Having found Jelina Chocolatier's chocolates favorable of late and having also an interest in white chocolate, I deemed their Matcha Green Tea White Chocolate perfect for trying next. The now familiar brown card box this time features a matcha whisk and steaming serving of tea along with just a light wash of bright green.
The chocolate itself has more than a light wash, though. If ruby chocolate was exciting for people who love pink, this green chocolate was exciting for me as a green-lover. Green is my neutral, so I have a lot of green things and immediately started gathering small props I could add to the chocolate's picture. Because white chocolate on its own is essentially colorless, adding matcha to white chocolate does create pretty much the exact shade of matcha powder on the chocolate. It does appear a tad brighter and more neon in the pictures. If I adjusted the angle or the lighting, though, it looked too pale; so I kept with the more neon ones instead because they give a better idea.
The wondrousness of green aside, the other thing that is more exciting about matcha white chocolate than ruby chocolate is of course that we know exactly how this color is obtained. It's white chocolate with matcha powder added to it. As simple as that. No questions about how they got the color or how the flavor will come across. The only other flavor they added is vanilla, which of course you will find in any white chocolate.
Accompanying the chocolate's buttery, white chocolate aroma is just a hint of green tea. For my background, I drink green tea every morning these days, but I don't really ever have matcha specifically. So while I have less experience with the beverage itself, the basic flavor is pretty much green tea. There are so many types of green tea (I've been enjoying Sencha Superior at home right now) all with their own subtleties, but that basic base flavor is a familiar neutral to me.
On the first taste, you get both that green tea flavor and the buttery white chocolate. The tea has that fresh and strong sense to it. Again, there are no artificial flavorings here; that isn't how Jelina Chocolatier operates. So there is no faux flavor, and tea being a strong flavor (like coffee) you can definitely taste it. The pairing of that flavor along with the sweetness (there's no getting around the fact that white chocolate by default is always very sweet) and milkiness and creamy texture of the white chocolate is interesting. Usually I don't associate green tea with lattes, but that's definitely the effect here. Traditional matcha is just made with water, but whether water or milk or more common in coffee/tea shops or homes nowadays I don't know. Certainly if you're used to matcha lattes, this chocolate will better replicate that specific experience.
Either way, though, this is flavored chocolate not a cup of tea, so it's expected to be a fusion of flavor experiences. Using white chocolate versus milk or dark means that the matcha is the focus, and I can't picture it any other way. A truffle with a matcha center, though, would be nice. Hmmm, Valerie Confections makes matcha truffles; perhaps this winter I'll order some.
Matcha may be a little bit on trend right now (and also be an acquired taste), yet this chocolate is better than trends. The simple and pure ingredients give it quality, and the matcha and cocoa butter speak for themselves as far as flavor. It's a nice treat if you have a bit of a sweet tooth but also have a specific palate (like I do) and don't necessarily love the same sweets as everyone else does. And it would make for a fun gift for a tea lover.