(Gogo no Koucha Furooszun Teii Rate | Afternoon Tea Frozen Tea Latte)
General Description
Are we finally exiting winter? Is it too early to start going through the frozen dessert aisle?
Today we have a collaboration product! Using Kirin's milk tea as a base for Morinaga's frozen latte! This collab actually started in 2024, so it's cool that it's still running!
The product advertises itself as a frozen tea latte (using Assam tea) with white chocolate chips, topped with vanilla ice cream and a black tea flavoured syrup. The dessert is classified as "lacto ice." I went over the categories for Japanese frozen desserts before in our Mow review, but basically "lacto ice" refers to a product that contains 3% or greater amount of milk solids, the lowest requirement of the 3 categories. Unlike the other categories, it also doesn't need to contain any milk fat. Although it is part of the "ice cream" categories, it's closer to shaved ice in my opinion.
I tend to like stuff from Kirin and Morinaga, so I'm excited to jump in and try it!
Review
- Price
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194 JPY (180ml cup x 1) - Taste
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The ice cream has a nice, sweet vanilla taste. It's not easy to tell from the sealed package, but the ice cream goes almost all the way to the bottom. The syrup has a stronger "syrup" flavour than tea flavour, but it's still noticeable.
The chocolate chips are small, like the ones you can find in some chocolate mint ice cream. It's more for texture than taste, though it does add some sweetness. The drink itself is sweet and slightly bitter like milk tea. - Texture
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The ice cream is thin, but soft and creamy. The chocolate chips are small and hard, almost like small chunks of ice in a snow cone. The drink is not creamy like ice cream, but the ice does melt in your mouth. It doesn't get creamier if you mix it with the ice cream.
- Smell
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There's a faint black tea smell.
- Overall
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It's a very typical Japanese treat in how it's light and sweet. It makes a good snack or dessert for just the taste rather than to fill you up. It doesn't stand out nor is it a "must try" item, but it's a different way to enjoy a sweet milk tea.One thing that Kirin suggests on their product page that I didn't try is mixing in their Afternoon Milk Tea after eating a bit of the frozen dessert first. Then you can enjoy it as a "frozen drink." If you like milk tea and are interested in this dessert, you can give it a try (and maybe I will too next time)!
- Would I try again?
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I prefer thicker, creamier frozen desserts, but I wouldn't turn this down. Perhaps every now and then.
