By Jecca Berta

We introduced our Hanami Collection in the spring of 2022. Our very first seasonal bonbon set, it was inspired by the Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival) and the Japanese custom of cherry blossom viewing, better known as hanami. We’ve brought it back every spring since, though it’s never quite the same year-to-year (peanut-matcha has entered the chat). Below, Head Chocolatier Nicholas shares how this Collection has, well, blossomed. 

At its heart, this Collection celebrates the freshness of spring through Japanese traditions and foods. How do you do that without being too literal? 

It’s not overwrought. It’s about aiming for authenticity. We’re inspired by Japanese flavors, but we’re not beholden to do something the way they would in Japan. I don’t know how to make mochi, and I’m not going to make it well. It’s important to play to your strengths and be inspired by these ingredients that may be foreign or new to you, and use them in that way. Ultimately that’s more authentic. I would expect the team at Dandelion Japan to do the same with ingredients I send them. That would be a joy. 

There’s a new bonbon flavor this year. Tell us about that.  

The one flavor that’s totally new is the Peanut-Matcha & Jelly bonbon. It’s replacing the Shiroan & Macadamia one, which had a sakura-infused white-bean paste. We loved the flavor, but with these kinds of collections we like to have a refresh. I wanted to do something with matcha because I felt like we could do a really good job with that. Then it turned out it’s difficult to get good matcha. All the people that Dandelion Japan recommended couldn’t export because demand is so high. There’s a shortage, which goes to show how popular it is.

So then you found matcha peanut butter. How did that happen?

About a year ago, a small Japanese company called Happy Nuts Day presented us with some peanut butter that uses peanuts from the Chiba Prefecture. It was a really good product. They’re amazing peanuts. The best. Most of the peanuts grown in the U.S. go to industrial peanut butter, so it can be hard to find high-quality ones. We tried several different ones, including some from Virginia, but when we tried these, they were exceptional. Happy Nuts Day makes a matcha peanut butter with the tannic quality that good matcha has, without being too sweet. They source first-flush matcha and blend it into their peanut butter. To me, it hits all the right notes. 

So we’re using that in the Peanut-Matcha & Jelly bonbon. It’s a great way to get high-quality matcha, in a really good format. And because it’s peanut butter, I had to do a PB & J. Flavor-wise, I hate grape jelly. I hated it as a kid. So strawberry seemed like the obvious go-to. We got some good strawberries from a farm down in Monterey and puréed them, and had been looking for a reason to use that. A bunch of things came into alignment. 

Didn’t the Happy Nuts Day folks just visit our factory? 

Yes, they were here recently. They’re based in Japan and are starting to have some presence here. 

When some of the Dandelion Japan team visited us last year, they brought a special bottle of sake: eight-year-old Hanahato Kijoshu “Gorgeous Bird.” You enjoyed it so much that you showcase it in the Aged Sake Bonbon. How did that develop? 

Last year we had a Cara Cara Sake bonbon. It was a sake ganache and an orange pâte de fruit (like an orange jelly). I liked it, but to me it was a little bit sweet. It wasn’t quite what I was looking for. Sometime last year, the Dandelion Japan folks brought this aged sake that was incredible. I had never had aged sake before. It felt fitting to use for Hanami. So for this year’s sake bonbon, I decided to get rid of the orange jelly and just use orange zest to infuse it. It tastes like a Grand Marnier — a super classic bonbon flavor. You go to France and every chocolatier has that flavor. It reminded me of that, but a little more sophisticated, and with a sake quality to it. It’s different. That was another happy accident. The bonbon also features Dandelion Japan’s 70% Zorzal Comunitario, Dominican Republic chocolate, which is a really good fit. 

How else has the Tokyo team influenced the Hanami Collection over the years?

Working with Dandelion Japan gives us a lot of exposure to Japanese culture and traditions. This collection gives us an opportunity to take advantage, in the best possible way, of our relationship with them — getting their advice, tasting their ingredients. I think it’s interesting for people to understand that we have this close relationship. The Hanami Collection is an example of that. 

Editor’s note: Reader, if you aren’t familiar with our Tokyo team, here’s an interview we did with Seiji about how Dandelion Chocolate Japan came to be.

This Collection also features craft Japanese whisky, fifth-generation-roaster black sesame seeds, and specialty Okinawa sugar. How did you go about finding and sourcing ingredients? 

It’s about doing research and trusting people who have that knowledge and can get you to the really good things. The research pays off because then you’re attuned to it. You know what to look for. You’re ready when the moment comes. It’s more philosophical for me. I’m not going to go to the farmers’ market to look for the best apples. I’m going to go to the person who would know, then I’ll try those apples to see if they’re good. If you randomly search for things, you might find something, but you have to build relationships over a long period of time and trust people. I don’t know what all the best things are, but I try to find people who do, and then ask them, instead of trying to figure it out on my own.

For the sesame seeds, Dillon had worked with a company called Japanese Pantry for a previous Hanami Collection. We were researching sesame seeds and tried theirs. They were amazing — a night-and-day difference. Japanese Pantry also led us to the soy sauce we’re using for the caramel in the Black Sesame & Shoyu bonbon. I asked them for a soy sauce that was strongly flavored and salty, and they recommended one that’s used for cooking. Sometimes we’re of the mindset that we need to use the most expensive or fanciest ingredient, but it doesn’t make sense to use a really delicate product when you’re caramelizing, because you’ll lose the essence of it.

Of the five flavor varieties in this year’s Collection, do you have a favorite? 

It’s hard to say. I have two. I really like the matcha one because it’s fun and new, and also the shiso one — the Okinawa-Cashew Praliné. It has a shiso ganache, with the brown sugar flavor; it’s not that sweet, and it has nuts. To me the best bonbons are always the nutty ones. For that one, we switched to Okinawa sugar this year because we really liked it in the Single-Origin Caramel Collection.

We can’t wait to try those, and the others. Thank you so much, Nicholas.