by | January 19, 2012

Review: “Air in” Green Tea Kit Kats

Review: Air in Green Tea Kit Kats
Purchased: November 2011
Best Before: September 2012
Review: January 2012

On the day I left Japan on my last trip, the gods at Nestle smiled upon me and released 2 brand new Kit Kat flavours… Well they weren’t so much new ‘flavours’ as entirely new sorts of Kit Kats. “Air in” is basically a Kit Kat crossed with an Aero bar (for my Canadian and British readers) or a “Mirage” bar (for the Americans). Essentially, the chocolate coating is now infused with tiny bubbles of air, to give the Kit Kats an effervescent feeling… it’s great in Aero bars, and Kit Kat has had a lot of success with effervesence in the past, in their soda-pop bars, so I’m looking forward to this.

Packaging: Coming in the same sized box as the Cheese Kit Kats, the Air in Green Tea Kit Kats contain 7 individually wrapped Kit Kat fingers. The box is resealable with a tab/slot, insinuating perhaps that a lovely office lady such as yourself will keep the box in your desk, and enjoy a single finger every time a snack is called for, over a series of days. ;)

I like the overall design, it’s very organic feeling, and the combination of the green backdrop (actually a super-close-up photo of grains of green tea) with the chocolate-coloured accent is indicative of the overall style of the Kit Kat, green tea on top with a chocolate base–clever! The photo of the frothy cup of green tea looks appealing, and I think that the Kit Kat people have achieved the feelings of sophistication they were going for with both the English and Japanese fonts on the box. “Air in” is all kinds of sharp serifs.

Scent: Definitely didn’t leap out at me. Getting in close, it mostly smells like milk chocolate, owing to the base. There is a faint scent of green tea, but I’ve had quite a few different matcha/green tea Kit Kats in my day and this is easily the weakest scent of any of them. A little surprising because usually the scents are really bright, even when the flavour isn’t.

Taste: Perhaps unsurprisingly after smelling them, the green tea taste seems really dialed back here. I almost can’t taste it at all… I actually find that a little worrying. After a quick swish of water, I go back for seconds and just the green tea portion this time, and yeah, the green tea flavour is really, really weak up front. The aftertaste is a lot stronger, but would be totally lost if I had tried the milk chocolate bit at the same time.

As for the bubbles? They’re almost not worth being there. I mean, the package shows great big bubbles of air in the chocolate, comparable to an Aero bar, but up close the bubbles are tiny, and they make no impression on me at all for taste or texture.

Speaking of texture, the whole thing has a much more waxy texture than usual… It’s a texture I usually expect from lower grade chocolates, although I’m aware Kit Kat isn’t exactly breaking the bank when they make their candy. ;)

Verdict: Really surprisingly disappointing! I had hopes for the combination of green tea with milk chocolate, and for a unique new texture… Instead the flavours were barely present, and the texture effect was almost totally lost on me. This could have been the dawn of a brand new Kit Kat, and instead it’s an evolutionary dead-end.

Unfortunately/Fortunately-for-you, I also grabbed the other new Air in Kit Kat, white chocolate, and I’ll try those tomorrow to see if they fare any better. (Review now online! Head to https://oyatsubreak.com/?p=676)

4 Comments

Filed under Japanese Kit Kats, Reviews

Tagged as , , , , ,

by | January 16, 2012

Review: Pumpkin Cheesecake Kit Kat

Review: Pumpkin Cheesecake Kit Kats
Purchased: November 2011
Best Best: July 2012
Reviewed: January 2012 

When last we left I was on an insane quest to find the autumn seasonal Kit Kat release for 2011–Pumpkin Cheesecake. Released at the beginning of October, the Kit Kats were all over the blogosphere–food and otherwise–because the idea of pumpkin flavouring, cheesecake, and a Kit Kat bar was just enough “weird Japan” to get everyone to sit up and take notice. I’d had two different kinds of cheesecake Kit Kats before, Blueberry and Strawberry as they’re both ‘regional’ flavours and not too difficult to find if you know where to look, and I really enjoyed them both. As did I enjoy the “cheese” flavour Kit Kat. To know that these would be on store shelves when I arrived was a total coup, and I was really looking forward to it!

Of course, I couldn’t find the damned things anywhere. All of the candy specialty stores I visited said that they sold out quickly, and that they wouldn’t be getting any more shipments. Seeing as how they had a Halloween theme and I landed in Japan 4 days before Halloween, I guess I shouldn’t have been TOO surprised, but still.

I still checked more-or-less every single convenience store we walked by, for them, and a few grocery stores too. Super-frustrating. Totally unavailable.

It was on a side trip to Osaka/Kyoto to meet comic creator and ex-pat Ryan Cecil Smith that I finally found them–a week past Halloween. We stopped into a 7-11 just outside the Press Pop Gallery in Kyoto to grab a drink, and there they were in all of their majesty…! Pumpkin Kit Kats! They were in a totally different format than I’d seen online, an “upright” bag with 9 mini Kit Kats inside rather than the “wide” bag with 13 minis, though the packaging had all of the same elements. I immediately picked up 3 bags of them and was giddy with Joy. They had a couple of other random Kit Kats as well including the bitter strawberry bar I hadn’t seen anywhere else and grabbed those too. No idea if that was just a powerfully unpopular 7-11 or if they were as big of Kit Kat fans as I am, but bless them for their foresight!

So, I acquired Pumpkin Cheesecake Kit Kats. Was it worth the stress? Let’s find out!

Packaging: I really like the packaging on these. The overall colour mix of the giant Red/White/Silver Kit Kat logo is complimented by the organge and brown swatches of colour, and the light checkerboard pattern on the top and bottom edges helps the whole thing catch the eye. The photo/illustrations are minimal, one showing the product itself, a white-chocolate Kit Kat, and the other showing an actual pumpkin cheesecake. Frankly I’d never seen a pumpkin cheesecake before, let alone had it, and the photo is a bit nondescript.

The interior, mini package design carries over from the outside with brown, orange, and red. Interestingly they use absolutely no photos or photo-realistic illustrations on the mini-packages. They do use lots of “flat” illustrations of jack-o-lanterns, vampires, witches, bats, ghosts and more still. This is the first time I’ve ever seen varied interior packaging too, but the wrappers of the minis feature six (6!) different designs, each with a different jack-o-lantern and accompanying monster. Well, one of the monsters is a castle, but you take my meaning–neat!

No English writing anywhere on this item, which is interesting as pumpkin cheesecake is a pretty western flavour idea and I’d expect at least a little.

Scent: Unsurprisingly, the main scents are traditional white chocolate Kit Kat, mixed with the tell-tale scent of cheese Kit Kats. This would definitely have some of that ‘cheese’ flavour in it. There were also faint notes of pumpkin spice, or pumpkin-pie spice. Something spicy and warm, though I’m having a hard time telling exactly which spices. They’re very faint either way.

Taste: I actually held off opening the Pumpkin Cheesecake Kit Kats all through my Japan trip, and even after I got home, wanting to taste them for the very first time for this review, so here goes!

Again, the big flavour right off the top is white chocolate, and as usual it’s a bit overpowering. The cheese flavour is very mild compared to other cheesecake Kit Kats I’ve had though, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. The sweet / cheese combo is what really makes those Kit Kats interesting, and lessening the cheese taste isn’t doing these any favours. There is, surprisingly, a good aftertaste of pumpkin. Pumpkin is a sort of subtle flavour at the best of times, requiring brown sugar and spices to bring out its sweetness or olive oil and salt-roasting to bring out it’s savoury flavours, and so I was surprised that the finish is of pumpkin. It’s not terribly strong though, I kind of want more, but it’s there. Also, the spiciness I smelled at first doesn’t seem to be evident anywhere in the flavour profile.

Breaking it down, I decided to try some of the chocolate coating without any of the wafers. Doing this the cheese is definitely much more noticeable, and what the pumpkin aftertaste is still definitely there. It’s a lot sweeter too. A bite of the wafer without the the chocolate reveals… Not much at all! There’s maybe a tiny hint of those spices but for the most part it seems like the wafers and cream between them don’t have any flavour at all.

Verdict: I had a very, very clear expectation of what this flavour should be, and I gotta be honest, it’s nowhere near what I was hoping. A pumpkin pie, cheesecake, spicy-sweet-mouthfilling treat? A Starbucks Pumpkin-spice latte with a touch of the sourness of cheescake, in convenient candy bar form? A quest to find this that literally took me thousands of kilometers?

Perhaps my expectations were a touch high.

On its merits, this is a decent, interesting Kit Kat flavour. It does taste like pumpkin which is pretty unusual, and while it’s on the sweeter end of Kit Kats it didn’t hurt my teeth like some of them have, so that’s a bonus. They’re interesting, inessential candies.

In the end, I probably wouldn’t buy these again if they’re re-released, but I am strongly considering throwing a pumpkin-spice latte and a slice of cheesecake into a blender and making my own milkshake, because I just can’t get what could have been out of my head.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Japanese Kit Kats, Reviews

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

by | January 12, 2012

Video Review: Asahi Winter Beer

Review: Asahi Winter Beer
Purchased: November 2011
Reviewed: November 2011

Something of a change of pace, I decided I’d try to do a video review for the site. This one was from my trip home, sitting on the Narita Express from Tokyo to Narita Airport, and I’m reviewing Asahi Winter Beer, a limited, seasonal brew released in the last few days of my trip.

I think this is a valiant first effort at a proper video review, but unless you find me terribly charming it’s about 3 minutes too long. Still, I hope you enjoy it.

Packaging: Really lovely, actually. Big kanji title with no English on it except for “This product is specially brewed for winter. The rich taste goes well with winter dishes.” Which is awesome. The purple, pink, blue, and green translucent circles imply blinking christmas lights reflected through a misty sky, it’s really nice, and the gold logo pops nicely off of the rich blue background. Really pretty.

Scent: It smells like standard Japanese major-brewery beer, nothing special.

Taste: Even warm, this beer basically lacks much flavour. It’s notable for being sweeter than normal winter beer, but lacks any additional spiciness or savoury elements that would make it unique, or in the style of a western craft/seasonal beer. I drank it about 30 minutes out of the fridge rather than right away, and like most low-quality beers it absolutely would taste better very cold.

Verdict: A nice change of pace from regular Asahi, but no one will be clamouring for this year round. Still, nice to see a major brewery releasing something other than the tried and true for a seasonal beer.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Reviews

Tagged as , , , , , ,

by | January 11, 2012

Review : Mos Burger and Kit Kat Collaboration! Rich White Chocolate

Review: Kit Kat Mos Burger Exclusive (Rich White Chocolate)
Gifted: January 2012
Best Before: October 2012
Review: January 2012

It’s not often that I get to review something either ‘rare’ or ‘cutting edge’ in Japanese snacks here at the blog. I guess to folks who don’t live in Japan or aren’t Japanophiles (heh) this is all both rare and cutting edge, but to me flavours like Wasabi, Soy Sauce, and Blueberry Cheesecake are kind of common now. No, to be able to get something that’s a) a limited edition Kit Kat, b) only available for a short time, and c) somewhat hard to find even in Japan? Well that’s awesome.

My good friend David was visiting his extended family in Japan over the Christmas Holidays, and when he spotted these Mos Burger x Kit Kat collaborations he immediately tweeted them to my attention. After basically begging him to grab me some, lo and behold, a bunch of them showed up on my doorstep just a week later! Shipping must have cost a fortune (the bars cost 120 yen each, or about 10 bucks total), and so I say to David a very sincere thank you.

And now, now I’ve got Mos Burger Kit Kats! And I’m happy to be able to share them with you…!

Packaging: In a bit of a departure for Kit Kat, the packaging has eschewed the lush photographic backgrounds of most of the recent releases to embrace the superflat, super cute icononography of the Mos Burger characters. This is a very Japanese release even for a Kit Kat, and so the only English writing on the entire package are the trademarks/brand names. Interestingly, the little sign that the cute burger guy is holding up reads “Rich White”, the flavour. But ‘white’ is spelled out phonetically, in English. “Ho-Wa-I-To”. I guess because white chocolate is a western thing? Still, we couldn’t figure it out until we popped it into Google translate, even though we sounded it out. :)

The back is dense with information as well… Overall I like the mix of the corporate styles, and the edges seems really fun and playful, but the design is really very ‘all business’ over all, which I feel is a missed opportunity.

The opposite is true of the interior packaging, which is fun and graphic. All sorts of little Mos Burger characters running around. Super cute. Oh and I should point out both the back of the mini-packages as well as the back of the full size box have spaces for you to write an inspirational message to the person you’re giving this gift to, in keeping with the theme of this year’s Kit Kats.

Scent: White. Chocolate. I haven’t had a “pure” white chocolate kit kat in a very long time, and it’s amazing to get one and have your idea of what they smell like sort of ‘reset’. They have that sweet, slightly buttery scent of white chocolate and nothing else.

Taste: Actually, I guess I’m being a bit of a tease here. The first thing literally everyone has asked me about these Mos Burger special edition Kit Kats is if they taste like Mos Burger, or hamburgers. They don’t, I’m sorry to say. While I would be all over burger (cheese burger!!!!) flavoured Kit Kats, these are simply “Rich White Chocolate”, which is to say standard white chocolate so far as I can tell. I’m sorry if you’re terribly disappointed…!

As to what it does taste like? It’s actually pretty good! I tend to find every single Kit Kat made with the white chocolate base incredibly sweet (sometimes it ‘works’, sometimes it doesn’t), but this ‘pure’ white chocolate version is actually quite a bit less sweet than I was expecting. Part of that might be that this is “Rich White Chocolate”, perhaps intended to be a mellower, fuller flavour? But I think it’s mostly attributable to the milk chocolate between the wafers. The whole experience is actually a totally balanced bite of Kit Kat… I was sincerely not expecting that.

Verdict: I’ve got 4 boxes of special edition Mos Burger Kit Kats left, and while I’ll be sharing a few with friends (hi friends!) I actually won’t mind when it comes time to try another one of these, they were a nice little snack. As for their intended purpose, a bit of an add-on/upsell at the burger joint? Sure, why not? I could see this being a satisfying little desert after wolfing down a delicious MOS Burger and some onion rings.

Congrats to MOS Burger and Kit Kat on an excellent first collaboration!

Mos Burger x Kit Kat Press Release: http://www.mos.co.jp/news/20111215_1.html

1 Comment

Filed under Japanese Kit Kats, Reviews

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

by | January 9, 2012

Review: Kabaya Puchi Purin Chocolate (Little Chocolate Puddings)

Review: Kabaya Little Chocolate Puddings (プチプリンチョコ)
Purchased: December 2011
Best Before: August 2012
Review: January 2012

http://kabaya.co.jp/okitem/cho_putipurin.html

My husband is delightful, and for Christmas he got me an assortment of Japanese candies for the blog. I love that guy. One of the delightful candies I found in my stocking was this kid-oriented confection from Kabaya, “Puchi Purin Chocolate” which translates roughly to “little chocolate puddings”. Delightful! Not something I’d generally pick up for myself, but I do love Japanese puddings and I was so happy to get them! Thanks honey!

Packaging: Being as these are official imports to Canada, they feature a big ugly ingredients/nutrition sticker over about 1/3 of the package, but what’s left is just adorable! The package is shaped like a Japanese purin (pudding) snack which is already amazing, and the lettering is round and friendly and cute!  It also take the effort to show what the candies inside look like with a photo/illustration–a pudding with chocolate at the bottom turned upside down.

The top of the package features a traditional ‘real’ purin with an adorable face on it, covered in caramel. I was kind of expecting that these would be caramel pudding-flavoured candies because of that, and so I was surprised to read that they were chocolate in the description…maybe a bit confusing The best part though is the cute little pudding face is saying how it is a cute-shaped pudding! Kids must love this.

Scent: The scent is sweet and has a strong ‘candy’ flavour, with bits of caramel and chocolate. It’s pleasant.

Taste: Well, as befitting a candy for kids it’s a little one-note. The main flavours are a sort of generic white chocolate and a bit of milk chocolate, but the pudding flavour (sweet/eggy) does round out the flavour just enough. There’s also the tiniest hint of the caramel that would be on a regular purin.

The flavour on first bite isn’t that notable, as I mentioned, but over eating the small package (34g, 202 calories) it builds appreciably and satisfyingly. By the time I got to the end of the package I’d say I enjoyed this little candy, but I also didn’t need anymore either. Perfect size.

Verdict: This is definitely a great little candy treat for kids, but I think adults (myself included) generally demand more complicated or challenging flavours. Even the blandest Kit Kat had a bit more going on then these treats, for example. That said, they’re well balanced, not overly sweet, and tasty-enough little snacks that any kid would be happy to be treated to.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Reviews

Tagged as , , , , ,