Many kind of teas are paired with foods. As for Japanese tea, it is very common to be paired with Wagashi (traditional Japanese confection). Green tea being a health drink it may sound weird to be paired with confection, but this is how it was done centuries ago.
Today, we have tested the teas by pairing it with modern confectionery and snacks. To be honest, I am not a person who eats sweet things and snacks, but I still enjoyed it a lot. This maybe an another way to enjoy the teas.
What we tested with Japanese Green Tea Powder
Today we have chosen the following:
1- Chocolate (bitter/white)
2- Potato chips -Classic- (simply salted)
3- Daifuku* (Japanese confection)
*Daifuku consists of a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with sweet filling anko, the sweetened red bean paste)Our teas that we have used:
a. Organic sencha green tea powder
b. Organic Matcha green tea powder
c. Organic Genmaicha Powder with Matcha
How It Tasted
A) Organic Matcha Green Tea + Chocolate
Absolutely the best combination. The strong sweetness of the chocolate and the bitterness of the matcha provides a pleasant mild sweetness.
B) Organic Sencha Green Tea + Daifuku
The combination of Daifuku and Japanese tea is well known as a traditional pair. The light bitterness of the organic green tea has a very good match with the natural sweetness of the Daifuku.
C) Organic Matcha/ Sencha Green Tea + Potato chips
Better than expected:) The salt and oil of the potato chips lightens the bitterness of matcha. Also it will match with warm temperature green tea too.
Pairing it with Japanese Green Tea Powder
It seems that confection made from a high sugar content such as chocolate and ice cream, matcha will match very well due to its bitterness. On the other hand green tea are perfect match with sweet things that includes natural sweetness such as Daifuku that is made from sweet red beans, azuki. As for the genmaicha, it basically matches very well with things that have matched green tea. The strong roasted rice aroma will also have a great matcha with rice crackers.
*These comments are made under our preference, please take these comments as a reference.
This experiment was very interesting and we are planning to do a part two very soon.
Also if you know any good pair with Japanese tea, we will appreciate if you can share! Thank you for reading and if you have a chance, please try testing these combination. Hope you enjoy:)