Matcha Lindor balls: Lindt adds first-ever Japanese flavour to its popular chocolate range

We try the new green tea chocolate, which will only be released in Asia and Australia.

It’s no secret that much of the world loves matcha. The powdered green tea from Japan has been touted for its health benefits, taste, and delectable hue, which can add a hint of green to anything from sweet desserts to savoury dishes.

Now Lindt is jumping on the green tea bandwagon, introducing a new matcha Lindor ball, which is being touted as the company’s first-ever Japanese flavour. Released on 3 September, we stopped by our nearest Lindt store to get a taste of the new chocolate, and when we arrived, a saleswoman at the entrance was offering some for free to customers.

We walked inside, and our eyes were immediately drawn to this huge mound of matcha Lindor balls, which were given prime position amongst their other flavours.

Despite being a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company, Lindt has twelve factories around the world, located in Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Austria and the U.S. These new matcha lindor balls, which combine green tea with milky white chocolate, are made in Italy.

The promotional posters for the new chocolate really play up the star ingredient with beautiful images featuring cups of frothy matcha alongside zen-like swirls. So we were eager to find out if the new flavour would be able to deliver the same delightful experience as a bowl of green tea in a peaceful Japanese garden setting.

We reached our hand into this enticing mound of shiny green balls and picked one out to take to the office.

It was definitely quieter when we arrived back at the office, with the only sound being Mr Sato typing away on his keyboard as he wrote his piece about the Human Restaurant, the Robot Restaurant’s new rival in Shinjuku.

When we popped our new Lindt ball out from our bag, the sound of Mr Sato’s fingers on the keyboard began to sound more like the tapping of a bamboo water fountain, as the word “MATCHA” instantly conjured up scenes of garden serenity.

We unwrapped the beautiful little piece and found that the Matcha Lindor ball was coated in a white chocolate casing. Because it had taken us a while to get from store to office, the ball had actually warmed up and melted a little, which gave it an enticing pale green hue.

When we cut into it we realised just how melted our little ball was. The usually hard centre had become soft and gooey, but we didn’t mind at all as we knew this would give us a more memorable melt-in-the-mouth matcha experience.

So what was it like? Well, in a word, it was heaven. Lindt are known for making exquisitely rich, creamy chocolates, and this new variety delivered all that, only this time the luxurious texture was complemented with the delicious taste of matcha. It was fresh and earthy, yet rich and creamy at the same time, and unlike a lot of matcha chocolates, which can be overwhelmed by the flavour of white chocolate, the green tea element was well-pronounced throughout, rounding itself off nicely in the final aftertaste.

Image: @Press

Available at Lindt stores around Japan, each ball, which is priced by weight, costs approximately 100 yen (US$0.89). Following its Japan release, the matcha lindor ball will be sold exclusively in Australia and seven countries across Asia, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand, so if you know anyone travelling to these destinations soon, be sure to add these to your wish list!

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