I’m something of a fiend when it comes to special Kit Kat flavors, to the extend that there was no way I was going to miss the Kit Kat Chocolatory in Tokyo when I was there last in 2014. When I heard they opened another location in Melbourne, Australia, back in October, I knew I had to make the pilgrimage! Luckily, I had the perfect excuse when I was down for an academic conference earlier this month. Read on for a full report!
It’s not a secret that I love Japanese candy. In fact, I’ve written some strangely in-depth posts about interesting Japanese candy a few times in the past, but unfortunately I’ve noticed that they tend to not get nearly as much traction as my other, non-food posts.
Of course, the most obvious reason for this would be that no one is nearly as interested in Japanese candy as I am. If that’s the case, consider me thoroughly shocked and I will cease all candy-related endeavors at once. But instead of jumping to that conclusion, I’ve considered that perhaps reading about someone eating candy isn’t nearly as amusing as actually watching said person eating candy… Bet you can’t guess where I’m going with this!
That’s right, I’ve decided to jump into the scary world of Youtube videos! I’m calling the series Apricotsushi Samples and will be posting a new episode every Sunday. In my very first attempt, I take a bite out of the sakura matcha (cherry blossom green tea) Kit Kat pictured above. It’ll only take five minutes of your time, so if you’re at all interested, please give it a watch!
I’m sure it will become immediately apparent that I was extremely nervous to film this video. My fear of talking in front of people and the anxiety associated with that is something I’m always trying to work on, and while podcasting certainly helps, I imagine posting these videos will be a big step in overcoming that to some degree. Fingers crossed!
Of course, any and all comments are more than welcome! I’d definitely like to hear what people like/dislike about the video and what you would like to see more of in the future. And if you need to cleanse your palette after my video (pun intended; I’m so sorry), I highly suggest checking out Emmymade in Japan – her food videos are super, and she does a lot of fun Japanese candies, as well.
It’s been many a moon (a year and a half, to be exact) since I last did a Taste Test post, and since I have a massive haul of nifty treats from my trip to Japan back in June, it’s high time I started writing about them! Today I figured I’d focus on some of the Nameko (Funghi)*-related candies I picked up.
On the left we have cola-flavored Nameko gummies, and on the right are Nameko and Strawberry Nameko Chiroru. While the gummies themselves are pretty self-explanatory, Chiroru Choco (proper name Tirol) are basically small square chocolates that are actually rather popular in Japan though I’ve managed to go nearly 26 years without ever having tried one.
As always, the packaging adorable. I’d ask you to excuse all the gratuitous packaging shots, but hopefully you’re reading this because you like this sort of thing, too!
I love the attention to detail – what a neat design along the bottom of the bag!
The back of the bag has a Nameko assuring you that the Chiroru are delicious.
The packaging on the individually-wrapped chocolates is appropriately cute, as well. The yellow package contains mitarashi dango-flavored Chiroru, which is a type of traditional Japanese sweet, while the red is a basic strawberry. Upon biting into the strawberry Chiroru, however, I was surprised to find a small biscuit in the middle! The mitarashi dango ones, however, had an interesting gooey consistency inside.
Not very exciting, but here’s what the strawberry Chiroru look like. Too bad they couldn’t have printed a Nameko picture on the actual Chiroru themselves! The mitarashi dango has the exact same design, except the chocolate is more of a tannish color. Both were tasty, but I prefer the mitarashi dango flavor just because it’s a tad more “exotic.” It doesn’t really have a strong chocolatey flavor, and the gooey consistency inside makes it resemble the actual candy it’s made to taste like, making it quite the experience! Unfortunately I probably wouldn’t say it tastes a whole lot like actual mitarashi dango, but I don’t eat them very often…
Now the Nameko gummies aren’t something I would normally go after since they’re cola favored… “nfu nfu namekola” flavored, to be exact. Basically I love a good pun and the fact that the gummies were actually shaped like various types of Nameko, so I figured I’d give it a shot even though soda candy is usually not my thing.
If you’re lucky, you might get a rare type of Nameko gummy! (there are six shapes total)
Gotta love the different Nameko on the sides of the bag. I would’ve thought they’d show all the possible gummy shapes, but I only see three different Nameko there…
As for the contents of the bag, I was sorely disappointed! They only give you eight measly gummies! Granted it wasn’t that expensive, but it was a bit of a shock to open a bag the size of my hand only to find it not even a third full.
It’s a bit hard to tell, but it looks like I’ve got three different Nameko gummy variations – the “normal” Nameko, creepy toothy smile Nameko, and the cat Nameko. Isn’t it odd that that’s exactly the types of Nameko pictured on the side of the bag?! I wonder what the other three gummy types are? I guess they went and only put the most common variations on the actual packaging, but I can’t believe anyone would buy more just to see all the different shapes.
The gummies themselves were surprisingly tasty, as the cola flavor wasn’t all that pronounced. I don’t think I’d buy them again, though, as the consistency was a bit harder than I like in a gummy. In the end, I definitely prefer the flavor of the Chiroru, but the actual gummy candies themselves are more interesting to look at. Because clearly candy is meant to be looked at, not eaten…
Stay tuned for more weird Chic Pixel food logic in more upcoming Taste Test posts!
*Every time I write a post about Nameko/Funghi, I can’t decide whether I should use its Japanese name or English name. Funghi may be more well known to English-speaking folks, but I think Nameko sounds better!
Welcome to the latest Chic Pixel Taste Test! Today, I’ve finally gotten around to trying the “Otona no Amasa,” or “sweetness for adults,” matcha Kit Kats, which were launched in Japan in 2012. Don’t be put off by the name – this isn’t some kind of X-rated Kit Kat flavor, but rather part of a popular series of Kit Kats launched in 2010 in Japan that are aimed at those with a more “refined” palette and are supposedly less sweet than the regular flavors. Last time I did a Taste Test, I tried the Kyoto matcha Kit Kats, so let’s see how the Otona no Amasa matcha flavor compares!
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| Sorry for the nicked Kit Kat! I promise I didn’t take a bite out of it before snapping this photo. |
So, how does the Otona no Amasa matcha Kit Kat stack up? I think it’s delicious! It’s not nearly as sweet as a normal western Kit Kat, and the matcha flavor is delicate enough not to be overwhelming but at the same time strong enough to recognize. I wish I had a packet of Kyoto matcha Kit Kats so I could taste one after another and give a definitive impression as to whether the Otona no Amasa one is actually less sweet than other Japanese Kit Kats, but I’m inclined to guess that it is.
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| Japanese Kit Kats always have a space on the back for writing messages! |
If you like matcha flavor, I definitely recommend these! They may be available at your local Asian grocery store, but if you can’t find the Otona no Amasa matcha flavor, you can order them from J-List online, along with other Japanese Kit Kat flavors.
I’m headed to Japan for two weeks in June, and I’ll be sure to find as many whacky Kit Kat flavors as I can, so you can expect more Taste Test posts in the upcoming months!