Wacky Snack of The Week - Tirol Chocolate Cheetos

Introducing a new section of my blog : Wacky Snack of The Week.

This weeks snack is Tirol x Cheetos Coffee Nougat.

Yes, that is right. Cheetos Coffee Nougat Flavour. Cheetos covered in coffee flavoured chocolate nougat. What a bizarre idea!

Image borrowed from Fritolay Japan

Fritolay describe this as melt-in-your-mouth coffee nougat Tirol poured over Cheesy Cheetos.

I have just ordered a bag from NapaJapan and look forward to trying it soon!! I've never thought of cheese and chocolate going together, but when I think about it, coffee is served with cheese, so why not chocolate and cheese?

Glico Heart Caramels グリコ心形のキャラメル

"The running man" is an icon well known to Glico. Their catch-cry is that one caramel will allow you to run 300 metres. Though everyone knows that it doesn't really work, it's just a sales pitch. Which begs the question, if everyone knows, why do they continue to have it written on the box?

Anyway, I've seen these around but never tried them. What really coaxed me into buying them was the free toy that was attached. At 31 I'm still a sucker for a free toy, however lame it may seem!


There was a choice between the bread maker toy, dinosaur robots, or insects. Being a girl, I chose the bread-maker, you know, to tie in with that long-held belief of men that women belong in the kitchen. Hmm.

I was right to say "lame" toy, because it is. I must have drawn the shortest straw possible because what I got was a plastic jar with a spoon. I opened the lid of the jar in expectation that I was getting something inside, but alas, only air in there. A look at the box shows me I could have got a set of scales, a bread bin, or a serving tray with tongs. Damn. Thought I was getting the cute scales. Oh well. Who wants a free jar and spoon toy?

The box of caramels only have 5 caramels in them. Supposing that you could run 300 metres with every bite, you could expect to run 1500 metres with the whole box. But you would need another box to get back. Would the 154 calories consumed by eating these be burned off in the process I wonder? Anybody tried this?


Moving along to the caramels, they are shaped like a heart. Not sure if this has anything to do with health - aka healthy hearts through running, or Glico is expressing their love for us buying their products.

The caramel really tastes like coconut and is chewy. Looking at it I thought it would be hard. In the centre there is a taste like lemon peel, powdered milk and caramel. To me, it tastes weird. The ingredients list claims alot of B vitamins, Calcium, and Sweeteners. The sweeteners I can agree on because it's so throat burningly sweet while I'm chewing it my throat feels like it's on fire.

I bet the sweetener alone could power you 300 metres. And guess what, I got a headache right after eating this too.

I guess, because it's been around for so long, Glico's heart caramels are a hit. But not with me. Certainly, Yasu's eye's started sparkling when I showed him the box. Not sure if that's out of childhood sentimentality or he just loves snacks.

I bought these for $1.38 and even with the lame toy included it wasn't worth it. I won't be buying these again. (The yucky coconut and lemon peel taste is still in my mouth!)

Puccho Shio Lemon with Gummi ぷっちょしおレモン

Puccho is a brand I've seen out and about which reminds me of Hi-chew. It's definitely targeted towards children which is an area that in the past I've stayed away from when it comes to Japanese candy.

A new year is almost here and because of that (and that I'm reaching 100 posts), I've decided to push myself and try a few different things, one of them being Puccho.

There were a variety of flavours on offer when I bought these, but this one seemed the weirdest and less appealing flavour. Salty lemon. Hmm not unless I'm drinking tequila?


The packet is considerably summery, and looking on their website I can't find a mention so I would say this has been and gone in regards to where the Japanese market is now. However, it's summer in Perth, so good timing for me. (And I might add the best before date is February 2010, so still within the good tasting zone.)

The difference between this and Hi-chew is that this has little bits of round gummy pieces inside, plus because of the salty lemon flavour, bits of salt, would you believe.

Each pack has 10 pieces and the packet opens via a string, similar to chewing gum packs.


The piece itself feels like plastic and is white with a light yellow colour on each end, again very similar to Hi-Chew.


Biting into it there is this taste just like lemon butter, or lemon curd, it's so sour at the back of my throat! The gummy in the middle is chewy but a bit hard and it's really salty like swallowing water at the beach. Ugh.

The problem with this candy is that the yoghurt part is kind of tough like old leather and not very much like yoghurt in flavour, the gummy are lumpy and hard to chew and the salt is overwhelming like someone rolled a lemon in salt and threw it in the ocean. Eww...

I'm not a fan...these two flavours just don't go together. Sour and salt. Only with alcohol I think. I also don't like the texture, tough on the outside, hard and chewy on the inside, and stuck between my back teeth.

Did I sabotage myself by getting a flavour I thought was weird? I didn't think so at the time because I am a fan of salt and vanilla together so I thought this might be the same. I had expectations of liking this one.

$2.39 down the drain. I wonder if kids would like this? And who can I fob this onto? Anyone want a pack of Puccho with 7 pieces left? I'm serious guys.

Kameda Seika Age Ichiban Senbei 亀田製菓揚げ一番せんべい

I've been looking around for some senbei (rice crackers) in the Japanese supermarkets around me, but mostly the flavours are all the same. Either soy sauce, plain salt, seaweed, or sesame. Absolutely no prawn flavour, or other interesting flavours, only the usual fare.

So when I went into Maruyu yesterday and discovered Age Ichiban I had to buy some! Kameda Seika make my favourite senbei of all time - Kotsubukko. Age Ichiban is very similar to Kotsubukko in that the texture and idea is the same, it's still Age (fried), but they are small round balls of fried soy sauce goodness. Age Ichiban is fried soy sauce goodness in a larger size (6cm diameter) and individually wrapped in the packet.


I paid $3.99 for this pack of 155 grams. There are 25 individually wrapped senbei total. Not bad.

I love these because when you open the wrapping you can smell the soy sauce immediately and it also has a lovely sweet smell that goes along with it, sort of like the sweetness in Teriyaki.

The senbei is quite hard and there is a loud crunch when you bite into it, and I wouldn't recommend these for people with sensitive or weak teeth. But anyway, if you love a good crunch these are great.


The flavour is really present without being overwhelming. Despite being deep fried they are not too oily. It's kind of hard for me to explain the flavour other than that its really soy sauce in the beginning then becomes quite sweet soy sauce at the end.

Just like kotsubukko I can't stop eating these, and one is not enough. I've already eaten four during this review. Stop Kelly stop!!

Thankfully, Yasu doesn't like these so I have the whole pack to myself. Good times. :) I guess you know the answer, YES I would definitely buy this again.

Choco Dutsumi Chocolate 新食感チョコレートちょこづつみ

These were the look of souvenirs brought back from Japan this time around. I decided on food as I had already been there before and brought home the obligatory fans and trinkets, which I know most people like to get but never actually use. Food, and certainly chocolate flavoured food, is always going to go down well, even if it looks strange.

The box lends itself to souvenirs too because it has a traditional Japanese pattern on one half of the box with pretty Japanese writing.

Choco Dutsumi looks traditional while still having flavours we can recognize. It's actually soft balls of mochi (sweet rice) with chocolate ganache in the centre.

There are two separately wrapped packets of four balls each inside the packet. It's easy enough to slide one out and open it, and the flavour is such that one small packet is more than enough for one person.



The mochi is dark brown and has cocoa powder inside. It's soft on the outside and has a similar texture to a peach, hence the 新食感 on the label (new texture). There is a big ball of chocolate ganache on the inside, which has alot more flavour than the outside and is thick and creamy.

You can bite it in half or put the whole ball in your mouth and chew. It really doesn't matter. Either way you get to experience the soft chewy rice and the thick creamy ganache.


These have cocoa butter, cocoa powder and raw cream in them and you can tell because the quality is really good. I bought these at Don.Kihote for 168 yen per box, about $1.70. Not bad value considering they are shareable.

These don't come with picks for eating, I just used a toothpick, though I'm sure most of my Aussie friends would have picked them up with their fingers, it just means it's a bit sticky.

I would definitely buy these again and may even bring them back as souvenirs again if I can find a different flavour.