Matcha Chocolat Jade Selection

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on June 10 2010 | Leave A Comment
Matcha Chocolat Jade Selection

Tea chocolate is very much the in thing right now. I think the fact that Katie Christoffers, the brains behind Matcha Chocolat sent us this new collection in the same week as the Paul A. Young & Henrietta Lovell tea chocolate launch is proof of that.

This new “Jade Selection” from Matcha seems to be a “summer update” and features four new chocolates and one that we’ve seen before. As you can see from the box, the packaging is unchanged – and that’s a good thing. The boxes are well made, brightly coloured and professionally made.

But enough about that, let’s talk about the chocolates!

Matcha Chocolat Jade Selection

Masala Chai
Milk chocolate ganache infused with Masala Chai enrobed in a dark chocolate dome and topped with crystalised ginger.
This forms the centrepiece of the box, just the same as it did with the Emperor’s Collection, so I think this is Katie’s favourite. I think it deserves pride of place too. It’s an Indian Black tea and is packed with ginger and spices, but the flavours remain gentle and the cinnamon, ginger, pepper, cloves and aniseed, all come through, without overpowering the dark chocolate.

Matcha Chocolat Masala Chai

China Rose
Milk chocolate ganache infused with Rosebud Gong Fu tea.
I love the flavour of rose in chocolate. It brings back childhood memories of Turkish Delight, without all the sticky gooey stuff. This chocolate is the perfect example of that. The ganache is smooth and soft and delicately flavoured with rose, and I enjoyed it very much – but I didn’t pick up a lot of tea flavour here.

Sencha
White chocolate ganache square infused with Tamaryokucha Koga.
If it’s not clear already, I don’t really know my teas, so all I can tell you about Tamaryokucha Koga is that it’s a variety of Sencha tea. I couldn’t tell you what Sencha tea is.
I can tell you that this particular chocolate wasn’t my favourite. Although the subtle flavour of the white chocolate did let the tea flavour come through, it was just a little sweet and creamy for me. The taste is distinctive and flowery, but it’s not my thing.

Matcha Chocolat Jade Selection

Strawberry Summer
Dark chocolate ganache with scented strawberry tea and English Breakfast tea.
Now this is much more up my street. As light and subtle as the China Rose chocolate, but with a beautifully soft and refreshing strawberry flavour. Again, the tea flavour is very subtle, but I think this is my favourite of the box.

Liquid Jade
Dark chocolate ganache with green tea liqueur and Uji Matcha tea in a white chocolate dome.
I much prefer this one to Sencha (the other white chocolate), as the dark chocolate ganache helps to counteract the sweetness of the white chocolate shell. The tea flavour is quite noticeable here too, and is really quite pleasant, with a gentle fruity & flowery taste. There is a tiny hint of alcohol, but in general I think the tea liqueur simply helps concentrate the flavour.

Overall, a very nice box of chocolates. The Sencha wasn’t my thing, but others may like its sweet and creamy texture. But I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the box, and wouldn’t hesitate in recommending it to anyone.

I actually prefer Katie’s approach to tea chocolates to Paul A. Young’s. Tea is always going to be a subtle flavour that’s difficult to get right with chocolate, and while I found Paul’s White Sliver Tip Tea ganache very pleasant, I didn’t pick up any tea flavour at all.

Many of these Matcha chocolates have additional summery flavours, yet more often than not, the tea still comes though, and I actually feel like I’m eating something a little unusual.

Definitely my cup of tea.

Information

You might also like...

Comments On This Post

  1. I haven’t posted my review yet, but I’m with you on the Sencha being my least favourite BUT interestingly not because I found it too sweet, but because the tea was too overpowering. I thought the rest were really good though with the Rose being my absolute favourite.

Leave a comment




Chocablog: Chocolate Blog