The Japanese are known for their love of green tea, but they are also partial to the odd cup of the milky black tea favoured in the West, a brew they respectfully term ‘Royal Tea.’

As if in a nod to Japan’s Anglosphere expats, the diary goods maker Meiji has added a ‘Tea and Biscuits’ flavoured concoction to its much-loved range of ice cream tubs, a move that is sure to win approval, royal and otherwise, from tea and biscuit aficionados.

Meiji’s ‘Super Cup Tea Cookies’ marks the reappearance of an ice cream that was first released in a limited, seasonal run in January 2019. Noting its popularity with shoppers, the company has decided to bring it back.

‘Super Cup Tea Cookies’ ice cream is a worthy addition to the venerable stable of taste sensations that make up the Super Cup range of tubbed ice creams and is sure to cause a ripple of excitement among frozen milk product fans.

Sceptics might dismiss the new product, thinking it flavoured with plain old black tea, but they would be mistaken, for it is in fact flavoured with milky tea. Suddenly, a taste redolent of nowhere in particular conjures up visions of late summer days spent slurping a brew in a deckchair on a cricket pitch in old southern England.

Yet what really pushes Meiji’s latest creation over the boundary separating special and sublime is the addition of biscuit flavouring. Tuck into a tub and you need only close your eyes to imagine you are dunking a digestive tea biscuit into a cup of tea.

According to Meiji’s PR team, their ‘Super Cup Tea Cookies’ ice cream is “a smooth and rich ice cream base that has been made into black tea ice cream with the image of milk tea.” The team enjoins fans of Meiji’s range of seasonal ice creams to “enjoy the accent of the texture by mixing cookies with a scent of black tea and a moist texture.”

It also announces Meiji’s determination to “revitalize the ice cream market,” fighting talk that is sure to set ice cream lovers salivating over the length and breadth of the nation.

Meiji’s gambit has brought a smile to the faces of tea and biscuit fans, but unfortunately it is only available in Japan. British tea and biscuit fans will have to journey east (pandemic containment measures permitting) to appreciate Meiji’s sublimely canny transmogrification of a perennial teatime favourite into an ice cream.

Meiji’s Essel Super Cup Tea Cookie flavour ice cream was released nationwide on September 7th. It is available in 200ml tubs, with a suggested retail price of ¥140 yen, excluding tax.