We try the new Häagen-Dazs Decorations ice creams in Japan

Has the brand improved on their first release, when its decorations looked more like Chinese food?

Häagen-Dazs is the brand people reach for in Japan when they’re after a mini tub of luxurious ice cream, and now there’s even more reason to treat ourselves with the release of two new “Decorations” varieties.

The Decorations series, which features more decorative toppings than their regular range, was first introduced to the Japanese market back in 2016. Back then, however, the ice creams made news when customers who saw the cookie toppings likened them to a Chinese meal.

It’s been a while since we last gave the series a try, so we decided to pick up the new tubs when they were released at stores on 23 March to see if they’d made any improvements to the range. Peeling back the lid on our first tub, the Matcha Chocolate Cookie, revealed an array of green and brown cookie chunks.

▼ The lid conjures up the mental image of the dessert, while on the left, we have the reality.

The chocolate cubes that reminded customers of meat in 2016 were still here, although thankfully they weren’t sitting alongside white chocolate chunks resembling tofu. This time, their green matcha companions helped to give them a sweeter, more chocolatey look, which made the whole dessert seem much more appealing.

It was a generous serving of cookies, to ensure each bite was a textural delight, and beneath it all lay a rich matcha ice cream interspersed with chocolate sauce, which provided a wonderful sweetness to the earthy notes of powdered green tea.

Moving on to the second variety, the Almond Caramel Cookie, revealed a very enticing decoration with caramel hues and a scattering of slivered almonds.

▼ The topping also includes crunchy butter cookie pieces.

This one contains a rich caramel butterscotch ice cream and a bittersweet caramel sauce, which creates a fantastic combination of salty, sweet, bitter flavours on the tongue.

Unlike the Matcha Chocolate Cookie, this is a variety that previously appeared on the market, back in 2019, and its return to stores this year is a testament to its popularity. Here’s hoping the new matcha offering will be reappearing in future years too, because this is such a perfect pairing of flavours we’d recommend enjoying a spoonful of each in turn for total, no-holds-barred decadence.

Now that we think of it, we wouldn’t mind another taste of the limited-edition Japonais matcha pie too!

Photos © SoraNews24
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