Rakki Cafe Black sesame ube swirl soft serve: This Japanese dessert shop next to Reckless Records, in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, has some of the best soft serve I've had. I got their black sesame and ube swirl, a super refreshing and balanced combination. The black sesame was especially great, with a deep nutty flavor that was as savory as it is sweet. Wish I could have tried the matcha This Japanese dessert shop next to Reckless Records, in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, has some of the best soft serve I've had.... (read more) 4.5/5.0
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Royal Three Black Taste: Korean chocolate. Amazing black sesame flavored milk chocolate. Sweetness is just-right. 4.0/5.0
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Shake Shack black and white malted milk shake: A thick, rich milkshake made of high quality vanilla and chocolate ice cream. I love malted milkshakes, and the extra $0.50 for malted is definitely worth it. Needs to be paired with a tall glass of water. Definitely not for the faint of heart but a treat once in a while (it's about 1/3 of your daily calories). 4.0/5.0
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Shake Shack Black sesame milkshake: I hadn't been to a Shake Shack in Japan and stumbled upon one near Meiji Jingu, where I went to see the yellow autumn ginko trees. I stopped in to see if they had any exclusives, and their menu features a Japan-only black sesame shake. It was super satisfying on multiple levels: thicker than anything I've found in Japan, with a nutty and savory black sesame flavor that didn't taste at all artificial. Black sesame is one of my favorite flavors; I've had a lot of black sesame snacks over the ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Sharetea Hokkaido black milk tea with boba: I stopped by this branch of Sharetea to scout out tea shops in downtown Berkeley; this one is located right on the edge of campus. Coming in around lunchtime meant there was a sizeable line of college students, and it took about 10 minutes total from getting in line to retrieving my drink. Their menu has several variants of classic black milk tea, including Hokkaido black tea, which supposedly has a roasted brown sugar flavor. Though I ordered it at 30% sweetness, it was more sweet than I wo... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Snow Brand Black Sesame Pudding: This is the final unique flavor I've been able to find of this brand of Japanese pudding / custard. The black sesame has a sweet flavor, lacking some of the savoriness you would get in a true black sesame dessert, but satisfying as a sweet dessert. The texture is excellent and barely set, which I am especially impressed by for a packaged product. Worth trying! 3.5/5.0
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