LeTAO is a popular confectionery maker based founded in Otaru, Hokkaidō in Japan. The name ‘Le TAO’ is an abbreviation of the French phrase ‘La Tour Amitie Otaru’, which translates to ‘The Amiable Tower of Otaru’ and is a reference to their head store at Otaru’s Meruhen intersection that is in the shape of a big tower.
LeTAO is known for its modern takes on traditional Western confectionery and we picked up these LeTAO Thé Noir Darjeeling Chocolate and Cookie.
Boxes come in various sizes, from 10 to 20 to even 50 pieces. This one contained 20 pieces.
Each piece is sealed individually in red foil.
Each piece consisted of two Darjeeling black tea cookies sandwiching a chocolate cream.
These cookies have a fragrant Darjeeling black tea aroma with a mellow, yet rich chocolate notes in the background. Upon tasting, the gentle sweet fruitiness of the Darjeeling came through immediately as we bite into the crisp cookie with a fine crumb. On reaching the centre, the cream is velvety smooth with a dark chocolate flavour whose slight bitterness pairs well with the fragrant tea of the cookie and melts in the mouth with the lightness of the cookie.
The texture and melt-in-the-mouth quality of these cookies recall that of the Ishiya Shiroi Koibito cookies. In comparison to the Ishiya Shiroi Koibito Black, where the richness of the dark chocolate overwhelms the lightness of the sandwiching sugar cookies, these Darjeeling black tea flavoured cookies hold their own. As for the Ishiya Shiroi Koibito White, they are both some the best cookies in their class.
This LeTAO The Noir Darjeeling Chocolate and Cookie contained 20 cookies. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Sapporo, Japan in 2018.