Tirol Chocolate – Sakura Matcha

There are certain flavours or foods I wonder about. Some things that we take for granted would have at some point been a discovery by our ancient ancestors who took the risk to find out whether something was edible, and more importantly palatable. I sometimes wonder what drew the first people to try eating flowers like sakura. I imagined the most reasonable explanation was they saw the petals falling and decided to put one in their mouth, since they looked so beautiful and smelled so fragrant. I do wonder if the actual truth is more nonsensical or comical, like a guy added the petals to something to give it a different colour, only to accidentally discover it actually tastes good.

As much as I can wonder, what is clear is that it’s become a popular enough flavour to stand on it’s own in this day and age, and more variety in flavours is always a welcome thing in my books. Combine that with something that is already well established like matcha and you have a winning combination.

I’ve said it before about some of the newer pouches, but it makes me sad to only see six pieces instead of seven. Inflation is a real bummer man. It makes sense for Tirol though, since it’s one of those brands that is considered inexpensive and increasing their prices instead of reducing the piece count would probably hurt them more in total sales.

The top layer is the classic matcha chocolate that I’ve come to grow fond of and know Tirol for, while the bottom is the sakura flavoured chocolate. The center of it all is a soft, and ever so slightly chewy marshmallow layer. It’s still very fluffy and airy, and gives the whole piece a bit of a lighter, almost creamy feel to it. I actually think the softer inside helps to bring the piece together. If it was a mochi inside, I would have enjoyed the texture but the piece wouldn’t feel as cohesive as it does now.

The flavour is an interesting combination of sakura and matcha, which incidentally are two things that do tend to be combined quite often. The floral flavour of the sakura lends itself well to the more earthy and bitter tones of the matcha. It comes together in a way that feels natural and just makes sense. Like when you meet that special someone. The marshmallow also helps in both the texture and flavour front, as it’s just a slightly sweet and creamy mild flavour that helps to let the sakura and matcha shine on through.

Ultimately the question is, would I get this again? Probably not. That isn’t to say this is bad, but the flavour of sakura has never been a huge selling point to me. If you like that floral flavour than this would be great, but it’s not for me personally.