th matcha just now becoming a more mainstream flavour of ice cream in Sydney, I’d expected a few more years before finding genmaicha flavoured ice cream outside of an Asian grocer. To my surprise, we spotted this Buono Boru Boru Genmaicha Bubble Tea Inspired Non-Dairy Dessert at one of the larger supermarket chains just recently.
The ice cream is described as being ‘a perfect blend of real brewed tea [1.4% genmaicha powder] with plant-based [47.6% coconut milk] frozen dessert combined with special chewy boru balls [20%] to give a sensational discovery with every bite’.
The ice cream is a light green with brown tapioca pearls throughout and a gentle genmaicha aroma. Upon tasting, the genmaicha came through fragrant with its signature toasted nuttiness bright enough to both mask almost all flavour of the coconut milk base as well as to persist throughout subsequent bites but without knocking us over with its intensity. The frozen tapioca pearls give a very generous chew, and while they do not have flavour themselves, the time spent chewing them does cleanse the palate between bites to help the genmaicha flavour persist. Overall, I’m impressed by the subtlety of the coconut milk in the flavour as well as the creaminess of this dairy-free dessert, which is firmer than dairy-based ice cream without being icy.
This Buono Boru Boru Genmaicha Bubble Tea Inspired Non-Dairy Dessert contained 473 ml. It was produced in Thailand and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2020.