Showing posts with label Tirol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tirol. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Rilakkuma Picnic Tirol リラックマ ピクニックチロル

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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? :)

Monday, October 1, 2012

Boy's Day Tirol こいのぼり チロル

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Turned on its side the pack resembles a carp windsock.

 I'm fashionably late once again. This pack of Tirol was brought out for Boy's Day in Japan, which is celebrated on the 5th of May every year. In Japan it's called Koinobori which literally means "carp streamer" otherwise known as a "wind sock". The pack design features such a carp streamer on the front.

Boy's Day is usually celebrated by putting up a pole and hanging windsocks from it such as in this picture, and depending on how many children are in the family, extra carp are added.

This pack of Tirol has 9 individually wrapped chocolates and 3 flavours, each set of 3 flavours has a unique design.



Bis is red with a picture of a bow and three arrows. It is a crumbly white biscuit coated with milk chocolate. I believe this is one of the original Tirol chocolates, and is probably very popular. The biscuit inside was so crumbly that it broke into very minute crumbs when I bit into it, and the chocolate coating on the outside fell off. It was kept at room temperature so I don't know why that happened. The chocolate just didn't stick well to the biscuit.

Bis


Bis

Milk has a red and pink design with the Japanese character for money in gold (Kin). Imprinted into the top of the chocolate is the word "choco" but I am not sure why. This is a white fudge covered in milk chocolate. The chocolate is smooth and sweet but has a slight bitterness at the end. The fudge is so creamy and sweet and it reminds me of condensed milk.

Milk


Milk

 White & Cookie is in a mustard colour wrapper with a black, red and yellow Kabuto (helmet) on the front. This is white chocolate filled to the brim with cookie pieces. I think this is meant to be like "milk & cookies", the white chocolate featuring as the milk and the cookies are dark like Oreos. The white chocolate had a flavour that reminded me of coconut, but I couldn't taste very much because there were so many biscuit pieces inside. The biscuit pieces were quite hard to eat as they are small and rough and afterwards I had a waxy texture left over in my mouth. I don't think the biscuit pieces were that good quality, so that may account for the waxy texture.

White & Cookie
White & Cookie

In all, this pack had a lot of potential but the execution of the chocolates let it down. Bis is quite plain but still nice, except for the crumbliness of the cookie. Milk was the standout here with it's creaminess and smooth chocolate, and unfortunately white cookie was my least favourite despite me thinking it would be my favourite. It could have been so much better and in this case, quantity (of biscuit pieces) does not win over quality.

Did you try this Tirol pack? If so what did you think about the flavours? :)

Thursday, September 6, 2012

(Premium) Rilakkuma Lemonade Tirol リラックマ レモネード チロル

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Rilakkuma (which translates to relaxing bear) is a character made by San-X, rival of Sanrio (maker of Hello Kitty and My Melody), which is becoming more and more famous. Him and his pals just kind of laze around everywhere and look like they're relaxing.

So now Tirol are featuring Rilakkuma on their chocolate, I guess for the cute factor. I mean who doesn't like to eat chocolate with their favourite character on the front, right? ;)

This flavour is Lemonade and on the wrapper Rilakkuma is holding a glass of liquid that looks like lemonade. This is a premium Tirol too, which means it's slightly bigger than the regular size.




The chocolate is bright yellow, almost fluoro. I was really surprised. I couldn't really smell anything from the outside except the white chocolate. When I bit into this chocolate it crumbled. I tried to bite half but there is a soft white meringue and lemon sauce inside and it was so chewy my teeth couldn't slice through. So that's why it looks a bit mangled in the picture!

 

Is this really lemonade or lemon meringue pie?? Because to me the flavour is lemon meringue pie. There is the white meringue on the bottom layer and on the top a lemon sauce, just like the pie. It was actually really nice. It reminded me exactly of the dessert. But lemonade?....err no. For one, there was no fizz, so you can't have lemonade without fizz can you? Also, what's with the meringue and sauce?

I think this Tirol is having an identity crisis, or the head honcho at Tirol got mixed up.

As a lemonade Tirol it kind of sucks. But as lemon meringue Tirol it's a winner!! I loved the flavours here, it reminded me of dessert, and I could eat many more.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Tirol Hinamatsuri Milk Mochi & Strawberry Mochi ちょこっと 気餅 みるくもち と いちごもち

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 I'm pretty late with this review I must admit. But better late than never right? This is a pack of Tirol that was released for Hinamatsuri (Girl's Day in Japan) 2012. On the front of the pack it says ちょこっと 気餅 which you read as "chokotto kimochi". Chokotto means "just a little bit" and usually "kimochi" means "feelings", but because both of these Tirol chocolates have mochi centres, the "mochi" is the kanji for glutinous rice. It's a play on words and it's cute. 

There are two flavours in the pack, milk mochi and strawberry mochi. For some reason there were 6 pieces of strawberry mochi and 4 pieces of milk mochi, even though there were 10 pieces, so they could be divided evenly. If anyone knows the reason please let me know! :)
  

 

 The wrappers have really cute images on them, they are very sweet.


The milk mochi is off-white in colour and smells very sweet. There is a light yellow mochi in the middle which is the consistency of jelly. It's creamy but not overly sweet, and the mochi part is quite chewy. It does taste like milk but also has hints of vanilla. Its plain, and I like it because it's not over the top in terms of flavour. Sometimes its nice to have something normal you know? ;)

The strawberry mochi is a light pink colour and smells tart. The jelly inside is softer than in the milk mochi. The strawberry chocolate on the outside is quite floral and reminds me of musk candy. There is some tartness towards the end, but to me it wasn't really "strawberry" as we know it. Maybe it's a tad overdone.

In all, this pack of Tirol was fun. The wrapping is cute and great for a gift or sharing with friends, and the play on words is educational. I prefer the milk mochi and would have liked 6 of them and 4 of the strawberry given a choice. I was glad to be able to try it out though! 

Did you get to try this one? If so, what did you think?


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Tirol Chocoball Peanut チロル チョコボール ピーナツ

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Ok please excuse my little hiatus there... I have a ton of products to review but so little time in the day to get them done at the moment!

This one has been sitting on top of the pile and it's another Tirol teamed up with Chocoball Peanut (one of my husband's all time favourite snacks!)

This is a premium Tirol so it's bigger than the usual size.

From the outside it smelreal lot like peanut and chocolate. The bottom layer is like a chocolate crunch and has little pieces of cookie and bits that look like muesli but aren't. There are visible whole peanuts on the top surrounded by yummy chocolate that seems to be a blend of milk and dark.

This Tirol was really satisfying for crunch and texture and the chocolate was nice too. The "sweet" factor was also much lower than Tirol usually makes their chocolate which was a nice change. I love that my square had 3 whole peanuts!

Definitely worth trying!



*** there was also a Tirol Caramel Chocoball version but hub ate them all so there was none left for me to try. He loved it though and said it was very true to the Caramel Chocoball experience.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Hinamatsuri Tirol Peach and Strawberry Vanilla チロルひな祭り ふんわり ピ ーチ と 苺バニラ

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Obviously, I'm pretty late at reviewing this pack of Tirol released for Girls Day in Japan, but better late than never!

This pack has 8 individually wrapped Tirol chocolates, 3 of Peach and 5 of Strawberry Vanilla. Not sure why there is more of one flavour than the other, it's probably just random.

All 3 peach flavour chocolates have the red wrapper with the princess on the cover. The other 5 have samurai on them in green and purple.

Peach - is a soft pink flavoured white chocolate with a peach jelly and vanilla cream inside. The jelly and chocolate really capture the essence of a peach. The vanilla cream gives it depth. There is a tartness to the peach flavour at the very end, coming from the jelly.

Strawberry Vanilla - a 3 layered chocolate, neopolitan (strawberry, vanilla and chocolate). All 3 layers come together to form a nice sweet harmony but are also individually apparent. The strawberry is by far the strongest flavour with some sour notes but doesn't overwhelm.

I really liked this pack. I liked the peach flavour best, but the strawberry vanilla is also nice. The packaging is so pretty too, it's a shame to throw it out! Tirol have done this well :-)

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Yuraku x Tirol Black Thunder (cocoa cookie crunch) ユーラク x チロル ブ ラックサンダー 「ココアクッキークランチ」

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Another Tirol sent from a friend, the packaging looks very masculine but in a weird sort of way reminds me of KISS the rock group, with that golden lightning bolt down the middle.

I had no idea what Yuraku was until I looked it up online and found they are a company that make a black thunder bar. (see bottom of photo for an example)

So this is a Tirol chocolate and a Black Thunder Bar all rolled into one.

When I opened the wrapper the chocolate had a house imprinted into the top of it - somebody care to explain? No idea why that is!

I could smell the cocoa immediately. When I bit into it I bit straight through a round white cookie and some dark crumbled cookie at the bottom, which had a strong cocoa flavour but had sweetness, kind of like an Oreo. The milk chocolate surrounding the cookie was just dark enough to complement the cookie and not too sweet as to overpower it.

This is enough to give you a taste of a black thunder bar and I enjoyed it. But I want MORE! So it's safe to say that Yuraku's little campaign has worked and I am intrigued enough to go and buy some black thunder bars! (if only I could) :)

Monday, May 21, 2012

Tirol Espresso チロル エスプレッソ

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Another Tirol review, thanks to a great friend in Tokyo! :)

This one is Espresso. It got a little melted during transit, Australia's heat was a bit unpredictable this year.

I love coffee but I wouldn't call myself an expert. I always take milk and sugar, I never drink it black so I feel a little trepidation about Espresso Tirol.

Though it does remind me of Japan as most places I have visited I've always been served straight black coffee in a can or cup or even coffee jelly.

When I opened the wrapper there was a strong coffee scent and the chocolate was dark brown.

Biting into it there was a strong coffee flavour followed by a bitterness then sweetness and a crunch as I bit into a layer of what seems to be ground coffee beans. Yum!

This is delicious and I love how they have made it so realistic. I recommend all the coffee lovers try this one!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Tirol Raspberry Cheese Pie チロル ラズベリーチーズパイ

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Raspberry Cheese Pie - I never actually knew there was such a thing but Google tells me there is. The images tell me it's a cream cheese tart with raspberry jam or in some cases whole raspberries on top.

It sounds like a nice enough combination and the image on the wrapper looks pretty yum.

The first smell that hits my nose upon opening this chocolate is cheese. It smelled familiar. Then I realized it reminded me of the Hokkaido Cheese Tirol I reviewed a while back!

The chocolate is soft and mousse-like on the outside and then there is the crunch of the biscuit on the inside followed by the sweet but tangy raspberry. This really does remind me of a tart because the flavours go so well together. While the Hokkaido cheese Tirol seemed too strong for some, the cheese flavour here is downplayed by the raspberry sauce in the centre so all three components are in harmony.

I wish I had more of these, because I really enjoyed this!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Tirol Premium Chou Cream "Sweet Custard" チロル シュウクリーム

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Chou Cream how I love thee. In Japanese it's pronounced "shoe cream" although it's much lovelier than the image it conjures up!

It's basically what we refer to as a cream puff, but the Japanese style is to have a crunchy outer pastry and a soft cream custard flowing from the middle. It's a match made in heaven! Beard Papa's is probably my most favourite place in Japan because they make such divine "shoe cream".

So imagine my excitement when my friend announced she saw a Tirol Chou Cream released at the supermarket, and not only that but she was going to send me some! Oh man...that made my day that did!

So to cut a long story short this Tirol is amazing, it's soooo yummy. I'm so glad that I've got 3. Hubby stole off with one which leaves me 2 for myself!

 

The chocolate is like a light yellow custard colour and when I sniffed it, it reminded me of a vanilla candle. The chocolate is soft like mousse. There is a biscuit in the middle that is soft but also crunchy and there is a big hit of vanilla. This is like a reverse chou cream with the cream being on the outside and the crunchy pastry on the inside. I'm hooked, this Tirol is amazing! It brings back so many memories for me. It's nice just to savour it in my mouth.

Hubby thought it was too rich. Boo hubby. So maybe it's not for everyone, it is also quite sweet from the white chocolate, but the creamy vanilla custard distracted me.

Definitely.Try.This.One.

Get yours at napaJapan (limited quantities left)

Visit the Tirol website.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Tirol Premium Ichigo Daifuku チロル いちご大福

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Wow, I now have a tonne of Tirol chocolates to review thanks to an awesome friend! I'm starting off with this Ichigo Daifuku (Japanese sweet made out of rice with a strawberry filling).

Hubby chose this one to try first, maybe because the wrapper was so pretty! It is really so cute, a checkerboard of light and dark pink with a cute picture of an ichigo daifuku on the front.

Biting into this chocolate I had the feeling that this was made out of sherbert, not chocolate. The strawberry was present but there was a very big tartness to it that made me think of sherbert. There was a brown jelly-like centre, which I thought was chocolate but then realised it was meant to be red bean paste, but to be honest I couldn't taste very much as the strawberry was so overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but I wish it was more balanced.

The chocolate was so soft and crumbly

I really liked this Tirol chocolate, the strawberry flavour wasn't the same bland old strawberry chocolate, it had a kick with the tartness, so I wished I had some more of this. Hubby claimed that this was one of the best Tirol's he had ever had.

There are quite a few reviewers on the net who are sick of Strawberry flavoured chocolate as that seems to be the fall-back flavour of Japanese snack makers, but I recommend you give this one a go as it could be the chocolate that changes your mind :)

Get yours at napaJapan, and visit the Tirol website.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Tirol Matcha Soy Latte チロル 抹茶ソイらて

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Wow, who would have thought to combine Matcha and Soy? I certainly wouldn't have...though I think maybe dairy intolerant people in Japan must already do this.

The colour of this chocolate is absolutely beautiful. It's beautifully layered, just like the Tiramisu Tirol. When I put this chocolate up to my nose, all I could smell was white chocolate, so I wasn't too excited to be honest...thinking it may be a bit of a dud.


But, biting into it there is a wonderful, strong matcha flavour that just gets better and better. There's a jelly layer in the centre that adds bitterness, and the soy cream in the middle adds another dimension. Yum! I have been disappointed with other matcha chocolate in the past when it hasn't had much flavour but this Tirol is just so full of flavour and it's so yum!

I just feel like shouting yum yum Tirol!! yum yum Green Tea!

Snack love also reviewed this flavour, and you can buy it at NapaJapan.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Tirol Tiramisu チロルティラミス

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I've been sitting on this and another Tirol for a while, and have been meaning to get back to reviewing snacks, but finding the time to actually photograph them and then write a review is really hard with a 4 month old! I've been saying it all along though...but now that hub has a day off work, I finally squared away a couple of hours to sit down and do it!

So here goes. This Tiramisu Tirol has layers, like that of the real dessert. It's an Italian dessert made up of lady fingers dipped in coffee and layered with marscapone cream and cocoa, sometimes flavoured with liqueur too.


The Tirol version smells like coffee and biscuits. It has 3 distinct layers - the chocolate top, a creamy second layer that has a light coating of coffee in between and then the final layer which is a white chocolate. I actually expected some biscuit in there somewhere, but there is none. The creamy second layer is totally yum! It's soft and reminds me of fudge. You really get a sense of coffee, chocolate and cream in here and it's totally yummy! Just sorry I only bought 3 of these...

Snack Love also reveiwed this Tirol, and you can buy it at NapaJapan.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Tirol Chocolate Mix 8 Pack チロルチョコミックス

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Tirol Chocolate is one of our family's favourites. It's great that a chocolate so cheap is so good, and there is so much excitement when a new flavour is released.


I purchased this Mix pack of 8 Tirol chocolates from napaJapan. I have already tried 3 out of the 4 flavours. The one I wanted to try in this pack is the Matcha Milk. I have tried a similar Tirol before called Uji-Matcha with mochi in. This one seems to be a bit plainer though and is just a mixture of matcha and milk.


You can see reviews for the other 3 flavours in the pack here and here.

The chocolate on the outside is a very matcha green which is nice and authentic. It also has a very faint smell of matcha. Biting in, the chocolate is smooth and melts easily and has a very creamy flavour that ends with a bitter but very familiar flavour of matcha. The milk is the first flavour to appear and then melds into the matcha. The chocolate inside is softer than on the outside and almost reminds me of a mousse.


I really enjoyed this Tirol. While it doesn't knock your socks off with matcha flavour, it's more of a subtle flavour that builds up towards the end but not overly so. I imagine this would go well with some Japanese tea, as it would not overshadow but complement.


Brand: Tirol
Calories per box: 280
Website: http://kinotake.jp
Buy it now at napaJapan

Friday, May 7, 2010

Tirol Mix Pack チロル 桃栗三年柿八年

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This Tirol mixed pack is named after a proverb. 桃栗三年柿八年 means "it often takes time to bear the fruit of one's actions" or literally "peach and chestnut seeds take three years to bear fruit, plums take eight". This is one of those kinds of phrases like "good things happen to those who wait". When I asked Yasu the meaning he said it was just referring to the peach and chestnut seeds taking 3 years to bear fruit and plums taking 8 and said that the proverb wasn't really very well known and he wouldn't have thought of it if I hadn't of mentioned it.

This has given Tirol an idea for a mixed pack, I suppose. Because the three flavours included in this pack are Peach, Chestnut and Persimmon.


Back middle: Persimmon, Front left: Chestnut, Front right: Peach

Peach

Sweet like Peach Fanta, the jelly inside is soft and melts in the mouth easily. The chocolate is quite sweet but it definitely has a lot of peach flavour. I love it.

Chestnut

This has a coffee like flavour at first and then blends seamlessly into a nutty chestnut flavour. The inside is a soft and creamy texture, full bodied flavour and very cool in the mouth. Very sweet at the end though, even more so than the peach, though still enjoyable.

Persimmon

An unsual flavour. The chocolate is a little bit darker than normal. Biting into it there is a big hit of salt and then I notice it has an arare (senbei) inside which provides a big crunch and lots of salt. The chocolate has a sweetness to it that tastes like persimmon and blends well with the saltiness to create a kind of sweet and salty effect. Very original.

I liked all three of these. I think my favourite would have to be the persimmon because it has that crunchy texture and very unusual taste. I like the peach and chestnut about the same.

Ebidebby also reviewed this and you can find hers here.



Brand: Tirol
Calories per bag: 314
Website: http://www.tirol-choco.com/

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Tirol Hokkaido Cheese Premium チロル 北海道チーズ

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Jason @ napaJapan kept teasing me with the line "I've got some Hokkaido cheese chocolate coming in soon". Music to my ears... and SO tempting.

If you love Hokkaido as much as I do then I know you will be thrilled about trying this Tirol Hokkaido Cheese premium chocolate.

This Tirol chocolate is larger than the regular size. Yasu couldn't get over it, because Tirol is his favourite childhood chocolate and they didn't have premium size back then. Plus, he's a Hokkaido-jin so the Hokkaido cheese factor makes it even better for him.

The cheese Tirol to the left is bigger than the regular size.

Hokkaido Cheese is the best! I've seen a few reviews online and people have trashed it - I totally disagree with their taste. This Tirol is the essence of Hokkaido, creamy, dairy, cheesy, fromage-y. :)

It has a lovely yellow coloured outer chocolate that tastes creamy and chocolatey. The inside is a strong cheese taste in a biscuit - but the biscuit is soft and melts in the mouth. Yummm. Lucky I got given 10 of these beauties because one is just not enough!


If you're a wimp when it comes to cheese - don't try it. If you like your cheese rich and creamy with a big of strength then this is for you.



Brand: Tirol
Calories per piece: 51
Website: http://www.tirol-choco.com
Buy it now at napaJapan

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Tirol Kinako Mochi チロルきなこもち

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I recently reviewed Kinako Mochi Cheetos and this is the same but without the Cheetos component.

The chocolate is quite dark, it reminded me of coffee. It smells very nutty and the chocolate tastes like roasted peanuts. There is a mochi centre which is similar in colour to the outside. It is soft and chewy but doesn't really enhance the flavour any.

This flavour came in a pack of 9, and it was the kind that hangs on a hook at the end of an aisle. Each chocolate comes packaged in its own bag that is torn off via a perforation at the end of each one.


I really liked the flavour when combined with Cheetos but when it is alone it just doesn't seem as good. I like the texture of the mochi in the middle, which is something the Cheetos didn't have, but the depth of flavour just doesn't seem to be the same.

This was disappointing. Yasu and I will eat the rest of the pack, but I won't buy any more. A shame because I really expected to like these much more than I do.