This beverage is the Coca-Cola Ayataka Cafe Kyūsu Kōhī Black Matcha x Coffee. It was crafted in collaboration with Kyōto’s well-established tea shop, ‘Uebayashi Harumatsu Honten,’ and the specialty coffee shop, ‘Sarutahiko Kōhī.’ As part of the Ayataka Cafe range, this tea was produced using Japanese tea leaves, paying close attention to the brewing process inspired by the traditional method of making Japanese tea in a teapot. Matcha composed of 37% of the beverage.
The drink presented itself with an opaque brown-black hue and carried an aroma reminiscent of sweet, nutty black sesame, rather than the more typical scents of coffee or matcha. Upon tasting, a nuttiness, akin to hōjicha but with less inherent sweetness, graced the forefront of each sip. This note gradually evolved into an aromatic body with a subtle touch of bitterness. As the sip journey concluded, it transformed into a gentle woodiness with a hint of acidity. The surprisingly restrained bitterness of this matcha-coffee fusion stood out as it diverged from the usual profiles of both coffee and matcha, with the combination of roasted coffee and grassy matcha creating a unique flavour resembling that of roasted green tea. Being unsweetened, this drink also boasted a smoother and more aromatic flavour compared to similar fusions offered by Starbucks and Matcha-ya, which we found to be a preferable choice.
This Coca-Cola Ayataka Cafe Kyūsu Kōhī Black Matcha x Coffee contained 280 mL. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2023.