Tirol White Marshmallow Assortment チロル マシュマロチョコアソート

A pack of 9 Tirol with a theme: Marshmallow. There are 3 pieces of 3 flavours each:

Strawberry Marshmallow

This one is light pink in colour and smells very strongly of strawberry. The fluffy white marshmallow inside is soft and surrounded by a strawberry sauce. The outer layer of strawberry chocolate is more like a mousse. This chocolate melts in the mouth.

Caramel Marshmallow

This has no aroma and tastes weird to me. Not exactly caramel, very creamy though. The mashmallow is very soft once again.

Cocoa Marshmallow

Dark chocolate surrounding the white marshmallow with a chocolate sauce trickling out. The dark chocolate is bitter and rich, over-riding the sweet soft mashmallow. 

The strawberry would have to be my favorite of the three, followed by cocoa. The caramel was not a hit with me sadly. 

Sakura Marshmallow by Ishimura 石村萬盛堂 桜マシュマロ

I received two packets of these Sakura Marshmallows right before I went on my trip to Japan so I am a little bit late blogging about them, well more than a bit late, a LOT late. I was lucky enough to see the Sakura (cherry blossom) blooming in Sapporo, right before I left to return to Perth. I also ate a lot of Sakura Mochi while I was staying in Japan and the taste is very unusual, but I do like it.

The brand is "Gateau de Paris Patisserie" made by Ishimura and I can't seem to find it on their website, but scouting around the internet it looks like it might have only been a limited release for White Day (the ladies version of Valentine's Day in Japan).

I loved the colour on the packaging, even though the packs are small it looks premium and would be a lovely gift. Hubby and I both tried this together and when we opened the package we could immediately smell the Sakura scent wafting up to our noses.

 

 

The marshmallows were very light pink, soft and rounded on top with a flat bottom. The marshmallow was soft and springy and when we bit into it it was like eating a cloud. Very "fuwa fuwa". The inside of the marshmallow had a big ball of white chocolate ganache which was a delight to eat. I'm not sure why but we both thought that the white chocolate had a distinct flavour of coconut, which we both really liked. It was soft and rich and really complemented the outer mashmallow wonderfully. With this the sakura flavour of the marshmallow wasn't very strong, but the scent was quite powerful so when biting into the marshmallow we got the strong taste of the white chocolate ganache, the fluffiness of the marshmallow and the scent of sakura, all combining to make a very memorable experience.

We had these with a cup of nice Japanese green tea, but you could have them alone. I would really like to have these again sometime, they were so nice! I definitely recommend them if you come across them :)

Rilakkuma Picnic Tirol リラックマ ピクニックチロル

Tirol have teamed up with Rilakkuma, everyone's favourite lazy bear to bring out this pack of "Picnic Tirol". It has 9 pieces of individually wrapped Tirol featuring cute pictures on the wrapper. There are 3 pieces each of 3 flavours - Pudding, Caramel Cookie, and Choco Marshmallow.

On the front of the pack Rilakkuma is sitting holding a bunch of flowers and he has his friend Korilakkuma (so called as she resembles a smaller version of Rilakkuma). Rilakkuma and Korilakkuma also feature on the chocolate wrapper design along with their birdie friend Kiiroitori (Yellow bird).

I was pleasantly surprised to find this pack contains 3 new flavours, and I'm especially excited about the pudding flavour.

It's such a shame to open this pack, really. As the tear line is situated both sides of Rilakkuma's head, so it literally tears open across his forehead. If you're a big fan of Rilakkuma, you might down the side of the pack.

Pudding

This Tirol has two different kinds of wrappers, one with Rilakkuma holding a glass of lemonade, and the other with Kiiroitori holding a glass of lemonade. They're both very cute. The chocolate is a cross between a custard and caramel yellow colour. The chocolate smelled like coconut and caramel and was quite sweet. The chocolate breaks easily when bitten into and there is a soft jelly inside that tastes like caramel, even having a sauce left behind from the jelly that has a slight burnt sugar taste. The chocolate complements the burnt flavour by bringing back the sweetness and the flavours mixed together reminds me of a classic creme caramel pudding. I think they have done this well, although I'd prefer a little less burnt sugar in mine.

Caramel Cookie

The wrapper designs for this flavour are either Rilakkuma playing a guitar or Korilakkuma riding a scooter with Kiiroitori on the back. The chocolate is a toffee colour and smells like hard caramel. Biting into it, the chocolate is soft and sweet and the inside consists of biscuit pieces and caramel chocolate all melded together into a hard block. The caramel flavour isn't as strong as I expected on this, but it's really crunchy and I enjoyed it.

Choco Marshmallow

The design for these chocolates featured Korilakkuma holding a bunch of flowers on all 3 pieces. The chocolate is quite dark and smells like chocolate brownie. Biting into it there is a strong dark chocolate flavour, the bitterness is the first thing I taste, then there is the soft centre of marshmallow and dark chocolate sauce. Although I'm not a dark chocolate lover, I liked this one as the marshmallow centre was sweet and offset the bitterness to make it very enjoyable.

Overall, I probably liked the Choco Marshmallow the best, the Pudding second and the Caramel Cookie third. They all have their good points. I liked the jelly in the Pudding but not the burnt sugar flavour. I liked the crunch in Caramel Cookie but the flavour was too weak. I am not a fan of dark chocolate but the Choco Marshmallow somehow complemented that with sweetness of marshmallow.

I think this is a really sweet pack of Tirol and I'm sure it was probably popular in Japan because of the design and the interesting flavours. The fact that it has 9 pieces means it's great to share with friends.

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

Kabaya Guimauve Strawberry ギモーヴ ストロベリー

Guimauve is the French word for Marshmallow. Marshmallow comes from the plant of the same name and is used in candy and in hot drinks, eaten by itself plain or toasted. As the marshmallow powder is quite difficult to obtain, most manufacturers use gelatin to get marshmallow to that sticky, chewy consistency that we love.

Kabaya have come up with their own take on Guimauve by creating it using Gummi. It is shaped into squares, the French way, and it doesn't have the powdery outside like most marshmallows that come in big bags, instead it has a smooth matte finish.

It smells sweet and floraly, but even without eating it there is a tartness that wafts up my nose. Biting into it is not the same as biting into a marshmallow, it has a little bit more resistance. When it is squeezed, it flumps down in half, unlike a marshmallow that bounces back. The inside after being bitten, resembles something like a marshmallow mixed with a sponge.

The difference with this Guimauve is that the strawberry flavour takes a back seat to the tartness, and it tastes more like a strawberry sherbet than I expected. The flavour is even more pronounced when you suck it instead of chew it.

I'm not a fan of sour candy, I don't hate this, but I don't exactly love it either. It's a little bit hard for me to get my head around this candy. I keep coming back for more but only because it's weird. Who ever heard of a marshmallow made out of gummi? Somehow the texture works. It's just the flavour that is not my thing.

This is not blow-your-head-off super sour, but it has enough there to make you think it's sherbet. I would only buy it if sour candy is your thing.

Brand: Kabaya Calories per pack: 116 Website: http://www.kabaya.co.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Meiji Porte Hokkaido Creamy Whip Filling ポルテこだわり北海道クリーム

This was another gift from a friend in Japan, and it's something I have never seen before. The fact that it's got Hokkaido cream inside excites me because I love Hokkaido everything. Especially dairy.

Porte are small, individually wrapped biscuits for want of a better word. It has a dense chocolate biscuit base and a creamy white whipped marshmallow on top, covered in a thin layer of chocolate and coated in cocoa powder.

Heaven in a box.


Biting in I get the bitterness of the cocoa powder followed by the crunch of the biscuit base and the soft creamy marshmallow. The flavour is absolutely divine and is like eating a cloud, that's how soft it is. There is a beautiful vanilla icecream like flavour in the whip.

Yumm. Who could stop at one? Not me. There is nothing more I can say about these except they are totemo oishii, divine, beautiful, delicious and excellence. Pure excellence.

Whoever dreamed these up needs a raise!

Of course these are recommended!! Go!! Buy!! :)