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Potato chips and matcha green tea seem like the opposite endpoints of the refreshment spectrum. Matcha is a refined, high-class drink meant to be sipped and savored in a quiet moment, whereas potato chips are often most enjoyable when scarfed down by the handful while watching sports or playing video games.

But sometimes the best way to find balance in life is with contrasting extremes, like the matcha potato chips that are about to go on sale in Japan.

Snack food maker Koikeya is one of Japan’s most popular potato chip providers. Aside from regularly offered old standards like simple salt and sour cream and onion, the company has also shown its willingness to experiment with such creations as banana, peach, and steak-sandwich-flavored varieties. Koikeya’s biggest seller, though, is a mildly Japanese take on the snack: chips seasoned with salt and dried nori seaweed.

This month, though, Koikeya is cranking up the Japanese-ness by with the most quintessential flavoring of all with matcha green tea potato chips. And to make sure it maximizes their Japanese appeal, the company is sourcing its matcha from Morihan, an Uji, Kyoto-based tea merchant that’s been in business since the Tempo Era of the early 19th century.

▼ A cup of Morihan matcha

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These being potato chips, you’ll find salt on the ingredient list as well. A mixture of matcha and salt is often served as gourmet accompaniment to tempura in Japanese restaurants, though, so we expect Koikeya’s seasoning to be equally refined and delicious when the matcha chips go on sale at convenience stores nationwide on October 26.

Source: Koikeya
Featured image: Kyoeiseicha, Koikeya (edited by RocketNews24)
Top image: Koikeya (edited by RocketNews24)
Insert image: Kyoeiseicha (edited by RocketNews24)