Chocoball for Adults Rich Strawberry 大人のチョコボール濃い苺

We've always been a big fan of Chocoball, so when I saw this Chocoball for Adults I knew I had to try it.

I was expecting it to be bitter, but it was much nicer than I expected. The outside was a glossy red and pink mottled colour.

Unlike the usual hard shell that Chocoball usually has this version had a think crispy layer that gave way to the same colour chocolate inside with darker chips of strawberry.

The chocolate was very creamy and tasted like real strawberries do, not the usual fake "flavouring" that some companies use. 

My husband liked the flavour but asked me why do I think it's called "Chocoball for Adults? What makes it so?" And my response is that the glossy exterior makes it look sophisticated. As well, the strawberry chips add another dimension to the strawberry chocolate and this is what sets it apart from the usual Chocoball that is aimed at children. The packaging also looks premium with the black packaging and bright red and gold graphics.

I might add that my 5 year old son also loved this so they appeal to not only adults but children too - which might make it hard to have your own snack if you're a parent! ;)

In all, a very good product from Morinaga and highly recommended.

Dars Uji Matcha ダース宇治抹茶

Morinaga make a lot of yummy snacks and one product they do especially well is Dars. I'm a big fan of their white chocolate, it is so creamy.

Matcha is also another flavour I love in everything, I love it as a tea or added to savory and desserts. So I was excited to try it.

This Dars uses Uji Matcha from Kyoto that is ground up into a fine powder and mixed into the chocolate. The Matcha flavour is strong and blends well with the outer layer of smooth dark chocolate.

I definitely recommend this as within seconds of pulling out the tray half of the Dars were gone. My 5 year old son started gobbling them and wouldn't stop, he loved it so much. I think I got 3 pieces total, but would have loved more. 

Tirol Sesame Mochi チロルごま団子

I am a big fan of traditional Asian sweets and also a big fan of Tirol as you might guess from the amount of Tirol products I review.

So when I saw this Goma Dango release I knew I had to try it. Besides, the packet is so cute, and there are two flavours inside, not just one! Good value right there :)

This pack contains 7 individually wrapped pieces. 4 of the "金" (white sesame) and 3 of the "黒" (black sesame).

Each chocolate piece contains either black or white sesame seeds, azuki (red bean paste) and mochi gummy.

White sesame is a creamy white chocolate on the outside and it has a sweet smell. The middle is soft and then chewy as my teeth hit the mochi. There are lots of white sesame seeds inside so the sesame taste is quite bold, but it's not overpowering. However, I'm not sure why the azuki paste (which is more like a sauce) is there because it's not very apparent.

The black sesame is a grey and black mottled white chocolate on the outside. Biting in, there is an ample amount of black sesame seeds but I couldn't locate the azuki paste. The black sesame seeds are not very strong in flavour so the white chocolate is centre stage followed by the texture of the sesame seeds. A major let down as I expected the black sesame to be the best but it's actually too sweet and not interesting enough.

That's a shame, and possibly the reason why there were only 3 in the pack. Did Tirol know they bombed out?

Either way, this was a fun pack to try out, even though it wasn't as reminiscent of traditional Asian sweets as I would like.

Have you tried these and if so what did you think!? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Royce x Tirol チロル x ロイス

A while back Tirol teamed up with the famous Hokkaido chocolate manufacturer Royce to make a premium Tirol (which is a little larger than the regular size).

It sold out very quickly but I managed to buy some pieces online. Unfortunately because it contained Nama cream, most online stores would not send it overseas. Mine was sent during summer and leaked inside my parcel, and the Tirol ended up mutilated, but still edible - however I didn't take photos of the disaster so the above image is the result of a Google image search.

The chocolate itself was quite dark so it seems it had a rather high cocoa content. Inside it was soft and kind of chewy. Because of the Nama cream the chocolate was creamy and had a very milky taste. Even when melted, this Tirol was everything I expected it to be and was a really good representation of Royce. It's just a shame I only had 9 pieces because I could have easily eaten double that! 

I hope that like some of the other Tirol releases this will make a comeback in the future! :)

Calbee French Salad Potato Chips カルビー ポテトチップス フレンチサラダ

Sorry for the lack of posts! I have a backlog of Japanese snacks to get through so expect to hear from me more in future. 

Amongst my backlog are packs of Japanese potato chips. Starting with the first pack - French Salad by Calbee. 

Opening the packet there was quite a strong tang that wafted out, similar to that of a French salad dressing which is described by Google as 
"a term originally used for an oil-and-vinegar-based salad dressing. In the United States during the 1950s, manufactured "French dressing" was developed. The term has come to mean the manufactured version, which is sweet in taste and colored red from the use of paprika and tomatoes."

The chips themselves had specks of green and red on them and were a light yellow colour.

They were very crunchy and salty with a mild tang of vinegar, so if you like salt and vinegar chips then you would like these. Japanese husband did NOT like these, his complaint was that they were too tangy (but again he doesn't like salt and vinegar, so there you go)

Overall, not a bad flavour. I'm not sure I would buy it again, but it was good to try once. 

Morinaga Bake Creamy Cheesecake 森永 ベーク クリーミーチーズ 3種のチーズ

Thanks to Jenny-Sama for sending this to me from Tokyo! :) 

This pack of Morinaga Bake uses 3 kinds of cheese in the snack: camembert cheese, cheddar cheese and cream cheese.

The pack is foil wrapped inside the pack, and for the some reason was very hard to get open. But once I did open it, the smell that wafted out was divine. 

I could smell the cream cheese, and a very creamy cheesecake aroma. My husband also had a sniff and declared that it "smelled yum".

There are 10 pieces in the pack and they are a light golden colour and brown around the edges. 

They are very soft to bite into and inside resembles the texture of baked cheesecake when you bite into it.

Each piece has an initial sweetness, with a quite strong hit of cheese, creaminess and also a slightly bitter flavour at the end. I can't distinguish all three flavours individually, but I can taste the cream cheese most. I think the bitter is from the cheddar cheese. The camembert is represented here mainly in the very soft texture.

I would recommend this to cheese and cheesecake lovers alike. If you have a craving for cheesecake and for one reason or another you can't fulfill that need, then this Bake would suffice. 

A big thumbs up for Morinaga Bake Creamy Cheese!

Have you tried it? What did you think?

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!