Hokkaido Azuki Apollo

This Hokkaido Azuki Apollo was a limited release, along with other flavours like Muscat, and Peach.

On one side of this box is a photo image of Clark, as in "boys be ambitious". The other side is a normal Apollo box with a square stamp on the top showing the product is from Hokkaido.

The Area of Tokachi in Hokkaido is well known for the tasty Azuki they produce. The fact that this Apollo is made from those Azuki is meant to make this all the more attractive to Azuki consumers.

The box is the regular size and holds 22 pieces inside. They are contained only in the box without other packaging, and because of that I think that the pieces look abit rustic. As in, they have rubbed together and been thrown around in the box, so they are somewhat dusty with bits of chocolate.

The colour is somewhat different than I expected. I thought it would be a dusky rose colour on top and brown on the bottom (though the box has a picture of a light pink on top, brown on the bottom). In actual fact, the chocolate is light brown on the top with flecks of darker brown, with a dark brown chocolate on the bottom.

The smell when I opened the box was similar to that of the Oshiruko Kit Kat. However, when I pop one into my mouth, the taste is a fully flavoured Azuki bean, and the texture is exactly the same as if I popped a spoonful of Azuki beans in my mouth. You know that crushed up texture of Azuki, it's very hard to describe. The chocolate at the bottom is very lightly there, and is a very good match for the Azuki that takes centre stage.

I loved this version of Apollo, it was fantastic and tasted great, and very true to Azuki. The chocolate was a very good combination, offering a slight bitterness at the end to offset the sweetness.

If you see these I recommend you pick up a pack, you won't regret it!