Choc Banana Tirol (Premium) チョコバナナ チロル

Sorry for my absence (again). Christmas happened, and then New Years, and life has been so hectic. I've just gotten some free time to blog and I thought I should get around to blogging about two more Tirol chocolates that I have.

This one is Choc Banana and the image on the wrapping shows some fireworks in the distance and a big banana covered by chocolate in the foreground. It's really quite cute. This is a premium Tirol so it's a bit larger than the usual size.

The chocolate is a banana yellow colour on the outside but doesn't really smell of banana at all. I can only smell a sweet chocolate scent. On the inside of the Tirol is a layer of dark chocolate on the bottom, followed by some white marshmallow sandwiched in the middle, then a thin layer of chocolate coloured banana flavoured sauce followed by the banana coloured chocolate.

The dark chocolate inside doesn't look really dark but it has quite a bitter taste to it, so much so that it overpowers the banana sauce. It's only really after swallowing that I get the taste of the banana sauce but the dark chocolate lingers on my tongue for a lot longer.

Overall I was disappointed. This could have been an amazing Tirol if not for the bitter dark chocolate. Who puts dark chocolate on their bananas anyway? I don't know why the marshmallow was in the middle either, it would have been better with a banana mousse or even a banana marshmallow. I'm sad, I was expecting so much more.

Will my next Tirol be a winner? Stay tuned!

Rilakkuma Picnic Tirol リラックマ ピクニックチロル

Tirol have teamed up with Rilakkuma, everyone's favourite lazy bear to bring out this pack of "Picnic Tirol". It has 9 pieces of individually wrapped Tirol featuring cute pictures on the wrapper. There are 3 pieces each of 3 flavours - Pudding, Caramel Cookie, and Choco Marshmallow.

On the front of the pack Rilakkuma is sitting holding a bunch of flowers and he has his friend Korilakkuma (so called as she resembles a smaller version of Rilakkuma). Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma also feature on the chocolate wrapper design along with their birdie friend Kiiroitori (Yellow bird).

I was pleasantly surprised to find this pack contains 3 new flavours, and I'm especially excited about the pudding flavour.

It's such a shame to open this pack, really. As the tear line is situated both sides of Rilakkuma's head, so it literally tears open across his forehead. If you're a big fan of Rilakkuma, you might down the side of the pack.

Pudding

This Tirol has two different kinds of wrappers, one with Rilakkuma holding a glass of lemonade, and the other with Kiiroitori holding a glass of lemonade. They're both very cute. The chocolate is a cross between a custard and caramel yellow colour. The chocolate smelled like coconut and caramel and was quite sweet. The chocolate breaks easily when bitten into and there is a soft jelly inside that tastes like caramel, even having a sauce left behind from the jelly that has a slight burnt sugar taste. The chocolate complements the burnt flavour by bringing back the sweetness and the flavours mixed together reminds me of a classic creme caramel pudding. I think they have done this well, although I'd prefer a little less burnt sugar in mine.

Caramel Cookie

The wrapper designs for this flavour are either Rilakkuma playing a guitar or Korilakkuma riding a scooter with Kiiroitori on the back. The chocolate is a toffee colour and smells like hard caramel. Biting into it, the chocolate is soft and sweet and the inside consists of biscuit pieces and caramel chocolate all melded together into a hard block. The caramel flavour isn't as strong as I expected on this, but it's really crunchy and I enjoyed it.

Choco Marshmallow

The design for these chocolates featured Korilakkuma holding a bunch of flowers on all 3 pieces. The chocolate is quite dark and smells like chocolate brownie. Biting into it there is a strong dark chocolate flavour, the bitterness is the first thing I taste, then there is the soft centre of marshmallow and dark chocolate sauce. Although I'm not a dark chocolate lover, I liked this one as the marshmallow centre was sweet and offset the bitterness to make it very enjoyable.

Overall, I probably liked the Choco Marshmallow the best, the Pudding second and the Caramel Cookie third. They all have their good points. I liked the jelly in the Pudding but not the burnt sugar flavour. I liked the crunch in Caramel Cookie but the flavour was too weak. I am not a fan of dark chocolate but the Choco Marshmallow somehow complemented that with sweetness of marshmallow.

I think this is a really sweet pack of Tirol and I'm sure it was probably popular in Japan because of the design and the interesting flavours. The fact that it has 9 pieces means it's great to share with friends.

Have you tried this? If so, what did you think? :)