What happens when renowned Kyoto tea makers are inspired by fine French chocolates? You get stunning and mouth-watering sweets like these!
Well-known Kyoto-based tea company Tsujiri recently announced that they will be offering a collection of Valentine’s chocolates for the first time this year, and according to their website, they’ve drawn inspiration from chocolates they encountered at a specialty shop in Paris to produce a matcha green tea chocolate with a deep, rich flavor. And considering that the company was founded over 150 years ago by Riemon Tsuji, the man credited with establishing the method for growing the flavorful gyokuro green tea leaves that are highly prized throughout Japan, you would certainly expect them to have the expertise to come up with some seriously tasty stuff.
So, what green tea-infused treats do they have for us this Valentine’s season?
● Bonbons de Chocolat
Theses chocolates not only come in shapes and colors that are a delight to behold, they contain fillings made of various unique ingredients selected to enhance the flavor of the matcha green tea, and packages come in five sizes: three pieces for 918 yen (US$7.80), four for 1,209 yen, six for 1,814 yen, eight for 2,419 yen, and 12 for 3,628 yen.
▼ The ingredients used in the chocolate fillings include (from top left to right and bottom left to right): rich green tea, Japanese pepper, yuzu citrus, pralines and sesame, apricot, and mandarin orange.
● Sweet Bean Paste Truffles
These unique truffles combine matcha green tea, chocolate and sweet bean paste (an), as well as a dash of liqueur to make a delightful ball of sweetness.
▼ The “noir” (dark) truffle contains a filling made of matcha flavored sweet bean paste and white chocolate with Cointreau, coated with regular chocolate. The “vert” (green) colored truffle contains a filling of sweet red bean paste and regular chocolate with rum, coated with matcha green tea chocolate.
● Batons de Chocolat
These are baked matcha chocolate sticks in a baton shape, covered with chocolate in two flavors. A box of five sticks costs 1,944 yen.
▼ The Matcha Noisette stick is coated with matcha flavored chocolate and topped with hazelnuts and cranberry. The Chocolat Orange stick is coated with regular chocolate and topped with a slice of candied orange. 
● Marble Gateau Chocolat
This gorgeous cake recreates the ridge patterns of tea fields using matcha and dark chocolate. It’s a rich chocolate cake that should be excellent served cold and is priced at 2,484 yen.
● Orangettes
And last but not least we have the orangettes, pieces of candied orange coated with regular and matcha flavored chocolate. After all, orange and chocolate are a proven combination, aren’t they? The package contains 80 grams (2.8 ounces) of the orangettes for 1,944 yen.
So, did any of the items catch your fancy? The delectable chocolates will be available at special events in select department stores across Japan starting from late January and also through the Kataoka Select Foods online shop from February 2.
If you want to try matcha chocolate made by tea experts, this is as authentic as it gets. Now, please excuse us while we go and satisfy the chocolate craving we’ve developed after looking at all of these tempting pictures.
Source: Tsujiri website via Entabe
All images: Tsujiri website