4/30.

For serious matcha lovers only! Ever since I read about Asakusa’s legendary Suzukien, the only place to get seven different grades of matcha gelato, I knew I had to go give it a try.

Green tea desserts have been around in many Asian cultures for a quite a while. I remember seeing green tea ice cream for sale as a young child whenever my parents took me grocery shopping in our local Chinatown. But now, it has become quite a thing. Specifically, this very particular powdered green tea called “matcha” has become a ubiquitous flavor in Japanese desserts. Matcha refers specifically to powdered green tea, and the very best matcha tea leaves are grown carefully under shade. Fresh matcha is almost blue-green and has a very fresh flavor. It is bitter but does not taste roasted like many fermented teas (including oolong).

This tiny little gelato shop in Asakusa has taken already refined matcha to yet another level! They offer 7 increasingly concentrated grades of matcha gelato, along with other Japanese flavors such as black sesame and kinako (roasted soy bean powder). Of course, I had to go for the ultra-intense matcha #7! I wanted two scoops of that but due to high demand you had to choose another flavor along with #7 if you wanted a double, so I decided to see what half-intensity would be like and ordered a #4 on top.

Oh man, it was everything I wanted it to be, and more. If you love that bitter and sweet combination of matcha desserts, but have always wished it was more bitter, you’d love this. #4 was intense enough for me to go “wow!” but still enjoy the dessert-like quality of the gelato. Compared to, let’s say, a matcha Kit-Kat, it probably still had five times the amount of matcha. You could imagine how concentrated the #7 would be then (or could you!?). Eating a scoop of #7 was matcha overload. I barely tasted the sweetness, and got a mouthful of really fresh, creamy and bitter green tea flavor. To me, it was magical. To people who like their desserts sweet, this may not be your thing. If you want to experience what may be some of the freshest, true-to-flavor matcha ice cream you’ll ever have, check out Suzukien if you’re ever paying a visit to Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. It is less than a 5 minute walk from the temple grounds.

遠眺龜山島

在iPhone上打「遠眺」，預選詞就會出現「龜山島」。