Jade Chocolates Genmai bar
Just tried the Jade Chocolates Genmai bar. Milk chocolate with roasted brown rice and jasmine and green tea flavor. Again, I am seduced by pretty package design. And you might not be able to tell from the photo, but the paper feels nice too. (Wrapped in "handmade LOKTA PAPER from the mountains of Nepal" the packaging informs me. Though perhaps that's the interior white paper and not the cool-feeling green outer wrapper. ANYWAY.)
Not a bad bar of chocolate, quality-wise, but I didn't like the green tea flavoring or aftertaste. Very strange since I love all the ingredients (green tea! yeah!) and they're apparently proud of the aftertaste. When I first popped it into my mouth I was like, "ah yeah this is gonna be awesome! Green tea + chocolate! Smells nice. Hey not bad chocolate + green tea combo!" But after a second it goes a little odd and the aftertaste feels artificial and chemical-y. I like crunchy things in my chocolate, so the brown rice was a plus, but didn't save the bar.
Still, Jade Chocolate's website tells me that this bar won "1st place for 'Best Flavored Chocolate' at the 2010 San Francisco Chocolate Salon," so maybe I am alone in my dislike of the flavoring/aftertaste. And at $6.25, the quality of the milk chocolate itself (disregarding the tea flavoring) is right for the price, but nothing that blew me away or that disappointed.