Asahi Mitsuya Cider Lemon Burst Zero 三ツ矢サイダー レモンはじける・カロリーゼロ

I'm not usually a fan of diet sodas, mainly because I don't like the taste of artificial sweeteners. But that all changed once I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and majorly limited what beverages I can drink. These days it's a choice of water, milk, diet soda, or juice which is severely watered down.

So when browsing in Nippon Food Supplies I came across this bottle of Mitsuya Cider Zero. The label states that it has zero calories, but it has 175.5kj and 11 grams of carbohydrate. It seems moderately ok, even for me having to watch my carbs, it's still under one serve. Surprisingly this drink has the same amount of calories and carbohydrates as the original Mitsuya Cider which doesn't claim to be low in calories. Strange?

 

Lemon Burst (known as Lemon Hajikeru on the label) is quite fizzy when first poured out into a glass. It smells quite lemony too, but more like a dish washing liquid than a soda! The first sip is really tart, the lemon is just so strong and overpowering and kind of burns the back of my throat. I can really taste the artificial sweetener in here, but maybe that's because I'm not used to it, however I just can't get over that taste and it's somewhat chemical.

I found this to be really harsh on the tastebuds. It's quite fizzy and the lemon is just so strong and sour, even though it's only 1% juice. I can't say that I would buy this again, even though it's meant to be reduced calories. I think I'd rather stick with juice and water! I seriously wouldn't recommend it unless you love sour, fizzy, burn-your-throat-out beverages. I don't think it's worth it.

Brand: Asahi Calories per bottle: 175.5 Website: http://www.asahiinryo.co.jp/products/carbonated/mitsuya_hajikeru_lemon/

Riska Umai Wa Cheese リスカうまい輪 チーズ味

 Photo courtesy of Riska as by the time
I got around to photographing Yasu had already opened the packet!

Here's a similar product to something I reviewed earlier, except this one is called Umai Wa, instead of Umai Bo. The difference is that Umai Bo is a long tube snack, whereas this one is made into separate rings. Umai Bo seems to be made by Yaokin, while Umai Wa is made by Riska. It's odd how seemingly the same product with the same characters are made by two different companies. Or maybe they are the same but different branches...maybe someone can enlighten me?

This is a large size 75 gram bag full of cheesy flavoured rings. The cheese has a very strong flavour and the rings smell very sweet, unlike Western snacks where if cheese is featured it's usually more savoury than sweet.

The rings are not uniform in size or shape, but they have a very thick coating of cheese powder on the outside. They are really light though and when biting into one there is a loud satisfying crunch. The cheese flavour is quite nice but it's sweet at the end, so that if you eat the bag in one sitting you end up needing a drink straight after as the flavour build up is so strong.

Yasu really loves these, both Umai Bo and Umai Wa so this is the main reason I bought them. This cheesy snack gets the thumbs up from him. They are a pretty "el cheapo" snack but the flavour isn't lacking so it gets my thumbs up too. I found it to be enjoyable and the pack size means it's great to share.

By the way, don't you think the character on the bag resembles Doraemon?

Riska Character

Doraemon

Brand: Riska Calories per bag: 1849 Website: http://www.riska.co.jp/catalog/page1/item10.html

Tohato All Banana 東ハト オールバナナ

Hey, long time no post, since December 1, 2010 to be exact! I've been on a really strict diet while pregnant and haven't made any allowances for Japanese snacks, but now that I can relax a little, I can try out the backlog I've got going on at my place!

I thought I'd start off with a rather summery fruit snack - All Banana - by Tohato.

This is the first time I've ever reviewed anything from Tohato, so it will be interesting to see what kind of product it is.

This 106.4 gram bag was bought by me at Nippon Food Supplies in Subiaco. It was originally $4, but was on sale for $1! Bargain.

I love bananas and it being summer, it seemed like a really good snack. The bag has 14 pieces inside, which are not individually wrapped, surprise! On the back of the bag it says that one serving is a whole bag, so that's an even bigger surprise. The carbohydrates contained in here though number 75 grams which is 6 servings of carbohydrate, that's a lot for a one sitting consumption. But one or two pieces would be ok as a snack.

The open bag smells divine, like lots of ripe bananas in a very small room. The biscuit itself is about 3cm x 3cm and kind of puffy, almost like its pie pastry on top and biscuit underneath. The banana is squished into the biscuit and sandwiched in the middle. It's a similar concept to the sultana slice biscuits you can get at a  supermarket. There is just enough banana to give a yummy taste but without overpowering the biscuit.

 

 

I'm not super keen on the pie pastry/biscuit combination, but it's ok. I think this would have been better if the biscuit/pie pastry was crunchier instead of it being a bit flat and limp. It seems kind of soggy, but it's not out of date, so I assume it's the squishy banana inside that makes it so.

These were a little disappointing for the texture but in regards to flavour they have a lot. If a soggy biscuit doesn't bother you then I would say to give them a go, if not, leave them on the shelf!

Looking on the website, they don't seem to make this variety anymore, they do have All Raisin, All Apple and All Apricot though.

Brand: Tohato Calories per box: 1681 Website: http://tohato.jp/products/allraisin/

Kabaya Apple & Mango Gumi カバヤアップル&マンゴーグミ

This is the last bag of sweets from a carepack from a friend in Tokyo, M.


It's a bag of individually wrapped gumi candy. There were 13 in the pack, 7 apple and 6 mango.

The pack smelled wonderful inside, so fruity and fresh. The gumi are so soft and smooth and have a texture of being almost wet.

They are really like eating jelly, much softer than any other gumi I've had. The mango did not have a strong flavour, it was much weaker than I expected, though in the middle the familiar mango flavour was present. The apple tasted like a nice juicy red apple, it was sweet but also had a sourness at the end.

These gumi were really enjoyable, the flavours were nice but not profound. I enjoyed serving these up to guests and Yasu really like the mango even though he's never been a fan of the fruit itself.

Brand: Kabaya Calories per bag: 216 Buy it now at Daiso

Meiji Chelsea Hokkaido Milk Scotch Caramels 明治チェルシー北海道ミルクスカッチ

Another Chelsea review! Can't help myself because I found this new flavour at napaJapan and just HAD to try it. You know I love all things Hokkaido, and they're usually pretty good.

This flavour is Hokkaido Milk Scotch and it comes in the same format as always - a small box with a slide out tray of 10 individually wrapped hard caramels. The box is cream and maroon and looks very smart. I was really surprised by the colour of the caramel, I thought it would be a cream colour, but it looks like an average caramel colour.

 

 

The caramel itself doesn't really smell like milk, it smells of a very rich and strong caramel, almost smoky.

At first the caramel is surprisingly sweet and there is a slight coffee flavour which deepens into a rich creamy caramel. There is no coffee listed in the ingredients so the taste is probably just a fluke, but, it really is yummy. It has a really "milky" taste in the caramel which gives it a really creamy flavour that I love. The words that popped into my head while eating this were "cream caramel"...it tastes like a dessert of the same name would.

Yum! I thoroughly recommend these... a candy that is rich and decadent.

Brand: Meiji Calories per box: 188 Website: http://chelsea-agetai.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Hokkaido Yubari Melon Chocolate 北海道夕張メロンチョコレート

I received this bag of Yubari Melon Chocolates from a friend in Tokyo. They are made by Sapporo Gourmet Foods. Actually on the pack gourmet is spelled "gurmet" and I know why they made such a mistake because in Japanese gourmet is "gurume", so it's easy to get confused but still you would think they would use a translator at least to get the right spelling.

Anyway, these chocolates are half melons, made to look exactly like the real thing. Each half melon is individually wrapped and there are 12 in the packet. Each melon is green on the outside and textured to look like the outside of a Yubari melon. The inside is bright orange just like the real thing.

The melons really smell like melon and the green textured shell has a kind of sour melon soda effect which is really nice, and gives it a nice kick. The chocolate is soft, and biting in I got a hit of the soda effect, followed by the sweet chocolate that tastes *exactly* like a real Yubari melon. Yum!

The soda flavour is present in the background right until the end and really intensifies the flavour. I am so in love with these! Not only are they extremely cute, but they also taste great, like the real thing. So addictive!

If you love Melon like I do, and you see these, I definitely recommend that you get some :)

Brand: Sapporo Gourmet Foods Calories per pack: 570

Bourbon Elise Hokkaido Milk Cream Wafers ブルボンエリーゼ北海道ミルククリームウエハース

This week is all about Hokkaido. For some reason the products I've come upon in the last month all claim to be from Hokkaido or have Hokkaido milk or cream in them, so I decided it was time to have a themed week!

This first product was bought on impulse in a Japanese supermarket. Yasu and I were killing time waiting for the restaurant next door to open and we came across these on a shelf. Yasu immediately got excited because he always ate these when he lived at home and said they were the yummiest. So I bought a pack for him to have but I think it made him a little bit homesick.

This pack contains 10 wrapped packets containing 2 sticks each. The sticks themselves are the same kind of texture and colour as an icecream cone. They smell very creamy from the outside and the wafer texture is hard and crunchy. There is white chocolate cream in the centre made using Hokkaido milk, and it's a really pleasant flavour, not overly sweet like some white chocolate.

Yasu complained that there was less chocolate in the middle than there used to be, and it did feel a bit lacking I have to say, but apart from that these were absolutely delicious!! I love the creaminess of the white chocolate cream and the crunchy texture of the wafers, it all goes together wonderfully. Better still on a hot day, the cream inside melts and it's almost like eating an icecream.

I'd say these are mostly put out in people's homes when guests come over (I saw a lot of these types of wafers/biscuits for afternoon tea when I visited family in Hokkaido), and Bourbon in particular seems to be the afternoon tea snack of choice in the Tokachi area from personal experience.

Brand: Bourbon Calories per pack: 19 Website: http://www.bourbon.co.jp

Tirol Chocolate Mix 8 Pack チロルチョコミックス

Tirol Chocolate is one of our family's favourites. It's great that a chocolate so cheap is so good, and there is so much excitement when a new flavour is released.

I purchased this Mix pack of 8 Tirol chocolates from napaJapan. I have already tried 3 out of the 4 flavours. The one I wanted to try in this pack is the Matcha Milk. I have tried a similar Tirol before called Uji-Matcha with mochi in. This one seems to be a bit plainer though and is just a mixture of matcha and milk.

You can see reviews for the other 3 flavours in the pack here and here.

The chocolate on the outside is a very matcha green which is nice and authentic. It also has a very faint smell of matcha. Biting in, the chocolate is smooth and melts easily and has a very creamy flavour that ends with a bitter but very familiar flavour of matcha. The milk is the first flavour to appear and then melds into the matcha. The chocolate inside is softer than on the outside and almost reminds me of a mousse.

I really enjoyed this Tirol. While it doesn't knock your socks off with matcha flavour, it's more of a subtle flavour that builds up towards the end but not overly so. I imagine this would go well with some Japanese tea, as it would not overshadow but complement.

Brand: Tirol Calories per box: 280 Website: http://kinotake.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Morinaga Chocoball Double Choco 森永チョコボール・ダブルチョコ

I like to buy the new flavours of Chocoball for Yasu when they come out as it's his favourite childhood snack. I find that napaJapan always has the latest flavours of Chocoball too, which is really good!

This Chocoball is called "double choc" and it's white chocolate on the outside, with milk chocolate and rice crispies on the inside. The outside smells really creamy and like white chocolate and biting into it you can immediately taste the white chocolate followed by the inner crispy shell, the smooth milk chocolate and lastly, some crunchy rice crispies.

The flavours all go well together, and I like having the crunchiness in the middle. It kind of reminds me of coco-pops cereal because it has a similar chocolatey flavour with crispy texture.

I'll definitely recommend these as a nice light chocolate hit or snack on the go. :)

Brand: Morinaga Calories per box: 145 Website: http://kyorochan.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Meiji Hokkaido Cheese Caramel 明治北海道チーズキャラメル

I just love presents from friends, don't you? A couple of days ago I received a parcel of goodies from a friend in Tokyo. Thank you M! It was so unexpected which made it all the more lovely.

I'm back on the cheese snacks again - this time with caramel! Meiji has come up with some Hokkaido Cheese Caramel. Cheese and caramel are not exactly two flavours you would expect to see together, however it seems to work for this treat!

There are 12 individually wrapped square caramels in the bag. Each caramel is 2cm x 2cm in dimension and just over half a centimetre in height.

The funny thing about these caramels is the dairy products used in them are from my husbands home town of Tokachi! Even funnier is they are sold all the way over in Tokyo. I guess Hokkaido produce is getting more popular these days, people want to experience the country taste.

I took the caramel out of the bag while editing the photo's and all I could smell was a lovely creamy smell that kept wafting up to my nose. The caramel is smooth and glossy with a few hash marks on the top. It's easy to bite into and quickly softens. Mmmm.

Remember the Hokkaido Cheese Tirol? Well the cheese flavour is exactly the same! It's quite strong and rich and really creamy. The caramel really takes a backseat, though the chewiness of the caramel and the soft smooth texture really add to the all-over experience of the cheese flavour.

I'm a big fan of these!! However, if you didn't like the cheese tirol, I'm pretty sure you won't like these caramels, because the cheese component is very strong.

Brand: Meiji Calories per bag: 294 Website: http://www.meiji.co.jp Buy it now at: Family Mart Japan