsborough River, where China and PEI meet beneath the sweetly perfumed canopy of blossoming cherry trees.

Want to taste our Sencha Cherry? We’re at the market on Saturdays (and Wednesdays starting June 18), or you can order it online here.