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. 

Aero Green Tea Latte えーロー 抹茶ラテ

I bought this from Japan when they were having a "green tea fair" so all snacks on a particular aisle had powdered green tea as a main ingredient.

The pack has 22 individually wrapped pieces. There is a thin layer of semi-dark chocolate covering the green tea bubbles. Biting in is a satisfying snap as my teeth cut through the bubbles. The green tea is there but very subtle, annoyingly it takes a back seat to chocolate. I was disappointed by this but Mr 3 loves it and keeps asking for more!

Meiji Matcha Azuki Chocolate 明治抹茶小豆チョコレート

When I saw these at napaJapan I knew I had to buy them. Two of my most Favourite Japanese flavours! How could I resist? 

The box is quite small, but it is attractive. A black background with pink and green and images of chocolate covered azuki. 

The chocolates are contained in a small foil bag which keeps them fresh. There were around 20 small beans, they reminded me of peas. 

(Please note: discoloration is from the chocolate melting in transit)

My 4 year old son loves matcha but not so much azuki, so I was surprised when he ate 3 of them and came back for more. My husband and I both loved them too. It was the perfect pairing. Just the right amount of chocolate to bean, and a traditional pairing, so how could anything go wrong.

This felt like dessert and satisfied a craving for Japanese sweets. I know that I will go back to buy more of these!

Tohato Green Tea Caramel Corn トハト 抹茶キャラメルコーン 🌽

I've had this packet in the pantry for a couple of months now but it was only today I decided to bring them out as my 2 year old son was wanting something different to munch on and he loves matcha flavor anything. 

I didn't realize at the time I bought them that these were bigger than usual, the packet states they are "でっかい" which means "very big".

They are really big and unfortunately have a shape and colour like doggy doo-doo.

Although the flavor is matcha (green tea) it is overpowered by the strong, very sickly sweet caramel flavor, and not only that there is some kind of raw sugar coating on the outside which means after one piece I am screaming for some water.

I do like Caramel Corn usually but I am disappointed with these because of the sweetness, it is too much, especially for a mega size corn.

The only plus is that my son and I held up the pieces to our face to make happy and sad faces, and my son thought it was big enough to be talked into like a telephone. :)

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.

Nestle Kit Kat Green Tea (Matcha) キットカット 大人の甘さ 抹茶

It's been a while since I have reviewed a Kit Kat, probably at least a couple of years. It's good to be getting back into reviewing Kit Kat though as I've never lost my interest in the weird and wacky flavours that Japan keeps putting out.

It seems since the disaster of March 2011 (I hate saying that as my son was born the same month and year), that Nestle have been releasing less Kit Kat flavours than they did before. I know you can still get regional versions but when I went to Japan recently I really struggled to find anything other than regular, white, and green tea.

Japan seems to have renamed their Kit Kat to be "大人" (adult) flavour, or sweetness at an acceptable level for adults. I am not sure why this is, but they have a lot of advertising featuring office ladies or "OL's" so maybe they are aiming more towards weight conscious women?

This is a share pack of 12 individually wrapped minis which is great for me as I have been able to give lots away as souvenirs after coming home from Japan. This flavour was released in both a share pack and a single pack edition. In Japan, the share pack of 12 Kit Kat retails for around ¥298 which is how much I paid for this bag at Mega Donkey (a large discount retailer).

The one thing I noticed about this Kit Kat is that the chocolate coating is very mousse-like and it melts very easily. We are in the throes of Winter here and it's around 18 degrees during the day, but even with the heater on low this little mini melted. 

  

The outer chocolate is green tea green and smells strongly of matcha. Biting into it I get a very strong hit of matcha from the soft green chocolate. The matcha cream inside the crispy wafer also tastes very strongly of tea but with a sweetness. Right at the end there is a familiar bitterness from the matcha.

This Kit Kat was a hit with me. It was very authentic to the taste of real matcha and the soft outer chocolate, even though it melted easily, was delicious. I also enjoyed the crispy texture of the wafers inside. Unfortunately for me it was over too soon, so I might need the whole bag of minis to myself! 

I would recommend trying these if you like matcha or if you want to try a really authentic Japanese flavour paired in a Kit Kat.

Country Ma'am Vanilla & Fragrant Matcha カントリーマアム バニラ＆香り抹茶

Today I have a share pack of cookies by Fujiya called "Country Ma'am". In the past I have reviewed a black sugar version and a kinako version. Today I am reviewing a pack with 20 individually wrapped cookies inside. 10 are Vanilla flavour and the other 10 are fragrant Matcha (green tea) flavour.

I bought this bag of cookies from Ichimaru Supermarket in Tokachi for ¥258. It's quite a big bag and 20 cookies seems like a lot but actually each cookie is quite small - about 3.5cm in diameter.

The vanilla cookie is referred to as a "Chocochip Cookie Vanilla" on the wrap, but on the actual bag is only called vanilla. However, I think most people would think of this as a "choc chip" cookie as the most predominant smell is chocolate. The outside is crispy and the inside is soft and there is a slightly burnt and sweet caramel flavour. The milk chocolate chips give a hint of chocolate but only when you bite into them directly. Otherwise there is a vague caramel/vanilla flavour present. While it's still nice to eat, it's over rather quickly and it's not the strong vanilla flavour I was expecting.

The fragrant matcha cookie is green in colour and crispy on the outside. When biting into it I inhaled a strong scent of matcha. The flavour is very much green tea but there is a surprise inside : chocolate chips! Again the chocolate chips don't add much unless directly bitten on. This is a very strong flavoured cookie so if you like matcha then you would enjoy this cookie. There is a slight vanilla flavour right at the end that is not unpleasant but seems mismatched with matcha.

I'm not a big fan of the vanilla cookies, they are just "ok" but I really like the matcha flavour cookies. This bag of 20 cookies was great value because I shared them out with friends as part of a "Japanese snacks gift bag" when I got home. They are individually wrapped so they are the perfect kind of snack you can hand out to friends who like to try Japanese foods.

It's also a good pantry filler because you can keep a few in your bag or in my case nappy bag, and take them with you when you go out for a quick snack or when my toddler asks for a snack in the supermarket I can ply him with a cookie. :)

You can visit the Fujiya Website for more interesting Country Ma'am flavours.

Kellog's Brown Rice Flake Matcha Milk ケロッグ 玄米フレーク 抹茶ミルク

I purchased this pack of Matcha Milk Brown Rice Flakes at the same time as I purchased my previous review (Brown Sugar & Honey).

As the Brown Sugar & Honey Flakes were very healthy tasting, I was reluctant to taste this Matcha Milk (Green Tea & Milk) variety, so they have sat around on my desk for a while, staring at me every time I turned the computer on.

I finally summoned up the courage to taste them, only to find that they're not that bad. Because they have Matcha powder inside, the texture is a lot better than the Brown Sugar & Honey Flakes. You can really taste the Matcha flavour, and the texture of the powder in there, along with the crunch of the biscuit.

Matcha Milk Flakes don't come across quite as healthy as the Brown Sugar & Honey Flakes do. I could tell it was still cereal based, but the Matcha Milk texture and flavour masked it quite well to the point I felt like I was just eating a savoury snack. There is only a very vague sweetness in this biscuit, when it becomes soft in the mouth, but it seems like there is only grape sugar added and that is in the middle of the list of ingredients so it doesn't play a big part.

Everyone knows I'm a Matcha Freak but I can tell you it didn't make me biased towards this product. I was expecting it to be just as healthy if not worse than the previous review. I was pleasantly surprised to find that healthy doesn't have to be bland.

Bourbon Mini Bit Uji Matcha ブルボン ミニビット 宇治抹茶

I'm a pretty big matcha fan, except when it comes to drinking the tea. Strange, but as a drink it's too bitter for me. I do like it combined with chocolate though. So,when I saw this bag of matcha Mini Bit in a parcel from a friend I was overjoyed!

A lot of the matcha used in chocolates in Japan is "Uji Matcha". Uji is district in the outskirts of Kyoto, famous for green tea and also because the final chapters of the famous novel "The Tale of Genji" were set there.

The bag looks like it holds quite a few chocolates but there are only 6 inside. Each chocolate is individually wrapped and is about an inch in diameter. The chocolate is dark in colour and has a "B" embossed on the top of diagonal lines. I guess the "B" is for "Bourbon", the company who make Mini Bit.

I could smell the matcha wafting out of the chocolate, in fact, the whole bag smelled divine when I stuck my nose in there. Biting into it was quite hard as the inside is jam-packed with matcha. I don't quite know how to describe it but it's like green tea powder moistened and filled inside the chocolate. It's not powdery, it's not gooey or crunchy, it's just nice and firm and flavourful. There is a huge hit of matcha that is oh so satisfying. It doesn't overpower the chocolate at all either, as that is quite rich and is just dark enough to complement the bitterness of the matcha.

This is a match(a) made in heaven!! If these were available in family size I would so get one...but its kind of good that I only have 6...well now 5, because then I can't eat them all at once. Portion control you see.... ;) If you like matcha, then I'm pretty sure you'll like these. But don't take my word for it, try them yourself!

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.

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

Glico Bisco Matcha Milk グリコ ビスコ 抹茶ミルク

Bisco is a brand that has been around since 1933, they're made by Glico, maker of Pocky and other much loved snack brands.

The packaging of Bisco always contains a child, because these biscuits are primarly for children. This is the latest flavour of Bisco - Matcha Milk or green tea and milk.

 

 

From the Bisco website, listing the new flavours, strawberry and match milk

Each biscuit is 3.5 cm long and 2 cm wide. It has a layer of green matcha milk cream sandwiched in the middle. The smell of the cream is very strong and very much like matcha. The biscuit is very soft and crunchy and the cream is soft and sweet. The biscuit and cream are a match(a) made in heaven because the matcha is very pronounced and you really get a strong flavour coming through in each chew.

The size of these biscuits means they are great for little hands, but also great for diet control. Each pack contains 5 of these biscuits, and the pack itself is small enough to fit in a lunch box or a zippered part of a backpack or handbag.

I recommend these if you want a small snack or your kiddlywinks like green tea, they're very enjoyable.