Have you ever had chocolate so good that you just plop down the money like you wouldn’t believe?

Well, we have that in Hokkaido. Or more like, in Japan. One of my favorite souvenirs to buy for my family and friends is Royce Nama Chocolate. Nama (生なま) means raw or fresh in Japanese, which means that these chocolates are not baked or dried. The nama part comes from the chocolates’ use of fresh cream. These pieces retain their softness and are not the usual crispy chocolate bars that you usually get from the stores.

Royce Nama chocolates are a type of ganache, which is a type of smooth chocolate filling that is in a more solid state. These chocolates are very creamy and very rich in flavor. They’re so silky and moist that they instantly melt in your mouth. If you’re not careful, they’ll also melt in your hands so I don’t recommend eating them with your fingers. They’re usually topped with some kind of powder, like chocolate or sometimes matcha powder. They’re usually not that sweet, but it depends on the flavor. For example, white chocolate is usually sweeter than the darker versions.

A box usually comes with twenty pieces packaged in plastic. It comes with a little pick that you can use to eat the chocolates with.

Here in Hokkaido, these chocolates are very popular souvenirs. They also come in various different flavors, from your regular plain and white chocolate. They also have a bitter-tasting one. They also have fruity flavored ones like strawberry.

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Usually, though, these flavors change all the time. One year, they had an orange-flavored box. The next year, they had mango. They also have more “adult” flavored ones that are infused with liquor.

But my absolute favorite is the matcha-flavored chocolates. They are soooo good that everyone requests these all the time. The only problem is that they need to be refrigerated or they will melt. They also have a vey short shelf life so they go bad pretty quickly. Once I brought it home and my brothers thought it was ice cream, it was that creamy.

Last month, they went on sale at Tokyu Department store because Royce was having a promotional campaign to celebrate their 30th year in business. I capitalized on that event and bought a whole bunch.

These are probably my favorite chocolates ever. Unfortunately, they’re quite expensive, about ¥800 for one box, so I usually don’t often buy them. However, when I feel the need to eat these chocolates, I don’t mind spending good money for some really rich and delicious matcha nama chocolates.