Do you love soft serve ice-cream? Do you love matcha green tea? Do you love both of the aforementioned? If so, it is only obligatory that you taste the double matcha green tea soft serve at Masuda Tea Store in Uji, Kyoto.
Uji is in southern Kyoto, and is thought to be the first place in Japan to have mastered tea growing. Thus, it makes sense that Uji is so famous and well-known for matcha.
Masuda tea store sells a variety of matcha green tea products including Osusuki tea and dumplings and several kinds of matcha tea, but what is most famous to travelers is most definitely the green tea ice-cream.
Why is it so special, and why is it "double" matcha green tea flavored? To put it into words would take away from the beauty that is the actual creation of the dessert, but to summarize: the green tea ice-cream is swirled onto the ice-cream cone, and then additional matcha powder is sprinkled delicately, but generously, atop the soft serve - giving you an extra boost of matcha goodness with each lick.
The exterior sprinkles of matcha give you an initial bitter taste, but then immediately the creamy and sweet taste of the ice-cream melts in your mouth, leaving you with an aromatic aftertaste of matcha. The matcha flavor of the ice-cream is considered one of the best by many travelers.
There are also seats, inside the quaint tea store, for you to sit in, relax and enjoy your tasty delight.
If you are in Kyoto, be sure to take a quick side trip to Uji, as it is so very convenient. And, delicious matcha is not something you would want to miss while traveling in the Kansai area.
Drop by Masuda Tea Store before heading into Byodo-in Temple to treat yourself to one (or two, or more…) delightful ice-cream cone you will be sure to remember!
