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.

Kinako Mochi Chocoball きなこもちチョコボール

Kinako is one of my favorite flavours so I was delighted to see this release when we were in Japan last year. I bought about 5 boxes of them and just discovered I had one box left and thought I better review it!

These Chocoball have a thick layer of kinako flavored white chocolate around the outside of an oval shaped mass of kinako mochi. The thick chocolate is divine when chewing together with the mochi in the centre.

It's a small packet and I had to share with my 2 year old son and husband as they both love kinako too, so it didn't go far! Now you can see why I needed 5 boxes... These were about 88 yen in the supermarket (just under $1.00) and very good value. Great as a treat for kids too as it has a small opening and a game on the lid.

If rate these as one of my favorite kinako treats and definitely my favorite Chocoball so far!

Skoshbox Review

I was delighted recently to find an email in my inbox asking me if I would like to receive a box of Japanese goodies from a new subscription service in the US called Skoshbox.

Skoshbox is a company founded by two close friends from childhood who have lived in both Japan and the US throughout their lives. Raised by Japanese mothers and brought up on Japanese snacks, video games, and comfort food, they noticed a severe lack of variety and accessibility to affordable Japanese items in the US. Out of this they created Skoshbox - a monthly subscription service that will deliver a variety of new and quircky snacks to your doorstep.

They hand pick every item that goes into the box, because it is important to them that each item reflects the Japan they know and love so much.

The subscription service is priced at $12 which includes shipping. At the moment it is available within the US only, but according to their Facebook page, they are working on bringing Skoshbox to the international community as well.

For my readers who live in the US I have a special promo code that you can use at checkout which will entitle you to a FREE mystery snack included in your box. Just type the code TASTYJP05.
The code is valid until July 15th 2013 which is the cut-off date for ordering the first box. (Unfortunately because I live in Australia, my parcel took quite a while to arrive so my readers will have less time to use the code.)

I've looked for information on the website and Facebook page as to why Skoshbox is named that. Where did the name come from? I can't find any info but I can only assume it comes from the Japanese word "sukoshi" - meaning "a little bit" because the parcel that came in the mail was filled with lots of little bits and pieces.

When I opened the box, I noticed that it was very professionally packed. There was a postcard that greeted me, which had all the snacks listed on the other side in English. The white tissue paper wrapped around the snacks was a nice touch and it made it feel like I was getting a gift.

Even though the parcel was quite small, it was filled to the brim with a variety of snacks which gave me the feeling of receiving a lot. I knew all the snacks in the box, they are my husband's childhood favourites.

The one thing I observed though is that if you can't read Japanese, then you wouldn't know what snack is which, just by reading the postcard alone. In my opinion, the postcard needs an image of the snack next to each listing. Otherwise, customers will have to find out purely by a process of elimination. 

There was a total of 14 items in the box. 13 of which were edible. When my Japanese husband saw what was in the box he exclaimed "natsukashii" (nostalgic) because these are the snacks he grew up eating, and some of them he still eats now, even though we are in Australia.

My husband and 2 year old son joined me for this review, purely because we all love Japanese snacks and they were hanging around watching me so I had to invite them to join. ;)

We started off with the Senbei (rice cracker) which was soy sauce flavour. There were two crackers in the pack and they are supposed to be "soft" senbei (easy to bite into), but they were quite hard. I thought maybe they were a bit stale. The soy sauce flavour was hard to detect, my husband and I first thought that it was salt or salad flavour because we could only smell the soy sauce. The cracker itself was quite salty. None of us were very big fans of this senbei sadly.

Kaki no Tane
There were two small packs of Kakipi, and my husband and I had one pack each since my son has a nut allergy. We both felt there were too many peanuts in the pack. Usually (and this is just personal preference) we like to eat 2 or 3 hot crackers with one peanut, but each pack seemed to have a high ratio of peanuts to crackers, meaning when we had finished the crackers there were still peanuts left. If we ate the crackers and peanuts together, then the spiciness of the crackers was mellowed out by the peanuts.

Marble Chocolate
The packaging was very cute and my son made a grab for it straight away. We all liked the crispy shell and the chocolate inside had a very strong cocoa flavour. Some of the chocolates had a picture of a cow on the outside so we felt lucky, because they are rare.

 

Koala's March
The outside of this packet is also very cute and shows pictures of Koala's that may show up in your pack indicating you are "lucky". Unfortunately I got no such characters, or if I did, I couldn't tell because the insides were broken. This happens sometimes and because it came such a long way, it can't be helped. We found that the shell was very crunchy and nice but the chocolate had an odd flavour, like it was old. My son made a swipe for this packet too!

Umaibo Cheese
Umaibo is a long tubular corn snack, similar to what Aussies would know of as a "Cheezel" but sweeter. This was broken into 4 pieces inside the pack but I have found them to be somewhat fragile in the past, so it's no wonder. It's probably not a good snack to send internationally because it is easy to break. The flavour was quite cheesy but it also had a sweetness that Western savoury snacks don't have. We all enjoyed this one!

 

 Umaibo Mentaiko (Fish Roe)
I have to admit, I am not a fan of seafood, but my husband loves mentaiko. I was not looking forward to trying it but was pleasantly surprised. There wasn't too much seafood smell or flavour and to me this could have been bbq for all I knew. We all liked it but preferred the cheese. My son chomped the last half of the stick all by himself!

Haichu Strawberry
How to split this candy three ways was our difficulty, however we managed and liked it. It was very mini indeed, I would have liked a couple of each flavour in the box. The strawberry flavour was very light. The candy was very chewy and stuck to my teeth.

 

Haichu Melon
This was green and white in colour and tasted like rock melon. The flavour was very strong and reminded us what we love about Japan. All three of us wanted more of melon Haichu. It was a very pleasant candy to eat.

 

Look Chocolate Matcha Azuki
We all like the combination of Matcha (green tea) and Azuki (red bean) so we expected great things from this chocolate. The matcha flavour was strong, rich and quite sweet, but we couldn't taste any azuki which is a real shame. I preferred this chocolate out of the two flavours.

Look Chocolate Matcha Milk
The "milk" inside this chocolate was clear and stringy, unlike the image on the box of a white creamy liquid. However, I could taste a creaminess which I imagined was the milk. The matcha in this chocolate was not as strong as with the azuki which I didn't like but my husband loved. My son devoured both chocolates and seemed to love them both equally...he would have had another box of them if he could!! ;)

 

Chocoball
Besides Tirol, Chocoball is my husbands favourite snack ever. He loves the combination of peanuts and chocolate. I expected him to love this as it's the original version of chocoball. However he told me that the flavour of this mini pack was different to the normal box of original Chocoball and he thinks that the layer of chocolate is thinner. I liked the crunchiness of the toffee and coating inside, and the flavour of the dark chocolate on the outside, but I too noticed something different but I couldn't work out what it was. The only thing I could say is that these small snacks seem like they come from a share-pack so they could have been modified a little bit for that purpose.

 

Orange Bubble Gum
Bubble gum is not something I eat a lot of, so I have no real expertise in this area. I am familiar with this gum mainly because I see it for sale at oriental supermarkets in my city. This was my first time trying it, and sadly will be my last. The orange flavour was strong and it burned my tongue. Both sides of my tongue were on fire while eating this and afterwards I had acid indigestion. I can only assume that whatever chemical used in this gum just doesn't agree with me. It is a cheap and nasty addition to Skoshbox and I would recommend they leave it out in future.

Milk Hardcandy
There was only one of these candies so I got to have it to myself. I was glad I did because it was so creamy and tasted very milky. It was really hard so it lasted a long time. I wished there were more of these candies in the box!!

Air-in Eraser
I thought it was kind of strange to put an eraser in a box of candy from Japan. I know that Japan is popular with geeks and they must like using mechanical pens and erasers. But for the rest of us who aren't students, what will we do with an eraser? If it has to be an eraser, I would prefer something more "Japanese" such as one of those cute erasers that look like a bowl of ramen or a sushi roll. Otherwise I would have liked to see a cultural item such as some chocolate in the shape of 5 yen coins or a phone strap, or maybe even a sushi keyring.

I really like the idea of Skoshbox but I thought the contents were somewhat hit and miss. I guess being a seasoned snack reviewer and regular consumer of Japanese snacks, the contents of the box feel a bit "meh" to me, but to someone who is just getting to know Japan, this would be a great introduction.

It's also really good for those who like getting parcels every month, it feels a bit like getting a gift in the mail, especially because it is packaged so beautifully. Skoshbox is the kind of thing I would have liked when I was in high school and just starting to learn Japanese. I feel that it is marketed towards Japanophiles who have an avid interest in everything Japan. My husband said that if he was missing Japanese snacks and he couldn't buy them in his area then he would buy a Skoshbox every month. I guess for Japanese people away from home, this could even help cure homesickness.

On the Skoshbox website you can see what is in each month's box before it is delivered to you. I will be interested to see what comes out each month, and even more so when Skoshbox go international. Who knows? I might even buy one myself. :)

How you can find Skoshbox
- Website:  http://skoshbox.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Skoshbox

Here are some other reviews of Skoshbox

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy5JREANS30&feature=share&list=UUAF7DMTeAnZOZvikNygerOA

- http://youtu.be/e9PeEH9-hb0

- http://polishmaniacs.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/skoshbox-june-2013-unboxing-review/

- http://www.subscriptionmaven.com/2013/06/new-subscription-box-skoshbox-review.html

- http://www.ramblingsofasuburbanmom.com/2013/06/june-skoshbox-review/

- http://ayearofboxes.com/2013/06/27/june-box-review-coupon-code-skoshbox/

- http://www.subscriptionboxtalk.com/2013/06/skosh-box-review-and-coupon-code-new.html

- http://www.girlmeetsbox.com/skoshbox-june-review/

- http://ebidebby.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/skoshbox.html


**The Skoshbox reviewed here was shipped to me for free by Skoshbox and reviewed honestly and fairly. At the time of writing Skoshbox do not ship internationally but it seems like this might change in future.

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.

Morinaga Chocoball Double Choco 森永チョコボール・ダブルチョコ

I like to buy the new flavours of Chocoball for Yasu when they come out as it's his favourite childhood snack. I find that napaJapan always has the latest flavours of Chocoball too, which is really good!

This Chocoball is called "double choc" and it's white chocolate on the outside, with milk chocolate and rice crispies on the inside. The outside smells really creamy and like white chocolate and biting into it you can immediately taste the white chocolate followed by the inner crispy shell, the smooth milk chocolate and lastly, some crunchy rice crispies.

The flavours all go well together, and I like having the crunchiness in the middle. It kind of reminds me of coco-pops cereal because it has a similar chocolatey flavour with crispy texture.

I'll definitely recommend these as a nice light chocolate hit or snack on the go. :)

Brand: Morinaga Calories per box: 145 Website: http://kyorochan.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Chocoball Milk Pudding チョコボール牛乳プリン味

Kyoro-chan stowed away in my hand luggage and took a trip down under, or that's what Yasu would like me to think. More likely he stuffed it in my suitcase when I wasn't looking, in order to chomp on it later.

This box is back to the original style, unlike the recent flavours that have a tuna-can like opening. I wish Morinaga would make up it's mind about packaging.

Milk Pudding is not something I have ever heard of in Australia. In Japan, the land of pudding or "purin", it is one of the many popular flavours, in good company with mango pudding, almond pudding, and caramel pudding.

It's another white chocolate Chocoball, how different could it be from Yoghurt or Cream Cheese?

The balls themselves are rather small, in fact smaller than usual, round, white, and glossy. They smell faintly of vanilla and musk. It's a pleasant scent, but more suitable for perfume than chocolate.
The chocolate on the outside is creamy, only slightly sweet, has some taste of white chocolate, but the creaminess is the overall flavour, like a powdered milk flavour mixed with real milk. The let-down with this chocoball though is that because the ball itself is smaller than usual, and the biscuit is about 80% of the ball, the chocolate coating is too small to really get a big flavour hit.

You have to eat a handfull of these all at once to even get a vague sense of the milk pudding flavour. Obviously it wasn't intended for me, Yasu bought it for himself, and he gives it a big thumbs up, but then, he would eat anything Chocoball...he's a dedicated fan.

Big on flavour, these are not. Good for children and husbands, yes.

Chocoball Cream Cheese チョコボールクリームチーズ

I found this box of Chocoball in Lawson, and I thought it was the salt flavour as the box looks almost the same, but on closer inspection I found it was Cream Cheese.

I have never been a big fan of cheese but I thought for my blog and because I have a history of reviewing Chocoball I would try it out.

Unfortunately as it was a really hot and humid day when I bought it, the little balls melted on the way home and stuck together. I don't think it affects the flavour though, just the shape.

This box also opens like a tunacan and can be resealed by tucking the tab back into the slit.

The chocolate on the outside is white chocolate and smells extremely sweet. It tastes like sweetened condensed milk, exactly like the Japanese version, with a little bit of saltiness.

The chocolate is actually softer than usual, and after sucking it off, I find that the biscuit in the middle is just a regular biscuit with no flavour. So where is the cream cheese flavour then?? Oh, am I mistaken, there is no cream cheese flavour, it is just made with cream cheese for the softer outside texture. Though the ingredients does list 'natural cheese' as 6th on the ingredient list, though does not say anything about cream cheese. So thoroughly confusing or misleading.

In any case, despite all that, it really is a very tasty treat and I am in love with the flavour. I will definitely be taking a few of these home to enjoy at a later date.

Chocoball Yoghurt

Image used from J-List
buy Chocoball here

This box of Yoghurt Chocoball was in Yasu's Easter gift bag and the last chocolate left. He told me he was waiting for me to review it so he could eat it! I had no idea until he told me tonight.

I have to say, I usually like Japanese yoghurt flavoured items but these chocoballs were way off the mark.

The outside is coated in a very thin layer of white chocolate, which is nice and creamy, but way too thin. The inside is a round ball of sherbet. It is quite sharp and sour, and after sucking the chocolate off the outside, is quite a nasty surprise.

Exactly where in this chocoball the "yoghurt" is I have no idea. There is no yoghurt flavour in the sherbet, it's just plain sherbet.

I have to give a big thumbs down to the crew at Morinaga, what were they thinking? Were they drunk when they came up with this? How can you put white chocolate + sherbet together and come up with yoghurt?

Chocoball Salt Vanilla チョコボール 塩バニラ

This small box of Chocoball was a part of a giftbag of Easter chocolate I gave to Yasu this year. As Yasu loves white chocolate and Chocoball in general, I didn't hesitate in buying this at the Japanese supermarket for $2.00. It is a little bit more expensive than normal but I figured it may turn out to be a very interesting flavour.

First Nestle Japan ran the salty chocolate theme with their French Rock Salt & White Chocolate Kit Kat around the middle of last year, now many other Japanese sweets are jumping on the bandwagon, the latest to be Chocoball.

Unfortunately, my high expectations were not met. The balls themselves are small, round, and quite glossy, like they have been given a polishing before being inserted into the box. The box smells creamy and sweet but the outside of the ball tastes like nothing. I could have been sucking on a marble, the texture and taste was probably the same. (I say that because I can't remember sucking on a marble, but if I were to suck on one I would expect it to be the same as this).

When the gloss melted away the chocolate emerged mildly creamy and vaguely sweet. It didn't have that super sweet white chocolate taste that I expected. The ball inside was very malty and did not really have a lot of salt. You get more salt flavour if you crunch down on the ball rather than sucking off the coating.

All in all this was a big disappointment for me. Neither of the two flavours shone through, and it was like an effort in mildness. If you want to enjoy white chocolate without the screaming sweetness and you love a bit of malt then this Chocoball would be for you.

Yasu was happy with it, but I suspect if it had white chocolate on the outside and worms on the inside he would still be happy with it. No matter how lame it is, if it's white chocolate, he's there.

I do love my white chocolate and I would rather have throat-burning sweet than no taste at all.

Black Sugar Milk Chocoball 黒糖ミルクチョコボール

I picked this box up in the city for $2.00, just above the usual price ($1.69) for Chocoball. Chocoball by Morinaga is a great little treat which my husband also loves, and seeing as it was a flavour we had not tried, i decided to take it home.

Kokutou or "black sugar" is from Okinawa and is popular in sweets made in Japan. I guess it gives regular sweets that exotic feel without having come from outside of Japan.

The black sugar flavour is in the milk chocolate which coats a cocoa biscuit. The chocolate layer is not very thick and the ball is made up mainly of biscuit. I actually couldn't taste the black sugar at all, it was more of a malt flavour. My husband said he could taste the black sugar flavour but it was very light. Usually black sugar candies are strong and have that definite black sugar taste, so this was a little unusual in that respect.

The box was also different, more like a tin of sardines where you peel the lid back, than the usual corner opening.

This is ok for a one-time tasting but i wouldn't buy it again as the flavour is more malt-cocoa than anything else. I think if you are going to make something that is inspired by such a popular flavour, then do it right and make it strong, than the way Morinaga have done this Chocoball.