Sakura Red Bull さくら レッドブル

Japan has four distinct seasons and Japanese snack makers use this to their advantage by releasing limited edition products to keep consumers interested.

This year the big hype was about Sakura (cherry blossom) flavoured snacks. Sakura Pepsi got a lot of airtime, and rightly so. (See my review here)

I didn't see anything online about Sakura Red Bull but it piqued my interest enough to buy it! (Thanks napaJapan for making this available to your customers!)

The Red Bull can is pink and smaller than usual. Even the ring pull has the Red Bull logo cut out. 

The Red Bull is similar in colour to the Sakura Pepsi, a very pretty pink colour. 

Where the Sakura Pepsi is light and floral, the Red Bull Sakura is strong and I got more of a cherry-cough-medicine flavour.

The familiar tang of Red Bull is present in the background, followed by the cherry taste. 

I don't drink Red Bull very often, but I'm sure if I did I would probably like this more than I do. I find the flavour too tangy for my liking. 

The cherry flavour while strong, takes a back seat to the tartness of the Red Bull. 

It was interesting to try. My son loved it, my husband wasn't so keen. 

Definitely give it a go if you get the chance, although if you have to choose between the Pepsi and the Red Bull go with Pepsi! 

Pepsi Sakura ペプシ桜

There was much hype surrounding the release of the limited edition Sakura flavour Pepsi both in Japan and overseas. 

Friends expressed their eagerness to try it and then when they did they said it was awful and more like a cough medicine than cherry blossom. 

I knew I had to try this. Not only do I love Sakura but I love trying seasonal and weird products that Japan releases. 

So, I ordered it from napaJapan and it arrived last week. I was trying to find a good time to try it, but once my 5 year old son found out I had Sakura Pepsi I never heard the end of it!

To get him off my back I decided that he, my husband and I would try it all together. Tonight.

The bottle is very pretty - Pink Sakura on a black background. When the bottle was opened a light, floral scent wafted out.

I was nervous about trying it, I was sure I would be disappointed if what my friends said was true.

I poured three glasses and we all took a sip. Mr 5 loved it straight away and he sculled it!

My husband exclaimed that it was like cough medicine, but he liked it. He could taste cherry and he got a floral scent and taste.

When I took a sip I thought it was very light and not at all what I expected. I found the Sakura flavour not too strong but pleasantly there. I only got a hint of cherry, though I kept tasting musk like the pink musk lollies! 

This Sakura Pepsi was very sophisticated. It had a lot of depth. There was the cherry blossom flavour, followed by musk and then right at the end a light taste of cola. I liked tasting all the layers, and because it was fizzy I felt I could drink this instead of a an alcoholic drink! 

I really loved this Pepsi and I want more! It was so beautifully executed by Pepsi both in design and flavour. 

I thoroughly recommend you try it before it disappears off the shelves. Sakura season is nearly over, it has reached Hokkaido now and the blossoms will fade soon.

Next: Spring Edition Sakura Red Bull. Will it be as good as Sakura Pepsi or better?

Tirol Sakura Mochi チロル桜もち

It's nearly time for girls day to rock around again and here I am still catching up on last years Tirol! They have been kept in the fridge though, so no harm done. A big shout out to my friend S for sending these to me! 

Sakura Mochi is a variety of "wagashi" or Japanese confectionery consisting of a sweet pink rice cake that is filled with smooth red bean and wrapped in a Sakura leaf. Because of the leaf it smells strongly like Sakura (cherry blossom) and may also have some essence in the rice as well as colour to give it the pink hue.

I must admit I go crazy for Sakura Mochi, mochi sweets are one of my favorite. 

Tirol releasing Sakura mochi in a chocolate form just has to be a winner!

The chocolate smells very strongly of Sakura and has a light pink hue on top and a milk brown base. This is a premium Tirol so it's a little bit bigger than average size Tirol.

The middle has a thick layer of mochi-like jelly which is chewy and has a very sweet flavour, and a strong perfume. The chocolate tastes like vanilla, and the milk chocolate adds another layer. 

Overall it was a really good take on what an actual Sakura mochi is like but the red bean was missing. I can overlook that though and say that this was a really nice treat. Maybe if you didn't get a chance to try it last year you will sometime this year?

Sakura Marshmallow by Ishimura 石村萬盛堂 桜マシュマロ

I received two packets of these Sakura Marshmallows right before I went on my trip to Japan so I am a little bit late blogging about them, well more than a bit late, a LOT late. I was lucky enough to see the Sakura (cherry blossom) blooming in Sapporo, right before I left to return to Perth. I also ate a lot of Sakura Mochi while I was staying in Japan and the taste is very unusual, but I do like it.

The brand is "Gateau de Paris Patisserie" made by Ishimura and I can't seem to find it on their website, but scouting around the internet it looks like it might have only been a limited release for White Day (the ladies version of Valentine's Day in Japan).

I loved the colour on the packaging, even though the packs are small it looks premium and would be a lovely gift. Hubby and I both tried this together and when we opened the package we could immediately smell the Sakura scent wafting up to our noses.

 

 

The marshmallows were very light pink, soft and rounded on top with a flat bottom. The marshmallow was soft and springy and when we bit into it it was like eating a cloud. Very "fuwa fuwa". The inside of the marshmallow had a big ball of white chocolate ganache which was a delight to eat. I'm not sure why but we both thought that the white chocolate had a distinct flavour of coconut, which we both really liked. It was soft and rich and really complemented the outer mashmallow wonderfully. With this the sakura flavour of the marshmallow wasn't very strong, but the scent was quite powerful so when biting into the marshmallow we got the strong taste of the white chocolate ganache, the fluffiness of the marshmallow and the scent of sakura, all combining to make a very memorable experience.

We had these with a cup of nice Japanese green tea, but you could have them alone. I would really like to have these again sometime, they were so nice! I definitely recommend them if you come across them :)