Local Kyoto confectioner lets you take Sujata Ice Cream to an even higher level of deliciousness.

One of the best parts about traveling on Shinkansen, the fastest trains in Japan, is something that, ironically, takes a lot more time than usual. We speak, of course, of the famous super-hard Sujata Ice Cream, which used to be available from service carts inside Shinkansen trains and which can now be bought from vending machines on Shinkansen station platforms.

These delicious densely frozen treats are so hard at their time of purchase that they’re more or less impossible to eat right away, but are also so tasty that the wait for them to thaw out enough to dig in with a spoon is worth it. Plus the relaxed pace you have to eat the Shinkansen ice cream at turns it into a traveling companion that you’ll spend a sizable portion of your ride with.

So when we were recently in Kyoto Station and waiting for our Shinkansen back to Tokyo, we made a point of seeking out some Shinkansen ice cream, and even though our train wouldn’t be arriving for another five minutes or so, we went ahead and bought a cup of vanilla then and there. Since we still had some time to kill, though, we ventured back down into the station building to take one last look at the souvenir stands.

Catching our eye right away was this verdant display from Malebranche, a confectioner based in Kyoto’s Kitayama neighborhood that specializes in matcha sweets. Pretty much everything they were selling looked good, but we were especially intrigued by the Okoicha Shake.

Cha is the Japanese word for “tea” and koi, in this case, denotes an especially strong or deep flavor. In our opinion, the more robust the green tea notes, the better, and so we quickly bought a bottle for 401 yen (US$2.75), which is honestly on the pricy side for an in-a-bottle to-go drink, but it did look really matcha-y.

As a matter of fact, Malebranche’s recommended way of drinking the Okoicha Shake is to first drink half of it as-is, then fill up the emptied half of the bottle with milk for a creamier second-half finish. It’s an intriguing concept, so we figured we’d give that a try once we got back to our apartment and could grab some milk from our fridge-

…hey…wait a second…vanilla ice cream has a milky flavor too, doesn’t it? So if Okoicha Shake supposedly tastes great when it’s mixed with milk…

…what would happen if we opened up a spoonful of space in the famous Shinkansen vanilla ice cream…

…and poured in some Okoicha Shake?

It looked beautiful, with the deep green of the shake contrasting elegantly with the pure-white cream around it. It smelled heavenly, full of the distinctly enticing matcha aroma.

And the taste?

Absolutely everything a matcha sweets fan could hope for!

This is an outstanding combination, and it only gets harder to resist the more you eat. That’s because with every bit e of ice cream, you’re creating that much more space to pour in the matcha shake.

So instead of starting strong and moving towards a milder finish, the intensity of the matcha flavor keeps getting ratcheted up, and you get a finale of super-strong green tea.

The only drawback is that to make this specific combination, you’re going to need two ingredients that you can’t just pick up at your local convenience store. Malebranche has limited availability outside of Kyoto (though the Okoicha Shake can be purchased online here), and sourcing Sujata’s Shinkansen ice cream requires access to a bullet train platform. On the other hand, Kyoto is one of Japan’s top travel destinations, and the Shinkansen is by far the most popular means by which travelers arrive at/depart from the city, so with a little planning, and a little patience while you wait for the ice cream’s initial thaw, this is a dessert hack you can, and should, try on your next Kyoto trip.

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