Monday, December 22, 2008

Meiji Matcha Apollo

Matcha Apollo

While in Kyoto a few months ago, I picked up pretty much every matcha sweet I could find (except for hard candy, as it's not my sweet of choice), and I've finished pretty much all of them, but I was saving a couple of these matcha Apollo for later so I could write a review.

I've tried original (strawberry) Apollo, as well as blueberry and cheesecake. A few years ago, my friend sent me some matcha Apollo, but I certainly didn't remember it well enough to write a review. Well, I finally ate the last two chocolates, and I'm ready to review.

Meiji Matcha Apollo

I might have remembered these being better than they actually were. It's not that they aren't good, they're just not great compared to the plethora of marvelous Meiji matcha sweets out there, and not even as good as the other kinds of Apollo I've tried.

The chocolate was a little weak and the matcha flavor was very much in the background. They still tasted good, but they were disappointing compared to matcha Meltykiss or a plain Meiji matcha white chocolate bar, both of which manage to have a strong matcha flavor and rich, smooth chocolate. I suppose Apollo isn't meant to be rich chocolate, but I think my hopes were just too high.

These are certainly a pleasant snack, and would be good for those who don't like a strong green tea taste, but for a die-hard matcha fan, there are many better choices.

B

Meiji Website (Japanese)

3 comments:

Orchid64 said...

Lately, I've been seeing Apollo everywhere, but I can't bring myself to sample it. It just looks so fake. The 99 yen shop was carrying 3 flavors at one point and I wasn't tempted to try it. I think it's the half unnatural color for chocolate color with natural chocolate color that turns me off.

Kelly said...

Wow Matcha Apollo! I really wanted to try the Hokkaido versions of Apollo like the blueberry cheesecake but they were so expensive, i didn't bother.

Matcha sounds great though!! I always thought of these being for kids, it's funny how now more adult flavours are coming out.

ebidebby said...

Orchid64 - I don't hate Apollo, but it's definitely not my favorite. That's a very Japanese sentiment, though, about unnatural color! One of my Japanese friends freaked out about an American birthday cake because the frosting was blue, pink, and green and she thought it was toxic.

Kelly - they must be cashing in on the nostalgia factor. I really like the "premium" Apollo flavors, the big, individually wrapped ones. I wish there was a premium matcha flavor!