Sports Drink Kit Kat スポーツドリンク味キットカット

This Kit Kat was launched to support Asian Soccer and is sponsored by the JFA. On the back of the box it explains about how playing soccer makes kids bright and healthy and gives them dreams to aim for.

That explains why the flavour is Sports Drink, though exactly which sports drink we don't know. The back of the packet states that there is lemon powder and vitamin c contained in the chocolate.

The smell of this Kit Kat reminds me of rare cheesecake. It has a lemon-cheese scent.

When I bit into the Kit Kat I could taste the lemon immediately. There was a light lemon taste in the white chocolate, and bursts of sour lemon in the cream between the wafers. There seems to be a bitter taste at the base of my throat after eating this Kit Kat leading me to suspect there was grapefruit flavour in there, though I can't find it on the ingredient list, so maybe some chemical bitterness perhaps.

In all, I liked this Kit Kat, but not happy with the aftertaste. I probably wouldn't eat it again based solely on that. I don't think it's anything very special at least, and doesn't even remind me of a sports drink to be honest.

Festival Hi-Chew Toffee Apple

I just received a parcel of yummy treats from Japan and this was in the box. I was disappointed to find that this Hi-Chew is smaller than the average packet, and has only 7 pieces.

As a kid, Toffee Apples were one of my favourite sweets. Whever we went to the local vegetable shop there was always a big tray of toffee apples, one for 50 cents, and my mum would buy me one.

So seeing this Toffee Apple flavour or what Japanese refer to as Ringo Ame (Apple sweets) made me feel abit nostalgic for the old days.

Each pieces is a light pink colour on the outside and white in the centre, and has pieces of chewy toffee inside. From the outside there is the very same smell of the toffee on the outside of the apple. Oh the memories!

Biting into the Hi-Chew is a strange experience because on one hand there is the soft chewy chew, followed by a big crunch as I bite down on a piece of toffee. The flavour of the Hi-Chew is quite tart, like a green apple, and the toffee brings the sweetness.

I really like the flavour combination, but I'm not so sure about the bits of toffee. It takes some getting used to, crunching down on those toffee bits. I think kids would definitely love this because of the change in texture, but as a long-time Hi-chew lover, I just can't get my head around the crunch part and I would prefer it if there was two flavours but without the crunchiness.

Still, I am glad I tried this, so I could see what it was like. It gave me a nice trip down memory lane, if nothing else.

UCC Coffee With Milk

This coffee by UCC has been around for years, but I've never actually bought it until now. As I'm currently having a coffee fad, it stood out to me in the drinks section of my local Japanese supermarket and as it was on special it made the decision for me.

I love the blurb on the front of the can -

UCC: The pioneer maker of the canned liquid coffee in Japan. Come on, and enjoy its original taste.

The can holds 337ml. The ingredients are sugar, skim milk powder, coffee, whole dried milk. Even though the coffee is second last on the list it is quite prominent in the drink.

The colour of the coffee is a very dark colour, like when not much milk is added, even though milk is higher than coffee on the ingredient list. I'm glad this coffee has sugar in it, it's not really sweet but sweet enough not to be too bitter.

I've never been a fan of coffee in a can mostly because Japanese companies tend to make it too strong for me, but this coffee by UCC is something I could drink quite regularly.

I like the can itself, the simplicity of the design, the price, and most important the taste. I think quite often Japanese drink makers rely on package design and advertising quirks to sell their products rather than the actual content and what it tastes like. Fortunately UCC coffee has stood the test of time and is still here to provide us with a refreshing coffee that doesn't need silly advertising campaigns to promote it.

So yes, I can now say, I'm a fan of coffee in a can but only if it's made by UCC!

栗入りどら焼き (Sweet red bean and chestnut filled pancakes)

I found these were half price at the local Japanese supermarket and snapped them up.

They are what the Japanese call "dorayaki", small round pancakes filled with red bean, soy bean or chestnut paste. There are 5 individally wrapped cakes in a plastic tray inside the bag.

These have red bean paste and little bits of crushed chestnuts poking through.

The pancake itself is dark brown and when broken in half is quite thick, but you can also see the air bubbles of where the cake has risen, so it's nice and fluffy. The filling is really generous too and is the right amount of paste to cake ratio.

The cake was dry enough but not too dry, so that with the bean together as a sandwich it became a nice moist texture without being too sloppy. The main taste of this dorayaki is red bean, and only by biting down on a piece of chestnut or actually picking out a piece and eating it, can I really taste it in there.

This was great for me as I'm not a huge chestnut fan but I love azuki, so it was nice to try something a little bit different for me while being within my comfort zone.

These were great served with a cup of tea, my husband and I really enjoyed them. It was a nice sweet without being overly sweet.

The maker - Marukyo - make other such dorayaki treats that I have also seen around, so maybe I will try another type from them next time.

Triple Berry Kit Kat (Wishing On A Star)

I bought this a month ago but only just opened it today, though it is still very fresh.

Not sure why but on the top of the box it says "hoshi ni negai wo" which is the equivalent to "wishing on a star" in English. I guess it must have been some kind of promotion.

This Kit Kat is Tripleberry, and the box has an image of strawberries, blueberries, and cranberries. There is juice powder of all three berries in the chocolate, though how much I'm not sure, as for major ingredients they are pretty far down the list.

The Kit Kat itself is white chocolate with pink swirls. It smells very much like strawberry.


The first bite is very florally. It almost tastes like rose, or what I would imagine a rose would taste like. There are some very sweet notes, and some sour bursts.

I can't really tell any of the flavours apart, it's one amalgamation of berry. I can't distinguish which is which. The chocolate on the outside is quite sweet and contains the sour bursts, while the pink cream sandwiched between the wafers has a stronger berry flavour, more like strawberry.

For an all-round berry flavour it's quite good, but if you were hoping to taste all the flavours singularly, you would be disappointed.

I enjoyed this bar because while it was sweet, it wasn't tooth-achingly so. If they ever reinvent this I would like to try it with a milk chocolate coating.

Hokkaido Yubari Melon Hi-Chew 北海道夕張メロンハイチュウ

Hokkaido is well known for it's Yubari Melon, in fact it's the most popular melon in all of Japan. They are named after the small town near Sapporo where they come from. Yubari Melons are the most expensive melons, costing anywhere upwards of $40 just for one!

The first time I ever went to Japan I saw this Yubari Melon Hi-chew and was in awe. I never tried it. That was 2004. Now, more than 5 years later I finally got my hands on a packet of it. Why did I wait so long? I don't really know, to be honest, it just panned out that way.

Yubari is dear to my heart. My husband's family are from Hokkaido and still live there, so I have a very personal relationship with melon in general. I've always loved the yellow fleshed melon that we call Rockmelon or Canteloupe.

The colour of the chew is a very pale orangey white colour with an orange strip through the middle. The melon scent is very strong even before the wrapper is entirely off.

The exact flavour of the orange flesh is present in the first bite. It's just like eating a real melon, albeit a rather chewy one. Further chews make the chew softer and more pliable in my mouth but the flavour doesn't increase or decrease but stays the same. Towards the end I get a flavour reminscent of an overripe banana, but it's not bad tasting, it just reminds me of that, but also reminds me so much of the Yubari I eat when I go to Hokkaido. Oh my goodness, it makes me feel so homesick for Hokkaido.

This Hi-chew is full of Yubari flavour and doesn't really deviate from the taste at all. I couldn't stop eating these, and I'm already on my third one. The only thing bad I have to say that would probably be true for all Hi-Chew's is that after eating a few it makes me thirsty, and the taste left in my mouth is like bubblegum more or less.

I think this Hi-Chew is probably more suited only to those who love this type of melon. It's very full-on, and offers nothing different in the way of new taste sensations. If you want a trip down memory lane, like I did, then this is your bet.

Ramune Kit Kat ラムネキットカット

Ramune is the Japanese word for Lemonade. In drink form it comes in a clear glass bottle that is sealed with a marble. It is pronounced rah-moo-nay. On Wikipedia it states that Ramune is traditionally a lemon-lime flavour though I disagree. All the ramune's I've ever had tasted more like just plain lemonade, no lime flavour at all. Yasu said he's never been able to taste lime either, so thankfully it's not just me.

Well as a generally sought after ingredient to any Otaku/Japan geek's party, it was a given that eventually Nestle would make a Kit Kat version. And so they did.

They come in a large pack of 14 mini's, but I just got 4 mini's singularly.

Opening the wrapper, I can smell the scent of fizz, and a mild generic bubble-gum like scent. The colour of the chocolate is a wishy-washy blue coloured white chocolate. The wafer inside is amazingly golden with a white cream that packs a fizzy punch when bitten into.

The outer chocolate has a real bubble-gum flavour with very small bits of sourness not unlike a strawberry. The cream in between the wafers is where the real fizz texture and flavour are pronounced.

The chocolate is sweet and milky, but made interesting by the occasional burst of sour. I think this Kit Kat tries to embody the fizz of drinking a bottle of Ramune and succeeds. I think it would be interesting if they made a peach or melon ramune kit kat. I would really like to try that.

In all I was very happy with this Kit Kat, I think it delivered on what it set out to do, and it was a very good imitation of the soft drink.

Another review and thumbs up for this kit kat.

Asahi Mitsuya Cider

It wasn't a concious decision to review more Japanese beverages, it's that it's the only thing I've bought recently from the Japanese supermarket! I promise though there are some more Japanese Kit Kat reviews on the way from tomorrow.

I bought this bottle of Asahi Mitsuya Cider at the same time as the Kirin Lemon Tea. Mitsuya Cider is popular enough that it stays around the Japanese supermarkets here constantly. It's not one of those drinks that comes and goes and never returns. Because of that I have bought this drink several times but this is the first time I have reviewed it.

The bottle is 500ml. The nutritional information states that there is 175.5 kg of energy, 0 g of fat, 11 g of carbohydrate, and 8 mg of sodium.

When I opened the bottle there is a loud sound of the gas, but not much fizz. The smell reminds me of bubblegum or a gobstopper bubble gum ball. Ultimately I think this is Japan's version of lemonade. My thoughts are that usually cider is made with apple, and there are no apples or fruit in this drink. The ingredients list water, fructose, flavour, and caffeine. Just what flavour it is I don't know.

Although the drink doesn't look fizzy, when I take a sip the cider fizzes in my mouth. The taste is firstly like a soda water with a dash of lemon, or a weak lemonade, but the end is like the taste of having chewed bubblegum until it had no more flavour. It's not really a nice flavour to end on, and really just makes me thirsty. I really want to have a tall glass of water after drinking this.

I wouldn't even recommend this for curiosity's sake though my husband loves Mitsuya Cider, and that is why I keep buying it. I guess it holds something that I can't fathom to others who have grown up with it.

A little bit of info, the red symbol on the front of the bottle is actually 3 arrows joined together. In Japanese "mitsu"is 3 of something, and "ya" is arrow. So you get 3 arrows.

Kirin Afternoon Tea Lemon 午後の紅茶・レモンティー

I must admit, I'm a big fan of the royal milk tea that Kirin make. Today I was passing a Japanese supermarket and had such a thirst, I needed something really refreshing. The canary yellow label on this bottle sang out to me and I bought it.

It didn't disappoint. It really is a very refreshing drink. Despite the fact that the label states there is only 0.1% lemon juice in the tea, the lemon is quite present in the flavour. It's basically Kirin's straight tea with a dash of lemon. The label says it has water, sugar, tea, spice, lemon juice, and vitamin c. I'm not sure how much actual vitamin c you would get from drinking this, but as it's last on the list, I would say not much. It's an afternoon tea anyway, not exactly the place to look for vitamins.

However, it's pretty good if you're watching your weight as there is 1 gram of fat per 500ml bottle. 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of salt and 34 grams of sugar.

This is a greatly refreshing drink for a hot summer's day and in my case an unusually sunny and warm winter's day! I will definitely be buying this again.

Kinoko no Yama Tiramisu - きのこの山・ティラミス味

Kinoko no Yama (Mushroom mountain) has been around since my husband was a boy, and this year marks their 30th anniversary. It's a favourite of Japanese children and originally just came in chocolate top with plain pretzel bottom. The past few years have seen more and more exciting and interesting flavours being developed for Kinoko no Yama, and Tiramisu is the latest, released for their anniversary celebrations.

I've only recently jumped on the Tiramisu bandwagon and realised how great the dessert is, so I thought this would be a good way to try out more of the flavour.

Kinoko no Yama is a favourite treat of mine. I really love the cute little mushrooms and my favourite way to eat them is to bite off the top first.

The mushrooms are 4cm high by 3cm wide, double the usual size. That means that while the package weighs 22.4 grams, you only get 7 individually wrapped mushrooms, not as many as usual. A great waste of packaging and space.

The individual bags are see-through with red writing. It's evident that the mushrooms have been bumped around abit in transit as there is a fair bit of chocolate dust on the inside of the bag and the chocolate itself looks abit rustic.

There is no obvious smell from the chocolate, but once I bite in I get a brilliant taste of a rich, golden roasted coffee, it is so divine. The chocolate is smooth like silk and at the end has a small bitter bite. The layer of chocolate underneath is mild, not too tangy or sour, but creamy and has slight black flecks in it which might be vanilla. On the box it says this layer is marscapone cheese, something I have never tried so I'm not sure if this is a true taste or not.

The pretzel itself is dark chocolate, lots of cocoa in there, some salty notes and finishes off with a slightly bitter note. It's almost music for my mouth. This chocolate-cookie combination is a triumph and well done to Meiji for getting it right! It really tastes like a Tiramisu but alot crunchier.

This would make a nice, albeit less-is-more gift, or just be a little bit decadent and treat yourself!

To learn more about Kinoko no Yama you can visit this site.