Matcha chocolate is one of the many westernised, fusion foods created by Japanese confectioners.

Ten years ago the mix of chocolate and green tea flavour would have been difficult to market, but since green tea is getting more and more popular outside of Japan, a number of green tea themed foods have popped up, ranging from green tea ice cream to green tea candies.

Uji Matcha Nama Chocolate is chocolate flavoured with strong matcha, then dipped and covered in matcha powder. The result is an interesting contrast in taste between the sweet chocolate and the slight bitterness of the coating, (which especially dark chocolate aficionados will appreciate). The play with contrast extends to texture as well: while the filling melts on the tongue, the powder dusted on the outside is velvety and cool.

Matcha powder is to green tea what espresso is to filter coffee; while green tea is merely water infused with green tea leaves, matcha is the actual plant, and contains more antioxidants. Matcha has not been too popular the last years, as consumers came to prefer coffee, black tea and canned soft drinks, but recently young people have started drinking Matcha again, because of its healthy properties.