Yuraku Black Thunder Cocoa Cookie Crunch ユーラク ブラックサンダー ココアクッキークランチ

I first learned about Yuraku's Black Thunder Bar when I reviewed the Yuraku x Tirol in May of this year (2012).

This bar strikes me as a kind of mix-up of an Oreo, Malteasers and some chocolate all mixed together and made into a slab. It is called Black Thunder for one reason, it literally is black inside, with little bits of white biscuit pieces scattered through it.

Biting into it is like being in heaven, if you're a cookie lover like I am. It's so crunchy, and it's like eating crushed chocolate biscuits coated with chocolate. The biscuit inside is so chocolatey and rich. There is a strong hit of cocoa with every mouthful.

I'm really surprised this exists in the Japanese market because they are not really known for their strong, slap-you-in-the-face flavours, they seem to prefer more subtle tastes. This is a chocolate bar that says HELLO! when you eat it.

The only downside is it's quite crumbly and breaks easily.

This is a very simple bar...it's just chocolate on chocolate, there are no other flavours. So if you're a chocolate fan then you'll love this. It's the perfect size really, because it's so rich. You wouldn't want any more than this 22 gram pack at one time.

Have a look at the Yuraku website here.

Tirol Ikinari Dango [Kumamoto] Sweet Potato チロル 熊本いきなり団子 さつまいも・紫いも

I heard about this regional pack of Tirol on the Tirol Facebook page and a friend in Tokyo was kind enough to track it down and send some to me.

This Tirol is based around a Japanese sweet or "wagashi" called Ikinari Dango - a steamed bun with chunks of sweet potato in the dough, with anko (red bean) in the centre, a local specialty of Kumamoto.

The black bear featured on the wrapper is the mascot for Kumamoto and his name is Kumamon. "Kuma" is Japanese for bear.

I have to tell you right now. I LOVE sweet potato. It's one of my favourite foods. It's also low GI so I practically lived on it during pregnancy. I used to steam it and eat it as a snack. My favourite of all time is Murasaki-imo (purple) but it's hard to find in Australia, and when I can find it, it's expensive.

I'm happy to be able to try both types of this Tirol. So lets start.


Satsuma-imo (Orange)

The chocolate on the outside is orangey-yellow and when I put it to my nose there is a strong smell of sweetness and something earthy. In the middle there are two layers, on the bottom is a dark yellow jelly and on the top is a red-brown paste. I'm certain the jelly is representing the sweet potato and the paste is the red bean component. I can really taste the red bean in this chocolate and it's very accurate in flavour and quite sweet. Unfortunately it kind of overruns the sweet potato which is a bit too subtle. The last flavour I can taste after eating is still the red bean.


Murasaki-imo (Purple)

This is quite pretty because it's a lavender coloured chocolate covering a white inside. There is only one layer inside this chocolate, a yellow jelly surrounded by a white chocolate which I think is meant to be the sweet potato. This has a much stronger flavour and the sweet potato is more apparent. There is no red bean to drown it out, so the flavour is loud and clear. There is some earthiness to this chocolate and I think some people might be put off by it. I really like it though.

I did like both of these chocolates even though the Satsuma-imo was not as strong on the sweet potato as I expected. I'm a big fan of red bean so I did enjoy this one a lot. The Murasaki-imo was bigger on the sweet potato with the exclusion of the red bean.

I've never actually tried Ikinari Dango but I can say after having these two Tirol I really want to try the real thing! Maybe I need to take a trip to Kumamoto! ;)

I would have to say I liked the Satsuma-imo the best, simply because I like the red bean. If you get a chance to try this I would very much recommend it. The colours and inside layers remind me very much of eating Japanese sweets so even if you're not usually a fan of these flavours I recommend them just for the experience and nostalgia :)

Takoyaki Caramel たこ焼きキャラメル

A friend sent this candy to me and I had forgotten about it, until I was searching for something and knocked over a box and it fell out. I pulled it out and thought I should taste it to see if it's as good as the real thing (haha).

This box of Takoyaki Caramel has 20 individually wrapped square pieces inside, and it's not a very appealing colour. It looks like someone has blended a takoyaki ball and poured it in a square mold. Hub wasn't too keen to try this as I had previously bought Genghis Khan Caramel a couple of years ago (I reviewed on a former blog) and he wasn't keen on it (but I loved it).

Aside from it's unappealing colour, it has absolutely no smell, and is quite hard. Biting into it I immediately get a taste of ginger, followed by brown sauce and onion. The ginger is the strongest flavour of all and gets quite hot on the tongue. I can see where they were going with this but there is really no taste of tako (octopus) in this which is quite a shame really (but I guess it's hard to replicate).

Hub said it was so-so, I guess he felt that the star of the show was missing so the flavour was a bit wishy washy. I'm not a huge fan of it, but I don't want to waste the 18 pieces left so I guess I'll find some friends who would like to be guinea pigs (haha).

It's a novelty item really, so it was good to try it out and see how it measures up, I think it would make a great souvenir from Japan if anything, and probably I would only buy it for that purpose.

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!

Peanut Pocky ピーナツ ポッキー

I'm not such a big fan of eating peanuts but I love peanut butter. In Japan they have Peanut Cream, which is aimed at the Japanese taste and not the same as what we Aussies and Americans like to eat. Peanut cream is very very sweet and it comes in a tube. Whereas American and Australian peanut butter is not sweet but salty and very heavy on the peanut flavour.

This box of Pocky is interesting because it has "Peanuts" written in Japanese on the cover and in English underneath the word "Pocky" it has "nutcream" written in white lettering. I have to be honest and say, it's not the best word to use in English, some might even think it's a little bit lewd.

This pack has two separately wrapped bags of Pocky sticks, all coated with Peanut "nutcream". Each bag has 11 sticks and opening the wrapper the scent is immediately of salt and sweet mixed together with peanuts. Looking on the ingredients list I was surprised to see "peanuts paste" included.

Each stick has a rather thin coating of peanut flavoured chocolate, I would prefer more to be honest. The chocolate is sweet but also has a touch of saltiness which I'm surprised about, and the presence of peanuts is underwhelming, it's quite a reach to actually taste any.

I really like the idea of this Pocky the problem is there is not enough chocolate to build up the peanut flavour in my mouth and I'm left with a taste of plain biscuit after each stick.

I think Pocky were a bit stingy with the nutcream which makes this snack very disappointing.

I don't recommend buying this one unless you like Pocky with a vague peanut flavour and an aftertaste of cardboard. :(

Uji Matcha Tirol 宇治抹茶 チロル

Matcha (Green Tea) is a popular flavour for chocolate and snacks in Japan, so it stands to reason that Tirol would release that flavour over many different incarnations. In the past I've reviewed Matcha with Mochi , Matcha Milk, and Matcha Soy Latte, but I'm sure there has been many more.

This Matcha Tirol is a premium version which means it's slightly bigger than a regular Tirol chocolate and it costs slightly more. The flavour is Uji Matcha, Uji is an area in Kyoto which is popular for the green tea powder.

The design on the wrapper is striking, with a forrest green background, cherry blossom in one corner and a bright orange sunset with a cup of green tea in the foreground. There is also a temple far off on the horizon. The chocolate is dark green in colour and smells like the green tea powder from a Japanese Tea Ceremony.

There is mochi inside this chocolate that is soft and jelly-like. The chocolate around the mochi is strong and bitter, with a hint of sweetness. The matcha flavour is much more intense in this than previous versions. This is less sweet than a normal Tirol, the bitterness of the tea plays a much bigger role. While I don't normally drink the tea because I don't like bitter flavours, I really enjoyed this because it wasn't really sweet like Tirol chocolate tends to be. I felt that this was a very "adult" flavour, and very classy.

The danger is, I could eat a lot of these in one go because it's not too sweet! :) 

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