The Japanese tea ceremony captured, in many ways, the flavour of the Japanese spiritual aesthetic. Its elaborate performance strips non-essential objects and movements from the preparation of matcha in accordance with a Zen Buddhist approach to life. If there was ever any doubt as to the refinement of this cultural ritual, one need only to read The Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura.

And here we have Glico Pocky Wagokoro Matcha. The word wagokoro combines wa meaning ‘Japanese style’ and gokoro meaning ‘heart’, ‘mind’ or ‘spirit’. Matcha – ground green tea leaf – is the flavour at the heart of the Japanese spiritual aesthetic.

These Wagokoro Matcha Pocky consist of a matcha flavoured biscuit stick covered in bits of crunchy matcha cookie and enrobed in milk chocolate.

The sweet smell of chocolate came through in on opening the package of these Pocky with limited a matcha presence. On eating, the chunky mouthfeel of the cookies and enrobing chocolate is luxurious. The milk chocolate is the first to hit your palate followed by a mellow matcha flavour from the cookie crumbs that recedes briefly as the chocolate melts. The matcha flavour returns as you reach the beautiful green biscuit as a pleasantly balanced and smooth milk chocolate flavour with sweet vegetal matcha notes that become more prominent in the finish and leave a fragrant matcha aftertaste long on the palate.

This Glico Pocky Wagokoro Matcha contained 4 packs each with 6 pieces. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Hiroshima, Japan in 2015.