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!

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 :)

Tirol Tri-colour Dango チロル三色だんご

I love Japanese dango, it's one of my favourite foods. So, you can imagine my delight when I came across this lovely bag of Tirol Tri-colour dango chocolates. What is Dango you ask? It's a kind of rice dumpling made from sweetened rice flour. Depending on the flavour it will have sauce, or flavour kneaded into the rice. They are typically served on skewers and the tri-colour dango consist of 3 flavours, Sakura (cherry blossom), Mitarashi (sweet soy sauce) and Uguisu (the name of a bird - Japanese Bush Warbler - named for the colour of the bird, which is usually green).

There are 3x3 flavours in this pack, it's small, but the imges on the outside, and the colours, make the packaging a prize in itself. I adore it, it's so very cute!



Sakura
Very light pink in colour and smells like cherry blossom flower. There is a chewy gummi in the middle, of the same flavour but stronger. It's kind of hard to bite into as the gummi is quite strong. I quite liked this because while tasting the flavour, I also got an aroma in my nose that reminded me of lots of little sakura petals floating on the wind.


Mitarashi
Off-white in colour, the chocolate tastes like Maple syrup. The inside is really tough to bite through, again gummi, and orange-brown in colour, exactly the colour of the sauce laid over mitarashi dango. This was very sweet from the white chocolate/maple combination on the outside, which didn't leave much room for the mitarashi to shine. Despite that, I liked the flavour.


Uguisu

Green in colour, looks more like green tea flavour from the outside. The chocolate on the outside smells like almond, the almost lime green gummi in the centre is easy to chew and overwhelmingly almond flavour. It reminds me of those German finger biscuits with the almond on top. This is really different from what I thought it would be, but in a good way.

In all, I can't pick a favourite. They all have their good points, and I didn't really find any bad points beside the really chewy gummi in the middle, that for me, was a little bit too hard to bite through. The idea is very unique, and makes it fun to eat them in the order you would on a stick. Fun for kids and adults alike I say! :)