Chocolate Mint Pocky チョコレート・ミント ポッキー

A good friend in Japan told me about this Chocolate Mint Pocky. She said it was to die for and then she sent me a box of it to try. I was a little bit apprehensive about trying it at first, and I kept it in the box and looked at it every now and then.

You see, when I was pregnant, I had horrible reflux for the first 3 months of the pregnancy and the only thing that really soothed that terrible burning was to drink ant-acid. I'm not sure about other countries, but in Australia, the majority of ant-acids are peppermint flavour. I drank ant-acid about 3 times per day for those first 3 months and after the reflux went away I couldn't even look at anything peppermint flavour without wanting to vomit.

Previous to getting pregnant I was a huge peppermint fan. I used to love the Cadbury block chocolate with the peppermint cream that oozed out the middle. I would devour bags of Peppermint Pods (which they no longer make) and Nestle Peppermint Crisp bars. And now....well I've stayed away from peppermint for the last 2 years.

So this was a challenge. I accepted in the spirit it was offered in, and of course my friend wasn't to know that. I promised myself that when I needed "something" after a really hard day at the office (so to speak) that I would get out this box of Pocky and treat myself and hopefully not overwhelm myself!

This box of Pocky is actually quite heavy even though it only weighs 66 grams, and it's very attractive with turquoise and white stripes.  There are two bags inside, each holding 15 sticks.

 

Unlike the previously reviewed Peanut Pocky, the amount of chocolate on each stick is decent and more than just a thin coating. Opening the bag I got a very strong whiff of mint and for a minute there I didn't know if I would be ok or not.

Once I took a bite though I realised everything was going to be okay. The chocolate is quite dark, and there is a strong mint flavour that comes through with the slightly bitter flavour of the chocolate. It reminds me of an Arnott's Mint Slice biscuit! To die for, and they don't even remotely taste like ant-acid, which is great!!

I gave my hubby 5 sticks and kept 10 for myself...and I'm happily munching away on these. They're pretty addictive I must say!

Lotte Black Black Chewing Gum ロッテ ブラックブラック ガム

This sample was kindly provided to me by napaJapan. It was hiding in a box of goodies and I didn't know it was there until I turned the box upside down and it fell out. I was surprised as it's a gum I see quite often in Japanese supermarkets but have never thought to try. I'm not a big mint gum fan, I prefer fruity flavours. Also, this gum just sings "otaku". You can get it at Anime conventions and websites, it's probably the most well known Japanese gum of all.

This was sitting on the computer table waiting to be reviewed, and Yasu saw it and said "hey, where did you get black black from?" I told him it was all his if he wanted it, I only needed one stick. He happily made off with the rest of the pack so I guess this bodes well for reviewing.

There are 9 individually wrapped flat sticks in the pack. Each stick is a dark grey colour with a white powdery coating. From the outside the gum smells strong and putting it in my mouth the mint is so powerful and strong.

I was careful not to try this at night because it has caffeine in it, and obviously it's good for a pick me up. This gum is so minty it burns my throat and gives off considerable heat so that even when I stop chewing it, the heat is still there. Japanese people seem to be a fan of all things minty and menthol and I have tried health care producst like eye drops and lip balm that has such qualities. I, however, am not a fan of it, and I don't like this gum. It's too minty, burny and hot. It just makes everything from my lips to my throat burn like hell.

Maybe Japanese people who are already used to these kinds of products in the market probably like it, as Yasu does, but if you don't like your mint extra extra strong then I would say give it a wide berth. If anything, this gum will definitely get rid of any other undesirable taste in your mouth and will definitely freshen it, so I guess if you didn't have any toothpaste and you had this gum instead, you could use it that way.

Brand: Lotte Calories per box: 75 Website: http://www.lotte.co.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Lotte Plus X Mango Mint Gum プラスエックスガム マンゴーミント味

Wow, two posts in two days, am I on a roll or what?

Plus X is pretty much the same format as the Lotte Xylitol Gum. It's the same small chiclets, and the same super bright gum.

In this case though, the flavour is tropical. Mango Mint to be exact. Not totally out there as far as gum goes. It could be a flavour in Australia or America, not some oddball creation we know they can usually come up with in Japan!

I had no trepidation about trying this flavour, in fact I thought it might be a little mundane. The colour of the gum was anything but mundane - very bright orange in colour.

This gum, like the Lotte Xylitol gum, has xylitol in it so it so it's sweet without sugar. Supposedly better for you too. There are 14 individually wrapped chiclets, and the pack is worth 37 calories.

The taste is very tropical. The first bite tastes like a mixture of tropical fruits, and then it blends seamlessly into a full mango flavour and then again a blend of mint comes in with the mango. But the mint part of this gum is not very strong, it's more mango than mint.

I was surprised that the mango and mint is still around and it's been more than 5 minutes. Mind you, it's not as full flavoured as it was at the beginning but that's because I have probably gotten used to it.

When you're on a diet, getting used to sugar-free, xylitol and sweetener infused products is hard at first, but then you get used to it. I'm now at the point where I can say I actually like this gum. Before, the sweetness would have been too fake, and too bland. It's not as sweet as other Japanese gums I have tried, so if you like your gum on the sweeter side (for example Juicy Fruit) then this gum is probably not going to be for you.

On the otherhand, if you're looking for a good option to have that's not going to stack up the calories, then this would be ideal.

Brand: Lotte Calories per pack: 37 Website: http://www.lotte.co.jp