{"title":"Japanese Matcha Snacks","description":"\u003cp\u003eGreen tea ground fine and worked into chocolate, biscuits and pretzel sticks. How much matcha you actually taste varies a lot between them, and each product page says where that one sits.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"meiji-meltykiss-matcha-chocolate","title":"Meiji Meltykiss Matcha Chocolate — Cocoa-Dusted Melting Cubes, 53g","description":"\u003cp\u003eA matcha chocolate Japan only sells in winter: cocoa-dusted cubes with a soft matcha centre that turns liquid almost as soon as it is in your mouth. Think of a matcha truffle, then make the middle softer. The matcha is fragrant and only faintly bitter, Meiji tunes it that way deliberately, so if you are after the sharp, astringent hit of properly whisked matcha, this is not trying to be that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a supermarket and konbini chocolate rather than a confectioner's box. What makes it worth the trip is the matcha and the texture, not the price bracket.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the box: メルティーキッス 初摘み濃抹茶 (merutii-kissu hatsu-tsumi koi-maccha). That is the name printed across the front, if you are checking it against the one you had in Japan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eWhich Meltykiss this is\u003c\/strong\u003e: the matcha one. Meiji runs three or four flavours each winter in the same size box, so the strawberry and the plain chocolate sit beside it looking almost identical.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe melt\u003c\/strong\u003e: the reason the brand exists. It is softer than ordinary chocolate by design, and it goes from solid to liquid at mouth temperature rather than needing to be chewed.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe matcha\u003c\/strong\u003e: first-pick, the earliest leaf of the year rather than a later cutting. What you taste from that is more sweetness and savoury depth, and less of the bitter edge.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHow strong is it, really?\u003c\/strong\u003e: mild, and on purpose. This is the one thing people argue about: plenty wish it were more bitter, and almost nobody finds it too much. If you have bounced off matcha before for being too grassy or too sharp, this sits at the gentle end.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSmall, and one at a time\u003c\/strong\u003e: about 13 cubes, each individually wrapped, roughly the size of a chocolate you would eat in one bite.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains milk and soy. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA few things worth knowing before you order. The cube is not solid through: the outside is dusted in cocoa powder and the centre is a soft matcha chocolate, worth saying because English descriptions of this product disagree with each other about it. The green comes from the matcha plus a colouring made from spirulina, an algae, so there is no synthetic dye in it. There is no gelatine in it, nothing gelatine-derived appears in the ingredients, but we have not been able to confirm whether the emulsifier and flavouring are suitable for vegetarian diets, so we do not claim that either way. And if you are comparing it with Kit Kat's matcha, the difference that matters is texture: this is a soft centre that melts, not a wafer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe honest warning: heat is a real risk with this one.\u003c\/strong\u003e Meiji builds it to soften below 23°C, well under ordinary chocolate, which is why Japan only sells it from about October to February. It does not need the fridge, but it does need to stay cool, and an Australian summer does not guarantee that. If the forecast is warm, order it somewhere you can bring it inside the same day, or wait for cooler weather.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Meiji","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48244645200098,"sku":"SH-SNK-0007","price":9.89,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/meiji-meltykiss-matcha-box-front_40eb25db-7fa7-4207-bc03-1821562a0ec0.webp?v=1787219365"},{"product_id":"meiji-almond-chocolate-matcha","title":"Meiji Almond Chocolate Matcha — Uji Matcha, 67g","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe same open-flame-roasted almond as Meiji's red box, wrapped this time in a milk chocolate blended with matcha from Uji, the tea district south of Kyoto, instead of the plain coating. The sweetness is pulled back so the tea comes forward: there is a real green-tea bitterness in the coating, and then the almond's dry snap. If you have been disappointed by matcha confectionery that turns out to be sweet green icing, this is the one that answers back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the pack: \u003cstrong\u003eアーモンドチョコレート抹茶\u003c\/strong\u003e (\u003cem\u003eaamondo chokoreeto maccha\u003c\/em\u003e), almond chocolate, matcha.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe matcha actually lands, and there is unusual evidence for it.\u003c\/strong\u003e In February 2025 a Japanese television panel of three pastry chefs ranked this box first out of twenty supermarket and convenience-store matcha snacks. Among the Japanese buyers of this pack who comment on the matcha at all, about three in four say it comes through rather than hiding behind the sugar, which for this category is not the usual result.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDon't judge it by the colour.\u003c\/strong\u003e Some of the green in the coating comes from added colour, so the shade is not a reading of how much tea is in there. The taste is.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCheck the weight against what you have seen here.\u003c\/strong\u003e This is the 67 g box. Meiji replaced the older 58 g pack in late 2024, and the discontinued size is still on sale in Australia.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe honest bit, and there are two.\u003c\/strong\u003e The commonest complaint from Japanese buyers is that this is not different enough from the plain milk-chocolate box to justify the extra: if you only want the almond, buy that one. The second is the box itself: it is noticeably bigger than what is inside it, and the pieces roll around in the empty half.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains milk, almond and soy. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne more thing. Like the rest of Meiji's nut range, vegetable fat stands in for part of the cocoa butter here.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Meiji","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48289832108258,"sku":"SH-SNK-0030","price":6.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/meiji-almond-chocolate-matcha-pack.webp?v=1788124928"},{"product_id":"mister-ito-languly-uji-matcha","title":"Mister Ito Languly Uji Matcha Biscuits — 12 Pieces","description":"\u003cp\u003eA thin, crisp biscuit with a matcha cream between two of them, twelve to a box. The honest version: the biscuit is the strong part here, thick, properly crisp, better than it needs to be, and the matcha is light. You taste a gentle green sweetness rather than a bracing bowl of tea. If you want a matcha biscuit you can eat three of in a row, this is it; if you want matcha that bites back, this is not the one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eラングリー 宇治抹茶玉露入り. Look for the deep green box with the little paper tag and the red parasol on it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe biscuit is the reason to buy it.\u003c\/strong\u003e A langue de chat, a thin, crisp, buttery biscuit, but thicker than the delicate French version the name comes from, so it snaps rather than shatters. The browned rim on each one is deliberate, and the bakery treats it as the sign of a good bake.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReal tea is in the cream, and so is gyokuro\u003c\/strong\u003e: a shaded green tea, both as ingredients in their own right rather than flavourings. The maker adds the gyokuro deliberately as a background note, and almost nobody picks it out as a separate thing.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe caveat, said plainly: the matcha is not strong.\u003c\/strong\u003e This is not a dark, bitter, ceremonial-grade hit, the cream tastes closer to a sweet white chocolate with green tea through it. As an easy-to-eat green-tea biscuit, it is a good one.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe green is not all matcha.\u003c\/strong\u003e Gardenia and turmeric are on the ingredient list as colouring, alongside the tea. Worth knowing, since the colour is the first thing that sells it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTwelve biscuits, as four sealed packs of three\u003c\/strong\u003e: so it is four sittings rather than one, the rest stay crisp once you have opened the first, and the box survives a bag without turning to crumbs.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains wheat, egg, milk and soy. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGyokuro is the shaded tea described above; you are not meant to taste it as a separate thing. Uji is the Kyoto tea district the maker names this cream after, no farm or grower is named behind it, so read it as the pack's own name for the flavour rather than an address. People divide sharply over how sweet the whole biscuit is, and every box tastes the same: some find it restrained and some find it a sweet biscuit with a green cream. It is the same biscuit as the vanilla and chocolate Languly: across the range only the cream changes. Ito Biscuits has been making the Languly line since 1979, and had sold 150 million units across the whole line by its fortieth anniversary — that record belongs to the line, and this is one of its seasonal editions rather than one of the two year-round flavours, so it comes and goes: the chocolate and vanilla are the ones that are always there.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mister Ito","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48290700820706,"sku":"SH-SNK-0036","price":4.94,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/mister-ito-languly-uji-matcha-box.webp?v=1788159242"},{"product_id":"glico-pocky-koi-fukami-matcha","title":"Glico Matcha Pocky Koi Fukami — Uji Green Tea, 2 Packs","description":"\u003cp\u003eA matcha Pocky where the matcha is in the biscuit as well as the coating: the stick itself is green, with matcha worked into the dough, under a chocolate made with stone-milled matcha. It tastes clearly of green tea rather than of green-tea flavouring: more sweet-edged than bracing, though the matcha does deliver for most people. It is the approachable one of the two matcha boxes we sell. Buy it if you want matcha you can eat a whole bag of; if you want the richer, thicker-coated version, the two-layer box is the one, though be warned that its own buyers split on whether it is actually as astringent as its name claims.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eポッキー＜濃い深み抹茶＞: \u003cem\u003ekoi fukami matcha\u003c\/em\u003e, roughly \"deep, rich matcha\". Matcha is powdered green tea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTwo kinds of matcha, not twice as much.\u003c\/strong\u003e You will see this sold in English as \"double the green tea\". It is a mistranslation: 二種の抹茶 means \u003cem\u003etwo kinds\u003c\/em\u003e. One is ground on a stone mill and goes into the chocolate; a second, more bitter one is kneaded into the biscuit. Glico names Uji matcha. Uji, near Kyoto, is the region Japan most associates with it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe biscuit is green, and you taste the matcha in it.\u003c\/strong\u003e It snaps like any other Pocky; what changes is that the bitter edge comes up through the stick instead of sitting only on the outside.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHow strong is it, honestly.\u003c\/strong\u003e The matcha delivers for most palates, and a real minority find the pack promises more than it gives: the word that falls short is \u003cem\u003ebitter\u003c\/em\u003e, not \u003cem\u003ematcha\u003c\/em\u003e. If you read matcha desserts as usually too sweet, you will probably like it. If you drink your matcha unsweetened, temper your expectations.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIt is a spring seasonal in Japan\u003c\/strong\u003e, run once a year since 2017 and not made the rest of the time. What is on the shelf is what there is until the next run.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThere is caffeine in it\u003c\/strong\u003e, as there is in any real green-tea product. Glico declares it on the pack, which it does not do on most Pocky.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains \u003cstrong\u003emilk, wheat and soy\u003c\/strong\u003e. The same production line also runs egg and peanut products. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThree things to clear up before you order. First, we sell \u003cstrong\u003etwo\u003c\/strong\u003e matcha Pocky and their Japanese names differ by one character. This is 濃い\u003cstrong\u003e深み\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cem\u003ekoi fukami\u003c\/em\u003e, \"deep\", and the other is 濃い\u003cstrong\u003e渋み\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003ekoi shibumi\u003c\/em\u003e, \"astringent\", built in two chocolate layers over a cocoa biscuit and more thickly coated. Second, the matcha Pocky Australian supermarkets range is a different, smaller pack made for export, and its own retailer describes the coating as a green tea \u003cem\u003ecream\u003c\/em\u003e; this box's ingredient list names cocoa butter. Third, Glico has quietly made this box smaller twice since 2019 and most sellers still list an older, larger pack. This is the current one. Keep it below 28 °C and out of direct sun; it is chocolate on a stick, and a hot letterbox will show.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Glico","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48296844001506,"sku":"SH-SNK-0044","price":6.1,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/glico-pocky-koi-fukami-matcha-box-front.webp?v=1788500817"},{"product_id":"glico-pocky-two-layer-matcha","title":"Glico Matcha Pocky 2-Layer Uji Green Tea — 2 Packs","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe premium matcha Pocky, and the only one built in two chocolate layers: a \u003cstrong\u003ecocoa\u003c\/strong\u003e biscuit is coated in a thick matcha chocolate, then wrapped again in an aerated, mousse-textured chocolate. You get a hard snap and then something that gives way and melts, which no other Pocky does. The matcha is genuinely strong, and the coating is noticeably thicker than the single-layer box's. Buy it if you want the good version rather than the everyday one; if you want something you can eat a whole bag of without thinking, the single-layer box is the easier buy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eポッキー2層仕立て＜濃い渋み抹茶＞: \u003cem\u003enisou shitate\u003c\/em\u003e, meaning \"made in two layers\". Matcha is powdered green tea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTwo coatings, not two biscuits.\u003c\/strong\u003e Layer one is a dense matcha chocolate straight onto the stick; layer two is whipped with air until it is light. You can see both in cross-section if you snap a stick.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThe biscuit is cocoa, not matcha.\u003c\/strong\u003e That is the real difference from the other green box: the bitterness under the coating here is cocoa, and it is what keeps a thickly-coated sweet stick from cloying.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIt is properly rich, and that part holds up.\u003c\/strong\u003e It sits clearly above ordinary matcha Pocky for the people who eat a lot of both. What splits opinion is the \u003cem\u003eastringency\u003c\/em\u003e the name promises: it tastes milder than billed about as often as it delivers. Rich, yes. Bracing, not reliably.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTwo layers you can see; two flavours you may not taste.\u003c\/strong\u003e The cross-section is unmistakable, but whether you actually taste the mild matcha and the sharper one as two things in the same bite is genuinely disputed. Worth knowing before you pay for the construction.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIt carries caffeine\u003c\/strong\u003e, as any real green-tea product does, and this is the only Pocky we sell where Glico declares it on the pack, with more of it than the single-layer matcha box.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIt is a limited run\u003c\/strong\u003e: Glico sells it until it is gone rather than stocking it year-round.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains \u003cstrong\u003emilk, wheat and soy\u003c\/strong\u003e. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThree things before you order. We sell \u003cstrong\u003etwo\u003c\/strong\u003e matcha Pocky whose Japanese names differ by a single character. This is 濃い\u003cstrong\u003e渋み\u003c\/strong\u003e: \u003cem\u003ekoi shibumi\u003c\/em\u003e, \"astringent\", the two-layer one; the other is 濃い\u003cstrong\u003e深み\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cem\u003ekoi fukami\u003c\/em\u003e, \"deep\", single-layer with matcha in the biscuit, sweeter and easier going. The matcha Pocky Australian supermarkets range is neither: it is a smaller pack made for export, and its own retailer describes the coating as a green tea \u003cem\u003ecream\u003c\/em\u003e, where this box's ingredient list names cocoa butter. And take the storage seriously on this one in particular: the outer layer is an aerated chocolate, the softest coating of any Pocky we stock, and Glico's instruction is to keep it below 28 °C and out of direct sun.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Glico","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48296844493026,"sku":"SH-SNK-0045","price":8.3,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/glico-pocky-nisou-shitate-matcha-box-front.webp?v=1788501071"},{"product_id":"lotte-sasa-rich-uji-matcha-woven-chocolate-69g","title":"Lotte Sasa Rich Uji Matcha Woven Chocolate — 69g","description":"\u003cp\u003eA chocolate built from about 1,350 thread-thin lines, woven into a sheet and cut into pieces, so it snaps instead of breaking. Three chocolates go into the weave: matcha, bitter and white. Matcha is green tea ground to a powder, and this one uses matcha from Uji, the tea-growing area near Kyoto. Buy it if you want matcha you can eat like chocolate; if you want a strong, bitter, tea-forward hit, this is the wrong box.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the pack: 紗々 芳醇抹茶. The name is said \u003cem\u003esasha\u003c\/em\u003e, and 紗 is the word for a thin, sheer woven cloth, which is exactly what the chocolate is made to look like. The plain chocolate box is the original of the range; this is the matcha one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEach line is about 1.5 mm wide. You can hear it break, and then it comes apart on the tongue rather than melting in a lump.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow much matcha you taste divides people. Some get a rich, grown-up tea flavour; others find the white chocolate takes over.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEach piece is wrapped on its own, so the box is easy to hand round at work or take to someone's house.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKeep it somewhere cool, each piece is a thin woven sheet, not a solid block.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains milk and soy. Made on equipment that also handles egg and wheat. Read the pack's own label before you rely on ours.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf matcha KitKat is your reference, this is a different thing: there is no wafer, and the matcha is mixed through the chocolate rather than coating it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lotte","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48311744069858,"sku":"SH-SNK-0050","price":9.8,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/lotte-sasa-rich-uji-matcha-box-front.webp?v=1788513112"}],"url":"https:\/\/shintop.com.au\/collections\/matcha.oembed","provider":"Shintop Trading Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}