When spring rolls around every year, do you long for that sweet sakura flavor? Do you dream of finding out what a cup of cherry blossom flavor even tastes like? Every year Japanese cafes, grocery stores, convenience stores, and just about everywhere else, almost explode with new sakura products, so take a look at our favorites from 2020.

1 🌸 Sakura Royal Milk Tea

With a base of robust black tea and creamy milk flavor, the floral aroma of sakura (cherry blossoms) adds a little extra fun to this Japanese grocery store drink mix staple, which is what made it such a popular pick for the JAPANKURU team this year. You'll find Royal Milk Tea all over the country, throughout the year, but only in spring can you find this cute pink packaging and the seasonal treat inside.

Thanks to the individual serving-sized packets, it also makes for a good souvenir for larger groups of friends or coworkers, or even a stocking stuffer when the weather starts to cool and everyone needs a little reminder of Japan's mild spring days.

2 🌸 Sakura Green Tea

For a more refreshing take on the sakura tea theme, we recommend you look for a bottle like this, of unsweetened green tea with just a hint of sakura flavor. With the flowers brewed right into the tea, you end up with less sweetness and more of a floral, or even vegetal, flavor experience.

This bottle is one we picked up at a local grocery store, but we've seen a few other brands (and even a few places selling bags or loose leaves) of sakura green tea around in 2020! So you can make it your daily drink while you're traveling Japan, and then bring a little home to share.

3 🌸 Sakura Tsujiri Matcha Milk

If the sakura green tea sounded good to you, but deep down inside you're a true matcha fanatic, with a lust for the frothy, creamy green powder, you might be more inclined to try this instant sakura matcha milk from Tsujiri. Tsujiri is a brand specializing in matcha, which makes sense when you hear that it comes from Uji, an area in Kyoto famous for the stuff. This limited-edition seasonal product takes their already matcha-filled drink mix and adds the sweet floral notes of cherry blossom.

Unlike the Royal Milk Tea, this drink mix comes in a large reclosable pouch, which makes it a good option for late mornings in the hotel while you're staying in Japan, or as something to bring home and keep in the kitchen for whenever you need a little reminder of your lovely trip to Japan.

4 🌸 Cafe Specialty Drinks Galore!

When it came to all the seasonal drinks you'll find in cafes all over Japan this spring, well, hard as we tried… we couldn't choose just one! Pictured above is the Sakura Milk Pudding Frappuccino from Starbucks, where you'll consistently find popular limited-edition drinks throughout the year, sakura or otherwise.

Image Sources: Nana's Green Tea Official Website, Dotour Official Website

But you might also be interested in trying the fancy sakura/strawberry parfaits offered by green tea specialty cafe Nana's Green Tea for 2020, or reasonable coffee shop Dotour's limited-edition sakura coffee blend, while you're in Japan! Almost every other chain in Japan offers something similar, so if you love the unique aroma of sakura, we have to suggest you try more than one specialty drink while you're traveling through Japan!

And if you do make yourself a little sakura drink tasting tour, we'd love to hear all about it! Tell us about which drinks rock and which you find disappointing, and everything in between, on twitter, instagram, and facebook! And keep an eye out for even more sakura content on JAPANKURU this spring!