Itoen Teas’ Tea New York Style Herb Darjeeling 伊藤園ティーズティー ニューヨーク ハーブダージーリン

I was looking for a refreshing drink and this bottle caught my eye. It looks modern and well designed.

It was also on special for $2.99 so that persuaded me to give it a try.

I only noticed after purchasing it that it is made by Itoen, a company who's drinks I rarely like. They are well-known for their healthy drinks, mainly with fruit and vegetables.

At the top of the bottle near the brands logo it has "New York Style" written. I'm not sure what that actually means, the bottle or the contents.

The flavour of the tea is Herb Darjeeling. I'm not a fan of herbs but since herbs and tea resemble the same kind of leafy greens I thought they would probably go well together. The bottle also mentions that Lemongrass is an ingredient, it is unsweetened and there are no calories.

A look on the back of the bottle also confirms this.

The first smell when I opened the lid was very medicinal. I could really smell herbs. However when I took a sip, I couldn't really taste any herbs, but more a flavour of straight black tea.

I'm not a tea conoisseur, I'm really only familiar with a few styles, and I've never had Darjeeling before, but it doesn't taste like it has a definite flavour more than other tea.

There is definitely no sugar in here, there is no sweetness at all. The tea reminds me very much of Straight Tea by Kirin, the same kind of tea flavour persists. There is a bitter component when swallowing the tea and I attributed this to the herbs until I looked on the back of the bottle and found the only herb ingredient is lemongrass. The only other ingredient is "black tea" but it doesn't say it's Darjeeling in particular, so I am not sure if they are just calling it Darjeeling or it actually is.

I'm very familiar with the taste of lemongrass and there is absolutely no taste of that in this tea, so I'm pretty sure they used a minute amount if only so they could put it on the label.

Weird.

I'm not sure if New Yorkers drink tea this way - I searched the internet and couldn't find any evidence of a particular recipe or way that they drink it, so I will leave that up to my readers to inform me, if they know.

So in all, it's like drinking straight black tea with a bitterness, and no sweetness. It turned out to be pretty bland. It doesn't refresh me, but it doesn't make me thirsty either. It's just very plain.

It=t was a disappointment to be sure. There was no noticeable lemongrass flavour as per the bottle, and the bottle and it's "herb" statement was a little bit misleading anyway. I do like the bottle - it's pretty funky, but that's the only part of this drink that is.

I guess I'll just mark this down as yet another Itoen drink I don't like.

Brand: Itoen Calories per bottle: 0 Website: http://www.itoen.co.jp

Meiji Kaiten Zushiya-san Gummy 回転ずしやさん グミ

Kaiten Zushi is basically conveyor belt sushi. As in, sushi on small round plates go around on a conveyor belt in front of diners who pick up whichever plate they want to try.

This gummy is based on that concept, but instead of tasting like fish and rice, the flavours are apple, melon, and strawberry.

There are 7 pieces of "shari" (rice) and 7 various pieces of ingredient that goes on top of the rice. In this case the rice is apple flavour, 4 of the ingredients are strawberry flavour, and the other 3 are melon flavour.

When you open the packet, there is a sealed section containing the gummy. You peel the plastic off, somewhat like plastic cheese, and the rubbery little pieces of gummy sushi come with it, so you have a kind of clear plate with "sushi" on it.

There is also another component to this gummy. When you place the ingredients on the rice, it combines both flavours and turns into a new one.

Apple + Strawberry = Peach
Apple + Melon = Banana

Each piece is quite small, 2cm x 1cm. The rice base is a very weak apple, and quite chewy. The melon is more like gummy in that it is a transparent orange. It has a strong flavour of melon and is enjoyable. The strawberry is also a transparent red colour, but this one tastes like watered down strawberry concentrate with more water than concentrate.

Combined together, the melon and apple tasted like banana while still maintaining the original flavours. However, the strawberry and apple really didn't taste much like peach until I had swallowed it.

Yasu and I ate this together, and while we found it interesting and quite fun at first, the flavours just didn't do it for us. We felt the flavour was too weak, and the base was too rubbery.

We don't want to eat it again but it was fun and quite unique for a one-time snack. The packet has a lot of cute graphics and there is a quiz on the back. The website also has a lot of fun interactive games and downloads to keep kids entertained online.

Brand: Meiji Calories per pack: 71 Website: http://okashi-land.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Bourbon Milk Roll Cake ふわまき ミルクケーキ

I'm a big fan of roll-cake. Especially the roll-cake from Japan. It tends to be very soft and moist, with a light fluffy cream in the middle.

This roll-cake from Bourbon is no exception. When I was a kid, when my mum made sandwiches for me she used to cut off all the crusts, and then I used to pound it down so it was really flat. This roll-cake reminds me of that because it has a similar texture to flattened white bread that has just been baked. It is perfect.

The cream inside is combined from two types of cream. It doesn't say exactly which types of cream on the packet, but it does say it has butter, full cream milk, raw cream, and cream powder. The cream has been whipped and is light and fluffy - hence the "fuwa" part of "fuwamaki" on the pack. "Fuwa" meaning fluffy and "maki" meaning roll, literally "fluffy roll".

The roll cake has the scent of vanilla and it looks like a cow. Not in shape, but in colour - it has the pattern of a dairy cow on the outside - white with dark brown spots. The brown parts have a slightly bitter cocoa flavour. The cake is soft to eat and the fluffiness of the cream goes with it perfectly. The cream tastes very milky, so in all it's a party of vanilla and cream in my mouth.

I shared this with Yasu and we both really enjoyed it, but it was over too soon! Wish I had more of these... I definitely recommend trying it!

Brand: Bourbon Calories per pack: 179 Website: http://www.bourbon.co.jp

Lotte Plus X Mango Mint Gum プラスエックスガム マンゴーミント味

Wow, two posts in two days, am I on a roll or what?

Plus X is pretty much the same format as the Lotte Xylitol Gum. It's the same small chiclets, and the same super bright gum.

In this case though, the flavour is tropical. Mango Mint to be exact. Not totally out there as far as gum goes. It could be a flavour in Australia or America, not some oddball creation we know they can usually come up with in Japan!

I had no trepidation about trying this flavour, in fact I thought it might be a little mundane. The colour of the gum was anything but mundane - very bright orange in colour.

This gum, like the Lotte Xylitol gum, has xylitol in it so it so it's sweet without sugar. Supposedly better for you too. There are 14 individually wrapped chiclets, and the pack is worth 37 calories.

The taste is very tropical. The first bite tastes like a mixture of tropical fruits, and then it blends seamlessly into a full mango flavour and then again a blend of mint comes in with the mango. But the mint part of this gum is not very strong, it's more mango than mint.

I was surprised that the mango and mint is still around and it's been more than 5 minutes. Mind you, it's not as full flavoured as it was at the beginning but that's because I have probably gotten used to it.

When you're on a diet, getting used to sugar-free, xylitol and sweetener infused products is hard at first, but then you get used to it. I'm now at the point where I can say I actually like this gum. Before, the sweetness would have been too fake, and too bland. It's not as sweet as other Japanese gums I have tried, so if you like your gum on the sweeter side (for example Juicy Fruit) then this gum is probably not going to be for you.

On the otherhand, if you're looking for a good option to have that's not going to stack up the calories, then this would be ideal.

Brand: Lotte Calories per pack: 37 Website: http://www.lotte.co.jp

Fujiya Caramel Milky Candy 不二家ミルキーキャラメル

I had another break from blogging over Easter - sorry guys. Copious amounts of sweets and chocolate meant that I was sick to the eyeballs of sweet stuff.

Now back to review this bag of Milky Caramel. It's not just the average Milky candy, as in a certain flavour. It's a caramel that has a milky cream filling.

Each pack has about 11 individually wrapped candies inside. They are small and glossy, about 2cm x 1cm.

These are best eaten at room temperature. I tried them out of the fridge and they were too hard and chewy and the inner cream didn't really make much difference.

But, when I had them at room temperature they were melt-in-the mouth, soft, and the inside was soft and melty.

This candy tasted like coconut when I first popped it in my mouth. It was quite sweet too. There is a vague taste of caramel flavour but not full-on like a butterscotch caramel. The inside tastes like an original milky, it's very creamy and I could taste the cream.

These were really sweet, so one was enough for me. Yasu really enjoyed these and ate nearly the whole bag, but even he only had one per day.

Overall, these are not the most special Milky around, but they do taste nice and are very creamy, but also very sweet, so if you like that combination and you see it around, I would recommend them to you. If not, it's nothing to cry about if you missed getting these. :)

Brand: Fujiya Calories per pack: 155 Website: http://fujiya-milky.com

Meiji Kinoko no Yama Banana Milk きのこの山バナナ・オ・レ

Note to self: Don't order chocolates in the middle of Australia's summer (around 38~42 degrees celcius) or this post will be the result.

Unfortunately this box of Meiji Kinoko no Yama didn't make it all the way here without melting into a puddle. And when I say puddle, I mean puddle.

The little mushrooms all ended up becoming one big yellow blob with pretzel sticks poking out. Okay if you're planning to scoff the whole box down in one sitting, not okay if you're planning on sharing it with someone else.

Nevertheless, the review must go on.

Despite its blobbiness, the smell wafting out of the box is delicious. I am a big fan of banana, and in particular fake banana scent and essence, so I expected to really love this.

The chocolate is surprising as it starts off as a banana milk taste and ends up being quite tangy, almost lemony. I could also taste a fruitiness and when I looked on the ingredients I found apple paste was used.

This is a nice banana flavour, not too over the top, not too fake, and it has quite a few different elements mixed in to keep it interesting. The pretzel stick is plain, but it's a nice contrast to the banana and it's really crunchy so it adds a great texture too.

Just like when I drink a milk drink, this made me thirsty afterwards. So if you're going to eat this make sure you have a drink handy. In all, I would buy this again as I thought it was an interesting take on a classic flavour.

Brand: Meiji Calories per box: 430 Website: http://kinotake.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Hotcakes Maple Syrup & Dorayaki Chocolate ホットケーキメープルシロップとどらチョコ

I have another Canadian-inspired snack here and I'm mixing it up abit by reviewing a product that is pretty much the same except for the flavour.

They are both made by Yaokin and are "puchi" (small) size snacks.



First up is Hotcakes with a maple syrup filling.

Both of these snacks are very cute and resemble mini pancakes. The pancake is fluffy and light. There is a good blob of maple syrup like cream in the middle that holds the two pieces together well. The cream is light and has a very authentic maple syrup flavour and a look on the ingredients indicates that it is real maple syrup that has been used. It's got a slightly woody taste which is apparent in real syrups and I really like it.


In all, Hotcakes is a nice light treat that is over a little too soon for me, but nevertheless is a very nice way to eat maple syrup!


Dorachoco

This has the same texture as the hotcakes for the outside - light, fluffy and aerated. The chocolate on the inside seems thicker than the maple syrup but it has a nice chocolate flavour and aroma that goes well with the pancake. This is somewhat gooey-er when eaten all-together, but it tastes no less wonderful.


I liked both of these versions of mini pancakes, and if I had to choose it would be the maple syrup flavour by a whisker but I would happily eat both. Definitely try them if you see them around. :)

Baby Star Do-Dekai Ramen Maple Syrup ベビースタードデカイラーメン・メープルシロップ味

Sorry for the long gap between reviews guys. I didn't mean to leave you hanging in the wind. I started a new diet and was finding it a bit hard to balance snack reviewing and healthy eating but now I think I've found the right balance I'm raring to go, and have lots of interesting snack reviews coming up thanks to napaJapan!



I have a few Maple Syrup flavoured snacks this week - they were released during the Vancouver Olympic Games to tie in with the theme, and should have been reviewed back then but alas I'm a little behind the times.

Today I present you: Baby Star Ramen "big" in Maple Syrup flavour.

I've never had these before but I know they're popular and Yasu also likes them, but I've only seen them in the regular size.

This bag has a strange smell, when I was typing and had it open in front of me, I kept getting a whiff of something that smelled like celery. On closer inspection it was the baby star that I was smelling. Strange! There is no celery powder listed in the ingredients, but I was surprised to see "cake donut mix" in there!! There is also maple syrup from Quebec, so at least we know it is authentic maple syrup.

Baby Star is basically a snack that is made to look like ramen. It is a golden colour, thin and in a wiggly shape. This "dekai" ramen is flatter and wider, and reminds me of pasta more than a noodle, though it is imprinted with vertical lines that are making it look like it is clumps of noodles stuck together, perhaps.


They have a wonderful smell of waffles, and it's kind of like walking past a waffle house when I hold one up to my nose. They are crunchy and have a wonderful buttery flavour. There is only a slight flavour of maple syrup on each piece but if you eat more than one at a time, or keep eating them one after the other, the flavour really builds up into a rich maple syrup experience. This is kind of a crunchy pancake with maple syrup, cheaper and easier than making the real thing, more convenient for portion sizes.

I love this! If you love maple syrup like I do, or if you love pancakes with maple syrup even, then I'm sure you will love these too :) You can buy these now at napaJapan - but hurry only limited stocks left!

Pocky Dessert Mont Blanc Chocolate ポッキーデザートモンブランショコラ

It's been a long time since I've had Pocky, the celebrated snack of the Anime Otaku. In fact, I've never reviewed it on this blog. Funny that, how such well known snacks are overlooked in favour of weird and wacky or more interesting variety snacks. I really should go back and do the tried and true flavours shouldn't I.

This is the last part of a parcel from a very nice friend in Sapporo (Thanks D!), and I have been holding onto it for a while now. I squirrelled it away for a rainy day. The rainy day came and went and I forgot about it, and then when I was cleaning up the front room I found it again. Timely.

This is not an average Pocky, it's part of the Dessert range which is abit more premium than the average Pocky. It's more in line with it's competitor - Fran by Meiji - which is still a pretzel stick snack though it has a thicker coating and more luxurious flavours. It's the Louis Vuitton of the pretzel world.

This box has 4 clear wrapped packs of 3 sticks each. So you basically get 12 sticks in a pack that is big enough to probably house 24. But with Pocky desserts its all about quality not quantity Dahlings.


The pretzel stick looks like it is double the size of a regular stick, about half of a centimetre thick. It is then covered in a thick layer of regular milk chocolate, and then layered with a light brown coloured white chocolate in a kind of spiral fashion.

This flavour is Mont Blanc, inspired by the French dessert of the same name that is a cake or tart made of pureed chestnuts and whipped cream, sometimes on a meringue base. So basically we have a chestnut dessert on a stick. The light brown coating on the outside is very similar to the coating on a real Mont Blanc dessert and represents the chestnut flavour.

To me, the chocolate on the outside smells like coffee more than anything else. The light brown chocolate has a slight chestnut flavour by itself but when it is sucked off the stick together with the milk chocolate is when the roasted nut taste starts to emerge.

The pretzel is nice and crunchy, and the two flavours of chocolate merge well together, but I still get that sense of coffee underneath the chestnut flavour. The texture of the chocolate is smooth and is mousse-like.

This Pocky is special because of it's appearance. The flavour is not as luxurious as I thought it would be but nevetherless it is rich and creamy and a really great chocolate snack. I like the individual packs inside the box because I can put one in Yasu's bento and have one myself without the rest of the pack going stale.

If you want to try these you can buy them now at napaJapan.

Morinaga Dars White 森永白いダーズ

White chocolate is very popular in our house, and so is Japanese chocolate. So it's no surprise really that we would buy something like Dars White by Morinaga.

I've seen this around and also in Japan. I've tried it before but I've never blogged about it. I figure it's a stalwart in the snack world, it should be reviewed.

The pack is simple, light yellow with Dars in big blue letters. There is a sealed foil pack inside containing 12 individual pieces (aka Dars = "dozen"). They are a light yellow colour and have "Dars" stamped into the top.


They have that creamy sweet smell familiar to white chocolate. These are best eaten at room temperature as they have a soft centre, somewhat similar to a ganache, that you can't experience when the chocolate is cold from the fridge.

The chocolate is really sweet, but also really creamy and the ganache in the centre adds something a little bit extra to this but without fanfare. It's unexpected but delightful. There is a build up of vanilla flavour you get if you eat more than one, and it's really nice.


This is everything I expected and more. It's one of the best white chocolates I have ever tried.
At the moment because of Valentine's day they have a special page with recipes to make for your love using Dars as one of the ingredients. I'm not sure how long it will stay around for though.