Steeping into Spring: A Celebration of Blossoms and Mothers
Summer always seems to grind on. The season begins tightening its grip in May. And in September it’s still holding fast.
Months of heat.
Winter, too, persists. Roundabout the same time those leaves fall in November, darkness and cold descend. It often continues feeling like winter into April.
But here we are now, in the most evanescent, the most diaphanous of the seasons—spring. If its bulky bookends are heavy marble busts of Caesar and Queen Elizabeth 1, spring squeezes between them as a slim volume of poetry. William Carlos Williams, perhaps. Or Emily Dickinson.
We think it’s fitting that spring contains an especially important holiday—Mother’s Day. Between now and then we’ll be exploring a variety of teas that we think serve as perfect teas for the most important people in the world.
Spring’s fragile brevity hasn’t been lost on millennia of cultures across the globe. For cultures in the Northern Hemisphere, in particular, the season has sparked a wild diversity of rites, beliefs, practices and celebrations that honor spring’s enchantments—and that includes its invocations of fertility.
Japanese Hanami
The Japanese dote on the season with a special fervor. The cherry blossom, or sakura, stands as a symbol for Japan itself. And its glory, for the Japanese, revolves around its transience. You’ll find the cherry blossom symbol everywhere in the Land of the Rising Sun: in art, poetry, kimono patterns, coins, festivals and much more.
Participating on cherry blossom season—spectacular and short—even has its own word, hanami, which means “flower viewing.” Japanese have been engaged with hanami for centuries.
Hanami’s core hinges on mono no aware, the bittersweet understanding that nothing lasts forever. To bask in hanami, Japanese bring blue tarps to parks, where they share bento boxes, sip sake, beer or warm cups of sencha and luxuriate in the canopies of pink and white petals hanging over them, and gently cascading down to Earth.
They also pursue yozakura, a tradition of bringing lanterns to cherry trees at night and savor the dreamy, romantic mood.
We may not practice hanami amidst blossoming cherry trees in the United States. But many of us—hands raised high—take the time to appreciate spring’s delicate, aromatic and visually arresting pleasures. And for us, of course, it always involves tea.
Enjoy this majestic, fleeting season while it lasts! And across this sensational season, too, try some new teas as well. Here we offer a trio of beauties, including two that we think honor Mother’s Day with seasonal beauty and charm.
Spring Teas: Sakura Cherry Green Tea
We already understand the centrality of sakura to Japanese culture—cherry blossoms, and the evanescence they symbolize, are revered. So why not brew those spectacular blossoms into tea? Grand idea—we’ve got just the blend for you. This combination of sencha green tea, hibiscus, rosehips, cherry and of course cherry blossoms makes us swoon with every sip. It also puts squarely in a spring frame of mind.
Spring Teas: Blue Butterfly Green Tea
Mother’s Day is just about a month away, on Sunday, May 11. By then, spring’s charms will be in full flower—it’s unlikely winter still will threaten with temperature plunges and snow. For this special spring holiday, consider our seasonal Blue Butterfly Green Tea. This gets its bold sapphire color from blue butterfly pea flowers, which have become beloved by bartenders for their ability to turn liquids blue, naturally. The blend, which rests on a foundation of green tea, also includes jasmine, strawberry and papaya. It’s positively scrumptious, and perfect for any mom-honoring celebrations!
Spring Teas: Lady Titania White Tea
For this remarkable Mother’s Day tea, we sought a blend that celebrated delicacy and beauty, two of the most exquisite qualities that humans are lucky to be able to appreciate. It’s easy to imagine faeries fluttering around and sipping this tea, while singing praise to moms worldwide as they float from flower to flower. To this exquisite white tea base we add orange peel, lemon balm, marshmallow root and echinacea. Rather than fruity and bold, this one is rooted in the zip of citrus, the complexity of healthy echinacea blossom and the luxurious mouthfeel of marshmallow root.
