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

 

 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?

Lotte Ume Gum ロッテ 梅ガム

I don't chew gum very often. Usually only when I feel a bit sick. I chewed it a lot during pregnancy to help with morning sickness. Today when I was at the Japanese Supermarket (Nippon Foods) this gum was on sale.

I'm not really a big fan of Japanese plum, because usually it's sour and burns my tongue. But this gum is not "umeboshi" (pickled plum), it's just plum, so I figured it might taste ok. It was on sale for $1 per pack so I figured if it was gross, it wasn't going to leave a big hole in my pocket.

The pack itself is quite pretty, which I think drew me in somewhat because of the cute plum blossoms. On the side of the pack it states "梅の味とシソの香り" which means it has the flavour of plum and the aroma of shiso leaves.

Each gum piece is long and flat and individually packaged in silver foil and then an outer pink paper wrapper with plum blossoms on one side and the Lotte Ume Gum logo on the other. There are 9 pieces per pack.

Upon opening the piece of gum there is a vaguely sweet smell that reminds me of cherry. The gum is sweet to taste and at first has a very strong taste of plum but there are also hints of something else that reminds me of cherry or cherry blossoms. For the first minute of chewing the flavour is quite strong, and it's really quite pleasant. As stated on the box there is a shiso aroma that comes out while chewing the gum, I'm not a fan of shiso, but this is ok as it's not too strong and is only temporary.

As with most gums, the longer you chew this gum the weaker the flavour gets. After 2 minutes or so the flavour is quite weak and it stayed that way until 5 minutes when I discarded it.

I found that 5 minutes was the maximum for me because around then was when I started to feel really thirsty. In any case they did the trick and the hit of sugar combined with a bit of chewing made me start to feel better.

If you want a long-lasting gum then this is not the right choice. However it is an interesting flavour to try and would definitely satisfy a sweet craving. It's good value just for trying something out of the box. :)

Kinako Senbei 岩塚製菓 きなこ餅 "にほんの味”

I am a huge fan of Kinako, it's one of my all-time favourite Japanese flavours besides Azuki and Matcha. So when I found this pack of Kinako Senbei in a box of goodies from a friend in Japan, I was ecstatic.

This pack has 12 individually wrapped senbei. They are thin and light and as you can see on the photo have a patchy sampling of kinako. The pack states that this is more a "savoury" style of kinako as opposed to a really sweet version. I was a little bit disappointed at reading that.

However when I first bit into the senbei it wasn't bad at all. True to what the package says, it wasn't that sweet, but it definitely tasted like kinako, and I quite like the "savoury" version. It's also really crunchy and light, and there is a strong nutty flavour that I really like.

The only downer with this senbei is there is only 1 small senbei wrapped by itself, I could eat more at a time, I wish there were about 4 in one wrap. Maybe because they're so addictive, they limit the quantity to 1 individual serving, people could go crazy and eat the whole pack in one sitting otherwise!

I really recommend these if you like kinako. I still have half the pack left because I'm trying to save them...I'm so kinako deprived over here in Perth, Australia, that I have to really savour anything with kinako that I can get my hands on!

Befco Baka-Uke Shio Wasabi Snack ばかうけ 塩わさび味

Today Yasu and I were in the mood for a snack, and we remembered about the box of goodies that my lovely friend S had sent over so I opened it up and Yasu chose this pack of Bakauke by Befco. Shio Wasabi - Salty Wasabi.

Hmm... I'm not into "hot" or "spicy" foods but I thought I would be game and try.

Each cracker is long and curved, and has the consistency of a "soft" senbei.

When I bit into the cracker I immediately got a big hit of wasabi on the tip of my tongue and after swallowing, at the back of my throat, and the more I ate, the more it built up. Yasu really enjoyed these and I loved that they had such a crunchy texture.

I didn't notice any extra salt as per the "salty" wasabi tag, but maybe because my mouth was on fire. Though I did notice a sweetness from the inside of the cracker between bites.

The wasabi was a bit too strong for me but people who can take the heat would love these. :)

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

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.

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

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 :-)

Echigoseika Cheese Mochi 越後製菓 チーズもち

I recently did a review about Ebi Senbei which is made by Echigoseika, the same company who makes these Cheese Mochi.

If the Ebi Senbei are anything to go by then we thought these should be a hit - and they are!

My son, now nearly 14 months spied the packet and came running thinking it was his ebi senbei but when he saw these he still wanted some.

The cheese mochi are really bright yellow, I mean really "fake" yellow like the cheese on the burgers at McDonalds.

But that's the only thing fake about them! They have such a big crunch when you bite into them and a really soft centre that melts in the mouth. Then there is a really strong cheddar cheese flavour that explodes in the mouth and lingers.

My son is such a fan of these too. He kept coming back wanting more but I had to close the pack and put it away so we didn't eat them all because they are so moorish. I alone could eat the whole pack myself!

If you like cheese, definitely get some!

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」

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) :)

Tirol Espresso チロル エスプレッソ

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!

Maxim Stick Menu Matcha Latte マキシム スティックメニュー 抹茶ラテ

It's a cold and rainy afternoon and I'm thinking about making a hot drink. Do I go something safe like Milo or do I open my new box of Maxim?

For the sake of this blog I decide to try something new. Matcha Latte looks interesting.

It's one of those latte's that doesn't actually contain any coffee just like the Strawberry version I previously reviewed. I think Japan has a somewhat skewed version of what the word "latte" actually means. (According to Wikipedia it means coffee and milk in Italian)

Anyway, I get out my trusty Pingu cup, the only one small enough to fit a Japan-size drink. Each pack contains 4 sachets and each sachet makes around 160-200ml of latte.

When I open the sachet, tiny green granules fall into my palm. There is a strong smell of matcha (powdered green tea). I pour the sachet in, add hot water, and stir. This results in the water taking on a bright dark green colour and frothing up.

I didn't add any sugar or milk to mine but you probably could. I actually find it sweet enough and the milk would be good in place of hot water not as well as, otherwise it would be too diluted.

The matcha latte is actually really nice. It has a pleasant taste of matcha with a slight bitterness at the end. There is also a slight sweetness and unlike the strawberry version this doesn't contain aspartame so that's a win!

I really enjoyed this and I like the fact that it can be turned into an ice matcha latte by halving the amount of hot water and adding some cold water in.

Maxim Stick Menu Strawberry Latte マキシム スティックメニュー 苺ラテ

Do you ever get sick of drinking plain tea and coffee, or milo? I do. Sometimes I yearn for something out of the ordinary. So when I received this from a friend I was delighted.

Usually "latte" is synonymous with coffee so I wasn't sure if this was going to be strawberry flavoured coffee or not. I didn't find any mention of coffee in the ingredients but I did find アスパルテーム otherwise known as aspartame in English which is not good as I try to stay away from artificial sweeteners.

However I was still willing to try it for this review so I made it up according to the instructions.

In comparison to Western sizes, one cup doesn't make much, only 200ml. So you either use quite a small cup (like I did) or you use 2 sticks of powder (of which there are 4 in the pack).

The taste is quite pleasant. It reminds me of strawberry quick by Nestlé except there is a sharp tang at the end.

The image shows it to be light pink but when I made it up it was so pale as to look white, so a bit of false advertising there.

In all I thought the flavour was nice, and it was nice for a change, but it's not something I would indulge in regularly due to the amount you get and also because it contains aspartame.

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

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!

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

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.

Tirol Premium Ichigo Daifuku チロル いちご大福

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.

Meiji Melty Kiss Rich Green Tea Chocolate 明治メルティーキッス濃抹茶

Seriously, I have some really good friends, for which I'm eternally grateful! Yet another wonderful friend sent me a parcel filled with some delicious Japanese snacks and this box of Melty Kiss was inside.

I was aware of Melty Kiss and had seen it around but had never bought it. This box of Green Tea Melty Kiss is a seasonal flavour, meaning it won't be around forever. The kanji (chinese characters) refer to it as 濃抹茶 which translated to English means "rich green tea".

I am not such a fan of Green Tea as a drink, but I love it in chocolate and sweets. This Melty Kiss was no exception.

  

Not exactly how it's meant to look but whatever, it tasted good!

When I opened the wrapper I couldn't really smell anything but when I placed the (somewhat melted in transit) chocolate into my mouth I immediately tasted the bitter dark chocolate coating mixed in with the rich green tea, a match made in heaven! I could really taste the bitterness of the green tea too but it gave the chocolate depth and I was really sad it ended that I immediately opened another one! Hubby really liked this too, even though he's not really a fan of Green Tea either!

So I thoroughly recommend this one to you. There are 14 individually wrapped chocolates in the box so there are plenty to share with friends!

Melty Kiss Website

Kameda Seika Curry Senbei 亀田製菓カレーせん

I've had such a big craving for senbei (a type of Japanese rice cracker) lately, but the only options in the Japanese supermarkets here seem to be either soy sauce or salt flavour. I'm not really into either of those flavours to be honest.

So I asked the help of a friend in Japan to send me some senbei over and she kindly obliged. She sent me a few different types, the bite size senbei that my son loves, these Curry Sen and some fancier Ebi Senbei which I hope to blog about soon.

These curry senbei are those which you might call "soft". They are big and round and when you bite into them they melt in the mouth. Hubby and I were really happy with these and ate the packet over two sittings but could have quite happily ate it in one if we wanted to be piggies!

So soft they broke up in transit.

The curry sen were coated back and front with lots of curry spice and on the packet it claims the flavour leans more towards Indian spices which I can attest to as at the end of each bite my tongue warmed up with the heat of the spices.

As you can probably tell we really loved these and were sad when our senbei love affair was over. I'd definitely recommend these if you want something a bit different from the usual rice cracker.

Each pack has 18 crackers and the company's website is here.

Imuraya Azuki Bar 井村屋あずきバー

  

It's quite warm tonight so for dessert I'm having this Azuki Bar by a company called Imuraya.

I picked it up at the Japanese supermarket for 99 cents on sale.

I thought it was going to be an icecream bar containing Azuki (read bean) but its not. Basically it's Azuki purée and bits of beans stuck on a pop stick. It does taste yum and very authentic, but I'm not so sure about the texture as red bean blended has a strange texture and then there are lumps of beans poking out too.

It's a different dessert and one I'm sure an Azuki lover would quite enjoy, but for me I can't get past the odd texture and it made me really thirsty too.

I probably wouldn't buy it again but I'm happy to have at least tried it. For the record I do really like Azuki, I'm just not so in love with this bar.

Kimura Annin Ramune 木村 杏仁ラムネ

I've had this bottle of Ramune sitting in my fridge for a while. I bought it on a whim. Annin is almond flavour. I've tried Annin Kit Kat before and so I thought Ramune would be good.

In Japan the most popular use of Annin is in Annin Dofu, a kind of almond pudding, borrowed from China I think.

I've noticed this brand of Ramune don't use the traditional glass bottles but a plastic version which is easier to release the small ball in the centre.

At first the soda just tastes like lemonade, flat lemonade at that, as there is not very much fizz at all. Then after swallowing there is a big hit of almond flavour at the back of my throat, and mixed with the lemonade flavour becomes a taste of childhood nightmares aka kids medicine.

Hubby had one sip of this and told me I could have his bottle as well, because no way is he drinking something that tastes like medicine. He said that the cold and flu medicine in Japan tastes the same.

Oh well. I'm not a fan of this Ramune, but I guess I'll end up drinking it. It's a shame they couldn't pull it off, at least the bottle cover is cute, I think that is the only thing going for it!

Teaming Up With Rattling Reviews

Thought I better mention that this blog has already gone live in a monthly publication called Rattling Reviews.

From now on I will be doing two reviews for Rattling Reviews every month and endevouring to branch out into reviewing homewares and other fun Japanese products as well.

This is the cover of the latest issue which you can subscribe to free from the website.

My review in Rattling Reviews

You can also find them on Facebook here.

I'm so excited to have been given this opportunity! I love blogging online but also in a Newzine is just so fantastic, I love being able to spread the word about unique Japanese products. :)

Echigo Seika Bite Size Prawn Crackers 越後製菓 味の追求 ひとくち 海老せん

 

I am a big fan of prawn crackers and usually when we have Chinese Take-away I get a big bag of them.

Ebi Senbei are a lot like prawn crackers except they are usually round, thicker and harder. I got a friend to send some senbei (Japanese rice cracker) over for me and in the box she included this pack of bite size ebi senbei with my 11 month old son in mind.

I wasn't sure if he would like them but they were a massive hit and quickly became "his" senbei, in fact he ate the whole pack by himself except for one or two that we sneaked so we could try.

I know why they were so popular, they are the perfect size for his little hands, they have lots of flavour, and a satisfying crunch.

These are adults senbei, not marketed towards children but they seem perfect for the whole family.

The packet contains 60g worth of senbei which is probably around 30 pieces and a packet contains 474 calories.

I'm definitely going to buy more of these, they are just so worth it!!

The manufacturers website is
http://www.echigoseika.co.jp

Meidi-ya My Syrup Blue Ramune めいじや マイシロップ ブルー ラムネ風味

It's getting quite hot in Australia now as we are well and truly into summer. Today was 36 degrees and the perfect day for Kakigori (かき氷).

So I decided to open a new bottle of syrup. It's by a company called Meidi-ya and the flavour is Blue "Ramune" which is a basic soda or "lemonade" in Japan.

The syrup is bright blue and smells sweet. It's quite thin but is full of flavour. It tastes really sweet and like lemonade without the bubbles. I had condensed milk over the top and it was a match made in heaven.

I would fully recommend this, it's so yummy. I'll be having this again soon I think!

iPhone blogging

As a busy mum to a very active 9 month old I no longer have time to spend hours in front of the computer posting reviews, so from now on I will be posting shorter reviews from my iPhone (thanks to the blogger app!) as I still love reviewing, and don't want to give it up.

The reviews will be shorter but more to the point, I hope that my readers will continue the journey with me :)

Wishing you all a very happy new year!