Hinamatsuri Tirol Peach and Strawberry Vanilla チロルひな祭り ふんわり ピ ーチ と 苺バニラ

Obviously, I'm pretty late at reviewing this pack of Tirol released for Girls Day in Japan, but better late than never!

This pack has 8 individually wrapped Tirol chocolates, 3 of Peach and 5 of Strawberry Vanilla. Not sure why there is more of one flavour than the other, it's probably just random.

All 3 peach flavour chocolates have the red wrapper with the princess on the cover. The other 5 have samurai on them in green and purple.

Peach - is a soft pink flavoured white chocolate with a peach jelly and vanilla cream inside. The jelly and chocolate really capture the essence of a peach. The vanilla cream gives it depth. There is a tartness to the peach flavour at the very end, coming from the jelly.

Strawberry Vanilla - a 3 layered chocolate, neopolitan (strawberry, vanilla and chocolate). All 3 layers come together to form a nice sweet harmony but are also individually apparent. The strawberry is by far the strongest flavour with some sour notes but doesn't overwhelm.

I really liked this pack. I liked the peach flavour best, but the strawberry vanilla is also nice. The packaging is so pretty too, it's a shame to throw it out! Tirol have done this well :-)

Echigoseika Cheese Mochi 越後製菓 チーズもち

I recently did a review about Ebi Senbei which is made by Echigoseika, the same company who makes these Cheese Mochi.

If the Ebi Senbei are anything to go by then we thought these should be a hit - and they are!

My son, now nearly 14 months spied the packet and came running thinking it was his ebi senbei but when he saw these he still wanted some.

The cheese mochi are really bright yellow, I mean really "fake" yellow like the cheese on the burgers at McDonalds.

But that's the only thing fake about them! They have such a big crunch when you bite into them and a really soft centre that melts in the mouth. Then there is a really strong cheddar cheese flavour that explodes in the mouth and lingers.

My son is such a fan of these too. He kept coming back wanting more but I had to close the pack and put it away so we didn't eat them all because they are so moorish. I alone could eat the whole pack myself!

If you like cheese, definitely get some!

Yuraku x Tirol Black Thunder (cocoa cookie crunch) ユーラク x チロル ブ ラックサンダー 「ココアクッキークランチ」

Another Tirol sent from a friend, the packaging looks very masculine but in a weird sort of way reminds me of KISS the rock group, with that golden lightning bolt down the middle.

I had no idea what Yuraku was until I looked it up online and found they are a company that make a black thunder bar. (see bottom of photo for an example)

So this is a Tirol chocolate and a Black Thunder Bar all rolled into one.

When I opened the wrapper the chocolate had a house imprinted into the top of it - somebody care to explain? No idea why that is!

I could smell the cocoa immediately. When I bit into it I bit straight through a round white cookie and some dark crumbled cookie at the bottom, which had a strong cocoa flavour but had sweetness, kind of like an Oreo. The milk chocolate surrounding the cookie was just dark enough to complement the cookie and not too sweet as to overpower it.

This is enough to give you a taste of a black thunder bar and I enjoyed it. But I want MORE! So it's safe to say that Yuraku's little campaign has worked and I am intrigued enough to go and buy some black thunder bars! (if only I could) :)

Tirol Espresso チロル エスプレッソ

Another Tirol review, thanks to a great friend in Tokyo! :)

This one is Espresso. It got a little melted during transit, Australia's heat was a bit unpredictable this year.

I love coffee but I wouldn't call myself an expert. I always take milk and sugar, I never drink it black so I feel a little trepidation about Espresso Tirol.

Though it does remind me of Japan as most places I have visited I've always been served straight black coffee in a can or cup or even coffee jelly.

When I opened the wrapper there was a strong coffee scent and the chocolate was dark brown.

Biting into it there was a strong coffee flavour followed by a bitterness then sweetness and a crunch as I bit into a layer of what seems to be ground coffee beans. Yum!

This is delicious and I love how they have made it so realistic. I recommend all the coffee lovers try this one!

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.

Maxim Stick Menu Strawberry Latte マキシム スティックメニュー 苺ラテ

Do you ever get sick of drinking plain tea and coffee, or milo? I do. Sometimes I yearn for something out of the ordinary. So when I received this from a friend I was delighted.

Usually "latte" is synonymous with coffee so I wasn't sure if this was going to be strawberry flavoured coffee or not. I didn't find any mention of coffee in the ingredients but I did find アスパルテーム otherwise known as aspartame in English which is not good as I try to stay away from artificial sweeteners.

However I was still willing to try it for this review so I made it up according to the instructions.

In comparison to Western sizes, one cup doesn't make much, only 200ml. So you either use quite a small cup (like I did) or you use 2 sticks of powder (of which there are 4 in the pack).

The taste is quite pleasant. It reminds me of strawberry quick by Nestlé except there is a sharp tang at the end.

The image shows it to be light pink but when I made it up it was so pale as to look white, so a bit of false advertising there.

In all I thought the flavour was nice, and it was nice for a change, but it's not something I would indulge in regularly due to the amount you get and also because it contains aspartame.

Tirol Raspberry Cheese Pie チロル ラズベリーチーズパイ

Raspberry Cheese Pie - I never actually knew there was such a thing but Google tells me there is. The images tell me it's a cream cheese tart with raspberry jam or in some cases whole raspberries on top.

It sounds like a nice enough combination and the image on the wrapper looks pretty yum.

The first smell that hits my nose upon opening this chocolate is cheese. It smelled familiar. Then I realized it reminded me of the Hokkaido Cheese Tirol I reviewed a while back!

The chocolate is soft and mousse-like on the outside and then there is the crunch of the biscuit on the inside followed by the sweet but tangy raspberry. This really does remind me of a tart because the flavours go so well together. While the Hokkaido cheese Tirol seemed too strong for some, the cheese flavour here is downplayed by the raspberry sauce in the centre so all three components are in harmony.

I wish I had more of these, because I really enjoyed this!

Tirol Premium Chou Cream "Sweet Custard" チロル シュウクリーム

Chou Cream how I love thee. In Japanese it's pronounced "shoe cream" although it's much lovelier than the image it conjures up!

It's basically what we refer to as a cream puff, but the Japanese style is to have a crunchy outer pastry and a soft cream custard flowing from the middle. It's a match made in heaven! Beard Papa's is probably my most favourite place in Japan because they make such divine "shoe cream".

So imagine my excitement when my friend announced she saw a Tirol Chou Cream released at the supermarket, and not only that but she was going to send me some! Oh man...that made my day that did!

So to cut a long story short this Tirol is amazing, it's soooo yummy. I'm so glad that I've got 3. Hubby stole off with one which leaves me 2 for myself!

 

The chocolate is like a light yellow custard colour and when I sniffed it, it reminded me of a vanilla candle. The chocolate is soft like mousse. There is a biscuit in the middle that is soft but also crunchy and there is a big hit of vanilla. This is like a reverse chou cream with the cream being on the outside and the crunchy pastry on the inside. I'm hooked, this Tirol is amazing! It brings back so many memories for me. It's nice just to savour it in my mouth.

Hubby thought it was too rich. Boo hubby. So maybe it's not for everyone, it is also quite sweet from the white chocolate, but the creamy vanilla custard distracted me.

Definitely.Try.This.One.

Get yours at napaJapan (limited quantities left)

Visit the Tirol website.

Tirol Premium Ichigo Daifuku チロル いちご大福

Wow, I now have a tonne of Tirol chocolates to review thanks to an awesome friend! I'm starting off with this Ichigo Daifuku (Japanese sweet made out of rice with a strawberry filling).

Hubby chose this one to try first, maybe because the wrapper was so pretty! It is really so cute, a checkerboard of light and dark pink with a cute picture of an ichigo daifuku on the front.

Biting into this chocolate I had the feeling that this was made out of sherbert, not chocolate. The strawberry was present but there was a very big tartness to it that made me think of sherbert. There was a brown jelly-like centre, which I thought was chocolate but then realised it was meant to be red bean paste, but to be honest I couldn't taste very much as the strawberry was so overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but I wish it was more balanced.

The chocolate was so soft and crumbly

I really liked this Tirol chocolate, the strawberry flavour wasn't the same bland old strawberry chocolate, it had a kick with the tartness, so I wished I had some more of this. Hubby claimed that this was one of the best Tirol's he had ever had.

There are quite a few reviewers on the net who are sick of Strawberry flavoured chocolate as that seems to be the fall-back flavour of Japanese snack makers, but I recommend you give this one a go as it could be the chocolate that changes your mind :)

Get yours at napaJapan, and visit the Tirol website.

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