Black Thunder – Hojicha Latte
I’ve talked before about how tea flavoured items are largely an asian thing, and that’s slowly starting to change now that matcha is a staple flavour here in the North. The process was relatively slow, but it’s encouraging to see. Hojicha though, has still not really caught on, and it’s understandable. It’s just not something that has been as widespread. For those who aren’t familiar, it’s a roasted tea, and the process turns it to a more reddish brown colour. The tea usually has a lower caffeine content, and has a more smoky, almost caramel like quality to it.
Black Thunder has been pretty good to me so far, so I don’t expect this to be all that different. Interestingly, this particular flavour comes in three different coloured packages, but the contents are identical. I’ve tried hojicha latte flavoured chocolate before, and it was pleasant, if not a bit mild. I totally get why people like lattes, but I generally prefer the tea straight, without any milk. That is, when I actually drink tea (which I rarely do voluntarily). That being said, I don’t mind it, and it makes sense when it comes to chocolates.
The size is similar to a lot of the other ones I’ve had, mini and coming in at 25 grams. This makes it a great convenient snack at a fairly low price, assuming you get it locally. The smell coming from the bar is that of a very mild, almost earthy tea. There’s no question that the bar has some tea action going on inside.
The only thing that looks different in this bar than the other ones is the presence of some light brown sections which I can only assume give the bar it’s hojicha latte flavour. The texture is like any other Black Thunder bar, it’s like biting into a chocolate covered cookie, and has that same crumbly goodness to it. The flavour is a very mild hojicha one. I’m guessing the latte part of the flavour is what gives it a bit of smoothness, and there isn’t any noticeable or strong after taste of the tea. Similar to my experience with the other bars I’ve tried so far, I am left wanting more…
As with the other mini bars, these are great for a nice quick snack when you need a fast pick me up, as they are only 25 grams, and aren’t TOO bad at 137 calories each. The bar itself is pretty solid, so I don’t imagine you need to worry too much about breakage, and it’s not too prone to melting since the inside is basically a cookie. The hojicha flavour is mild enough that, even if you don’t like tea or lattes, this is still a good bar to try. If you are going into this expecting a strong hojicha flavour, you may be disappointed, as the smell and the flavour are both quite mild. But that might also be a good thing if you just want something a little different from the standard bar, but not too different that it’s unrecognizable.
