Oshiruko Kit Kat

I've read quite a few reviews on the internet about this Kit Kat and most of them said they hated the taste and smell.

I mainly bought this Kit Kat for Yasu as he is such a big fan of Azuki, and Oshiruko in general.

I am also a bit of a fan of Azuki flavoured snacks.

Oshiruko is a traditional Japanese red bean soup served in a bowl with rice cakes. It is truly yum.

The Oshiruko Kit Kat is milk chocolate on the outside, which is a nice change. I had expected it to be azuki colour.

From the milk chocolate you can smell the earthy scent of the beans. I have been to Azuki farms in Hokkaido, so I am familiar with that earthy scent, that some people mistake for an almost rotten smell. Some people just can't stand the smell, but I love it!

The chocolate is quite soft and melts easily. Underneath the earthy smell is a kind of roasted smell of the beans. The scent itself has depth, which is great.

The milk chocolate has a texture, just like the red bean soup. It's like red bean has been ground and added to the milk chocolate, then poured on the wafers. This is truly delicious.

There is red bean paste in between the wafers, just a small amount, but just enough to alight a deeper flavour of Oshiruko in my mouth.

The end note is a roasted bean flavour, followed by the sweetness of Azuki. Oh, this is heaven. I have really enjoyed this. The depth of the flavour reminds me of being in Tokachi, at the Azuki farm.

I am in love with this Kit Kat. It's probably my favourite of all time. Yasu also really enjoyed this one and said it was true to taste, and that it's also his favourite.

Maybe it takes diehard Azuki fans to appreciate this chocolate, and also I think If you have never been to an Azuki farm, you might not know what that smell is, and associate it with something awful, so that's why I think alot of tasters on the net, had trouble with this Kit Kat.

As of now I'm searching on eBay for more of these....

Valentine's Day Kit Kat

Yes, I know I'm 4 months late in posting this. But I thought better later than never!

I love the way the Nestle crew made the box. You can fold it back into a neat little parcel and give one pack of two fingers away to your love. Keep one for yourself, and give one away. It just encourages sharing doesn't it?

I'm glad that this Kit Kat has a simple flavour. In the past I have tried the Lemon Cheesecake Kit Kat - actually that was the first ever Japanese Kit Kat I had - and I like the simple, elegant taste.

I was thinking this Kit Kat would be along the same lines as that one.

The wrapper is simple but attractive. A light yellow background with the red Kit Kat logo and red ends. Nice.

When I opened the wrapper I got a good whiff of a lemony cheese scent. The first bite had a real lemon tang that intensified as I kept chewing. The outside chocolate reminds me of shortcrust pastry with it's soft smooth texture the crumbles in my mouth.

This lemon is not really the same as the lemon cheesecake that I had expected. Instead it's more like a lemon tart. I really love the lemon flavour in this Kit Kat, it's divine!

I really found it hard to stop eating this, and I had to, because I promised Yasu he could have the other pack. It's a pity I didn't buy more of these!

Peach Kit Kat Mini's

This bag of Kit Kat mini's I just had to buy! I love peach, especially Japanese flavoured peach snacks and candy.

I thought it was a great idea to put two flavours in the bag, it breaks it up abit more.

White Peach
Wrapped in a pink wrapper, not sure why, it should have been a white wrapper.
The chocolate is white and there is a very faint smell of peach. The first bite reveals a very peachy flavour in the chocolate, and then the flavour of the plain wafers inside wash over the chocolate, but they taste like vanilla, so it's like peach, vanilla, peach. This is quite nice, I really like it. When eating it just out of the fridge it feels like a nice dessert.

Yellow Peach
The chocolate is a bright orange colour, like the fake cheese on a McDonald's cheeseburger. It smells more like a floral perfume than peach. I can't say this really tastes like peach, for some reason it tastes more like melon! It has a similar flavour to the Yubari melon Kit Kat that had the same colour chocolate. I can't think they would have made a mistake though...
This kit kat also reminds of the sweetness of icecream. Rather cheap icecream I think. There is not really much peach flavour in here. It's more sweetness, floral notes, and the vanilla flavoured wafers. No I'm not a fan.

The white peach was the winner in this pack. They should have left it at that and quit trying, instead of making a less than decent yellow peach.

I guess I just have to find someone who likes the yellow peach and get rid of them, and keep the white ones for myself!

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?

Chelsea Asian Dessert Mix

This bag of Chelsea by Meiji has been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks waiting to be reviewed.

I've really wanted a lolly today so I thought I would get the review over so I can eat some!

This bag weighs a mere 77 grams and cost $3.99. The bags usually state how many items inside on the back of the bag, but this one only says the weight.

There are three flavours covered in this bag, Banana Coconut Milk, Mango Pudding, and An-nin-dofu (an almond curd dessert).

There are 6 pieces of both the mango and the an-nin, but only 5 of the banana.

The good thing about Japanese candy is they are individually wrapped, and the wrappers are different colours, so it's not a surprise candy when you open it.

Mango Pudding - As soon as I put this one in my mouth I got the flavour of real mango. I'm a mango fan and I absolutely love this! It has all the aspects of mango, and as you suck the lolly there is alot of depth in flavour that comes out. There is real fruit juice in the mango and banana lollies, so that may have something to do with it. I've never actually had mango pudding but I will definitely have to try it now!

Banana Coconut Milk - Wow. I'm a big fan of banana and coconut and when I popped this into my mouth I got a really big banana hit, like a real banana, not that fake stuff. After having the lolly in my mouth for a while the coconut flavour started coming out. At first a coconut cream flavour which graduated into roasted coconut. For me, the banana comes second in this lolly and is really overpowered by the coconut. Sucking on this a while kind of makes me feel ill. I'm not sure if it's because of the overwhelming coconut taste or the sweetness building up.

An-nin-dofu - I've tried the Kit Kat of the same flavour, but never had the real thing. I like those almond cakes that you can get from European countries, but I'm not much into tofu, the texture puts me off. I don't like slippery food. This lolly gives off the same flavour as those cakes from Europe but there is a little bit more of a milk flavour there too. The almond is the star, but the creaminess of the milk is a welcome addition in this lolly.

The mango is really the only one I like in this bag. The banana was too sickly and the an-nin was not really my thing. I haven't had any of the original desserts these lollies are based on either.

It was an interesting foray into Asian desserts, but now I've realised Asian desserts are probably not for me. I think I'll stick to icecream!

Tirol Strawberry Shortcake

This little chocolat permeated the whole bag of Tirol chocolates in the variety pack. There were more of these (x6) than any other flavour.

Even while I was typing this post, the chocolate that is sitting on the dining table can be smelled from 2 metres away. Now that's strong!

The packaging is cute and has a little clip art like image of a shortcake on the front. The chocolate itself is 2-toned. White chocolate on the top and strawberry chocolate below.

Biting into this chocolate reveals a biscuit centre. I'm a big fan of strawberry chocolate and I really like this. There is the creamy milky flavour of the white chocolate and the tart strawberry underneath. When eaten together they mix and create a really nice taste in my mouth, topped off with a crunch. The ending is a slightly sour strawberry flavour but it's not too sour and delivers a very nice finish.

I'm really glad there are 6 of these in the pack!!

Tirol Chocolate Almond

I ordered a Variety Pack of assorted Tirol chocolates from J-list and the package arrived today. There are meant to be 27 chocolates in the pack, but I got 28. The spread of chocolates is not even either.

There are:
Chocolate Almond x 4
Strawberry Shortcake x 6
Nama Milk x 4
Chocolate x 5
Bis Milk Choco x 5
White & Cookie Crunch x 4

All of which I will review over the next few days.

The Chocolate Almond packaging is cute, and looks like an American flag and has a little almond guy poking his head over the side.

The smell that hit me when I opened the wrapper was of sweet sweet milk chocolate. I can smell the almond though, and when I bit into the chocolate I discovered a whole almond inside.

The chocolate has a good nutty flavour but is very very sweet with a dark chocolate flavour underneath. It ends on a slightly bitter note. This is quite a nice chocolate if you can get past the inital sweetness.

Cisco Apple Pie Biscuits

Image from Cisco website

The image of the apple pie on this packet caught my eye, it looks yummy. On a whim I bought it. $3.95 for 110grams.

The inside of the packet smells like there is an applie pie in there! It smells like freshly baked apples.

Each biscuit is about 2cm round and has a light glaze with a few specs of sugar. It doesn't smell like anything but when you bite into it, you immediately get the flavour of apples and cinnamon, and combined with the texture of the biscuit it tastes like I'm eating apple pie!

I thought these would be another failure but they are indeed yummy!

Yasu and I thought these would even be good with icecream or with some cream poured over the top, and we both couldn't stop eating them.

These would be really good if you couldn't get the real thing for whatever reason. They make a great after-dinner dessert just by themselves.

The maker, Cisco, is actually a subsidiary of Nissin and they make a lot of cookie products, plus chocolate, cereals and snacks. I also found another kind of biscuit that they make, hotcake cookies, which I have seen in the same store that I bought these but passed up because I didn't think they would be any good. I guess I will have to go back and get those and find out, now that these have been such a success.

Morinaga Milk Cocoa

I came across this small 150 gram box of Morinaga Milk Cocoa in my local Japanese supermarket. For $3.35 I thought it wasn't too much of a risk if I didn't like it, it's a small box and so not much wastage.

The front of the package has an announcement that says "30th Anniversary" and "Oishisa up" or in other words they've upped up the level of flavour. It also has the slogan "Cocoa is Morinaga" in small print above the cup of cocoa.

The cocoa is sealed in a foil bag that is folded over underneath to fit in the box. Upon cutting the top I got a whiff of chocolate cocoa, and it smelled quite nice.

To make hot cocoa you need three small teaspoons heaped of cocoa and 120 mls of hot milk. As Yasu was also having some I heated up 240mls of milk. It didn't take very long on our gas stove. I poured the milk into the cups and whisked it all together with a small whisker.

The effect was a cocoa with a nice creamy froth on top.

I did not add any sugar, nor did I need to. It was chocolatey, sweet, and creamy but not overpowering. I suppose that if you wanted to make it stronger you could add more cocoa in the cup.

I didn't expect to like this cocoa but I became a big fan very quickly. Yasu also loved it and asked for another cup! This can also be made as an iced drink.

I guess the slogan is true, Cocoa IS Morinaga!

Nanae Sweet Apple Wine Caramel 七重スイートリンゴワイン キャラメル

In the past I have tried some unusual Japanese caramels like Genghis Khan and Vermont Curry. I actually liked them, but most people didn't, especially Yasu.

When I saw this product of Hakodate - Nanae Sweet Apple Wine - in caramel form, I just had to try it.

Nanae Town (七重) is a popular tourist destination on the Oshima Peninsula, just near Hakodate.

Some interesting facts about Nanae:

- Nanae was the first place in Hokkaido to start foreign exchange
- There are many Haiku written about Lake Onuma, one of the two lakes in the area.
- There are 9 festivals in the area throughout the year
- Recommended foods to eat in the area are Fried Pond Smelt (?), Pond Smelt boiled in soy sauce, Apple wine, the local Sake, and Apple pie.

But enough about the history and tourism, onto the tasting.

Each box of caramel has 18 individually wrapped pieces.

The box really smells like apple, and I'm glad to say, it is small and does not create alot of waste with packaging. So that's a good start.

The caramel is slightly harder than a hi-chew candy, but has give when you bite into it.

The first notes are sweetness and a flavour of apple juice. As I chew more I get a slightly caramel flavour, then some salt, followed by sweetness. For some reason, I get a slight aroma of fried onions at the back of my throat, though it's not unpleasant, more savoury than anything. At the end I get a slight tart taste, I guess, that is from real apple wine (1%), contained in this caramel, though it is fleeting and gives way to sweetness once again.

This caramel is not overly apple, nor wine, but it does give hints of both. I thoroughly enjoyed this caramel because it is not overdone.

It gives you a feeling as to what the real apple wine might be like. I'd really like to try the real thing, but since I can't, I'll stick to my apple wine caramels.

The wine on the front of the box is an actual product made by the Hakodate Winery (site is in Japanese only). Looking at the website they also sell Sweet Melon Wine and Sweet Peach wine.

If you visit this site, you can see the other caramels made by the company who made these. Some of them looking pretty interesting too! I can see a few for future posts, maybe.