Growing up, I consumed black sesame nearly all the time. As the biggest fan of sesame sauce, I need it when eating hot pot, and spread it on my bread. And of course, I also eat black sesame soup, black sesame rice balls… But when I first moved to the U.S., I was surprised to find that black sesame was not as common as I expected. It was mostly limited to Asian grocery stores and a few specialty restaurants.
Black sesame is a traditional Asian ingredient that has been a staple in East Asian cuisines for centuries. It tastes nutty, slightly bitter, and popular in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean desserts and beverages.
However, over the past decade, black sesame has experienced a surge in popularity in the United States, appearing on menus across the country in everything from ice cream to lattes to pastries.
Yelp’s 2026 Food & Drink Trends points to notable growth in black sesame matcha (+147%), plus increases in black sesame coffee (+23%), black sesame lattes (+23%), and black sesame desserts (+21%). Trendy New York destinations like Bibble & Sip are featured for black sesame pastries (almond croissants, bolo buns, cream puffs) and lattes.
Black sesame went from a niche ingredient to a mainstream flavor on Reddit. In 2011 it got just 4 mentions. By 2019 that grew to 31, and by 2021 it hit 115. In 2025 it reached a new peak of 146 posts.
The health buzz helps too. Black sesame is packed with minerals like calcium and magnesium, and people link it to bone and heart health. A 2025 review analyzing data from 521 adults found that eating a tablespoon, or about 10 grams, of sesame products a day for eight weeks led to modest improvements in markers of heart and metabolic health, such as blood sugar and cholesterol levels, though the authors caution that these observed effects may not reliably “reflect true clinical benefits”, so, take them with a grain of salt.
Black sesame is now widely available across the U.S., with restaurants and cafés in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago offering black sesame items on their menus. It’s also increasingly common in grocery stores, with brands like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods carrying black sesame products.
The rise of black sesame in America reflects broader trends in food culture, including a growing interest in global flavors and a desire for unique and Instagrammable food experiences. As more people discover the delicious and nutritious qualities of black sesame, it’s likely that we’ll continue to see it pop up in new and creative ways in the years to come.