What was the cherry-like sauce on my green tea ice cream?

[Dianabanana]

A few years ago I had a couple of different green tea ice cream products bought at Tokyo convenience stores. They both had a cherry-like syrup that I thought was called something like "kuromatsu," although Google is telling me I'm wrong. Does anybody know what this syrup is properly called, and what it is?

[helenjp]

Kuromitsu, syrup made with black (dark brown) sugar, though commercial kuromitsu might have rice malt too.

[Hiroyuki]

Kuromatsu? Black pine? Just kidding.

Kuromitsu (black syrup), as Helen said.

I'm not a big fan, but I like the combination of kuromitsu and kinako (soybean powder) in some Japanese confections.

[Dianabanana]

Aha! Only a vowel away! Thank you. I looked it up and it sounds like it should taste like caramel syrup, but this tasted more like if you took the syrup from jarred sour cherries and reduced it until slightly caramelized. Which, now that I've said it, sounds like it would be pretty good with green tea ice cream.

Does black sugar taste distinctly different from brown sugar?

[torakris]

Does black sugar taste distinctly different from brown sugar?

It's a deeper flavor more like molasses.

[helenjp]

I think it also has a sharp, sour taste that doesn't seem to be there in any other brown sugars I've tried.

[Dianabanana]

That must be why I thought it tasted like cherries.