Kracie Popin Cookin Sushi

Next in line in the Kracie kits is this one, promising different types of sushi. There's probably no way to emulate the fish flavors with candy powder in this case, so I'm expecting some delightful fruit-flavored sushi instead. Would prefer meat flavored, but that's just my nature... maybe I should start making sushi out of the pack's hunts? Anyways one cool feature of this will be the "roe", which seems to be formed by dropping bubbles into the water. And there's even a fake soy sauce!

The pack once again has a mat that can be cut out from the bag, and I quite like the look of this one, has a fancy feel. There's also the standard array of packets, a solid piece of brown candy (which will likely be the nori?) and the utensils, which are a spoon and squeeze bottle.

Tirol Kinako and Matcha Mochi

Two more Tirols! Whether they're jaw-droppingly amazing or meh, these always seem to deliver some surprises, and with unique flavors such as these ones this should be no different. I'm especially looking forward to the matcha one, as that is one of my favorite flavors in Japanese desserts, and kinako I got a taste of in a previous Japan Crate and liked it well enough, but we'll see if it shines on its own here.

For those who did not remember or did not read the previous post kinako is a soybean flour, and this chocolate has kind of a soybean taste. It's a bit like miso, sweet, kinda like peanut butter but more savory and with some umami. The chocolate is not much interesting on the outside except for a nice light brown color.

Morinaga Hi-Chew Soda & Cola

While I have not reviewed Hi-Chews here yet, I LOVE them! The flavors are so strong, and satisfying, and have just the right amount of chew to stay in my maw for a while while not overstaying their welcome. So when applying the ever-present soda flavors to this candy, I expect great things, already having a lot of Japanese soda candy. I assume the soda one may actually be ramune? Guess I'll find out.

As predicted, the blue one does seem to have a ramune taste. Actually, it may be the same as the "tutti frutti" flavor I described earlier. Interestingly this one has a more deformed shape than most of the Hi-Chews that come in uniform shapes, and no visible filling. Maybe the flavor is the same throughout the chew?

Cannoli Chips, Cookies & Cream

This snack when I saw it was definitely a puzzler. How can the flavors of cannoli be recreated in a simple chip? Sure there's the shell, but to also have the filling and powdered topping be represented in a single chip would be an extraordinary feat. And this one adds on a cookies and cream flavor, adding onto an already difficult flavor profile to recreate.

Kracie Popin Cookin Donuts

Time for some more DIY fun! Everything Kracie has made so far has been delicious and more fun than any chew toy, so I already have high hopes. This one instead of Japanese food is donuts, so there won't be much manipulation of flavors here. I expect it to taste pretty close to the source material. Also look how cute that bear donut is!

Tirol Strawberry Assortment

Another assortment of the lovely square bundles of joy that is Tirol. This one focuses on strawberry desserts which I'm VERY excited about as the strawberry jelly Tirol was definitely my favorite so far! They clearly have strawberry down and are good at recreating very complicated things in such a small package, so we'll see how they do on this.

The three desserts shown, from left to right, are strawberry brownie (my namesake!), strawberry tiramisu, and strawberry confiture. I don't believe I've even had regular tiramisu, so no frame of reference here for that one, although the confiture sounds very much like strawberry jelly, so a big aroo if it's anything like that.

Every Burger

And here's another item that I picked up at Nijiya Market simply for the sheer confusion of what it is! I mean, I love sinking my canines into a good burger, and if you can combine that with Japanese snack food, there's no way it can go wrong, right? I'm going to go on a limb here and guess it isn't actually burger flavored, because that would be a little too weird.

First thing to note here is that the box is quite unique in the way it opens! It opens up from the front, leaving a nice invitation to go grab the burgers. I'm not sure if it's supposed to resemble a hamburger box, but either way nice touch!

Kracie Popin Cookin Taiyaki

These look like quite the varied batch of snacks to make! The star of it of course is the taiyaki, a fish shaped pastry kinda like a waffle, with the filling of your choice (in this case chocolate). From there other Japanese desserts seem to be included: strawberry daifuku, a cup of ramune, and mitarashi dango, which appears to be soy sauced glazed mochi. And it uses the microwave, which is different. Not sure if that's because the products are meant to be eaten hot or because the microwave cooks the various powder/water mixtures.

Calpico Mini, Original, and Lychee & Mango

In a world full of carbonated soft drinks, it's refreshing to see one that isn't, especially as a pup bothered by bubbles. Therefore I really hope these are good! I'm particularly excited about the lychee and mango flavor, because I love lychee and have never seen it in combination with mango before, but am intrigued. Not sure what original could be...

The original drink sure has a weird flavor. It's solid white in color, and I'd almost liken the scent to toothpaste? It has a bit of a bright fruity smell too, maybe it's the same flavor as that other white stuff I can't distinguish. One day I'll get to the bottom of this flavor...

The drink tastes no different. Though in liquid form it makes a little bit more sense. It's milky tasting, with a little bit of an indistinguishable fruity taste to it. It has enough to sweetness too to rough out the taste edges a bit. As this was a mini one, after taking a few sips to my surprise I was already done! Not anything mind-blowingly good, but great for a quick refreshment.

Rating: 7 - Aroof!

Immediately the smell from the lychee drink was much more pleasant and much less confusing. Pretty much has a pure lychee smell. Like the original drink it's also white, guess that makes sense, but expected it to have an orange tint from the mango.

After tasting it I'm definitely a fan! The lychee seems to be just what this drink needs, and the mango provides a nice counterpoint to the more subdued sweetness with a little bit of tang that hits me close to the end of each gulp. Although as the drink goes on those flavors seem to diminish sadly, and it becomes a little one-note... But still worth it for that initial shot of lychee goodness and refreshment.

Rating: 7 - Aroof!

Tirol Kiwi and Watermelon

After my first wonderful experience with Tirol I wanted to try more and found a couple of packs of different flavors available online, the first of these being this kiwi and watermelon one. These don't seem like flavors that really go well with chocolate, but Tirol seems to be really good at tying a bunch of unrelated flavors together in one delicious foil-wrapped package. So I'm very excited for some more fruity chocolate! Aroooooooo

Kracie Popin Cookin Ramen

I've long been a fan of these DIY kits even from seeing the package, they're so cute! Making candy disguised as mini food is such a neat idea, and although I'd often rather have the bigger food, it makes up for it with the fun of making everything myself, and no dishes! I love ramen too, and although it doesn't usually come with dumplings, this one does. The more food the merrier!

Nissin Choco Flakes

I got this from a grab bag at my Japanese market that was intended for Christmas, and it included some things that I gave away because I already tried them - a Black Thunder bar, caramel corn, and potato rings among others - but of course I couldn't give up the new things without trying them! Greedy pup I am. So these seem to be Japan's answer to Choco Pebbles, maybe? Or maybe it'll be something entirely different. One thing I am pleased by already is how heavy the bag feels. In a world poisoned by air-filled bags, this snack already stands out.

From the sniff test, I get a scent similar to some of the other Japanese chocolate snacks, mainly the Ginbis shimichoco corn. It's a chocolate iced smell, but the texture of the snack doesn't seem to be quite that. It's chocolate all the way through, with some crispy bits in the middle - I'll assume that's rice? And they seem very prone to sticking together, I pulled out more than a few clusters. But those could be even better than individual flakes.

Tasting the flakes, I get a little bit more rice than chocolate initially, then the chocolate manages to seep through. I'd like a little more chocolate here, but it's nice to have this be a little lighter of a snack, works well for an afternoon pick-me-up (which I'm using it as now). The crunch though is very pleasant, quite satisfying for such a little treat. It's even better with the clusters. I'm glad they melted together so I ended up seeing the best way to eat them. It's not exceptionally sweet either compared to similar snacks. These actually seem more like crispy rice cereal flavored with a bit of chocolate. Overall a pleasant eat but a bit different from what one may be expecting. Especially with the chocolate flowing onto the flakes on the package.

Rating: 6 - Aruff!

Odangoyasan DIY Kit

Oh boy, finally a legitimate diy kit! I wagged my tail excitedly when I first saw it, and now it's going into hyper drive as I'm about to try it. Like a propeller. I've really wanted to build things and then eat them for a while, and while I've received DIY kits from Japan Crate in the past, they've seemed a bit... simplistic. But this one has plenty of components to it--5 in fact, which are, in reading order, a matcha roll, strawberry daifuku, kuzu manju, shiritama anmitsu, and kashiwa mochi.

I definitely know what the first two are. The kuzu manju I thought was taiyaki, but seems that kuzu manju can have it as well. Although it seems to be about the same composition as taiyaki being a cake with red bean paste in it. The anmitsu seems to be your typical mochi, paste and dumpling combination. The kasiwa mochi is a red bean stuffed mochi surrounded by an oak leaf. Now that I know what all of these are, let's get into it!

Gabunomi White Cola

Well, as I am not a fan of carbonated drinks, this cola does not particularly excite me. Although I am slightly impressed that the cola is white instead of the normal brownish color, but nothing that a little food coloring can't accomplish right? Or maybe white food coloring isn't a thing. Who knows. Maybe if I tolerate the fizz, I'll like the flavor.

The drink at least has a very strong cola smell, maybe stronger than most other colas out there. It's basically the same flavor as the gummy that was included in this Japan Crate. As for the taste, the cola flavor rings through and it's very good! Enough to make me tolerate the fizz. It doesn't go overboard on the sweetness either like one might expect it to, which makes it... actually pretty refreshing to drink. Not bad for a carbonated drink, sometimes those just make me thirstier. But nope, this is a pretty good go-to when I'm panting.

Rating: 8 - Rowf!

Henshin! Transform Glasses

This has to be weirdest thing I got in Japan Crate this month for the fact that I have no idea whether it's even candy. Or, I wouldn't if there weren't nutrition facts on the back. In that case, the question is do the glasses come with a candy or are the glasses themselves edible? Guess we'll find out. These glasses also come in one of 48 styles, too bad it doesn't show me which styles these are anywhere on the package. Not that I'll be trying them on much anyways. Wolves don't wear glasses, y'know?

Potato Chips Salt and Hokkaido Konbu

Two potato chips in one Japan Crate, both with the same konbu (kelp) flavoring? That's questionable curation to say the least. But maybe this one will be different in a significant way, who knows. These potatoes come from Hokkaido, which is... *looks up* an island in Japan. Cool! It may not have any impact on the potatoes but it's cool to know where they come from. Maybe I'll move my den there if they taste good.

On first sight and sniff, these potatoes seem to be pretty much the same as the other ones. Normal potato chip flavor with a slight umami tint to them. Once again look liked they are cooked just right. On first bite however I wish the texture could be a little bit crisper, it was a little soft. But the flavor is on point. It's everything you might expect from Lay's except Japanese. Although I do get that slight umami flavor from it, it's ever so subtle and only comes out every once in a while. Though I do think that flavor is more prevalent than the other ones, especially in the aftertaste. There is also a strong salt flavor in these chips, which could be overbearing but it manages not to be and end up being just right. I think overall these get the edge over the other chips in the pack for a more noticeable umami flavor.

Rating: 7 - Aroof!

Pocky Colorful Shower, Lemon

First time I've reviewed a Pocky on here, huh? This snack seems to be a staple of the Japanese section in most grocery stores, and for a good reason, with it's fun name and unique stick presentation and tons of flavors. Having had some in the past, I think they're okay, with just a few qualms, mainly that the flavor doesn't go all the way down the stick (there's a filled one called Pejoy which fixes this issue), and some of the flavors themselves aren't as strong as I would like them to be. But this Colorful Shower Pocky seems to be a special one, with colorful sprinkles running down the icing. And a lemon flavor! I love lemon bars so it could be very promising.

Onigiri Senbei

I got all excited at first reading this snack name because I thought it would actually be similar to an onigiri, but turns out it's an onigiri shaped rice cracker (senbei). Still could be very good, actually when I was a wee little pup I was allergic to wheat, so any time I wanted something starchy I would go for rice cakes instead. So I very well know the magic of rice snacks, but let's see how this one measures up.

Bottle Sour Candy, Cider

Possibly the weirdest thing I've seen in this Japan Crate, Bottle Sour candy, is simply a bottle... of sour powder. That brings the question of how exactly to eat it, pour it into my mouth? Eat it from my paw? Pour it onto something else? The possibilities are limitless. Of the selection of random flavors, I got the cider flavor, with a blue color. I'm not exactly sure what that flavor may entail, it may just taste like ramune. I would be okay with that!

I open up the bottle (thankfully I can as my paws are little), and pour some on my paw. There's not really a smell here. But the taste is distinctly ramune, and a pleasant ramune flavor at that. The powder is not obnoxiously sour thankfully, but it's definitely there and has a good bit of sweetness to balance it out. The powder is really interesting texture-wise, it dissolves pretty quickly into kind of a chalky texture resembling the fueramune candies that makes you just want to keep grabbing more of the powder. And while the bottle is tiny, there's enough powder in here to be satisfied for a good amount of time. Very pleasant experience! If you can get past the awkward method of delivery into your mouth. It might be easier for you people with actual hands...

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

Maken Gummy Cola

When I first saw this in my Japan Crate I was pretty sure it was a candy version of one of those sticky hands found in gumball machines, suggested by the long spiral arm. Unfortunately this isn't that, instead it's a rock paper scissors shaped candy. Which seems kind of pointless. What are you supposed to do, pick your option before you flip it over and you get to... eat it if you win? I can't even make those shapes with my paws and mine was gummy side up, so I didn't get to have the chance to do that.

The gummy is cola flavored, and definitely has a nice cola smell to it. And like the stretchy hand toys it was quite sticky, I had a bit of difficulty removing it from the package. And upon eating it, that cola flavor still rings through. I do like the flavor when it's not accompanied by carbonation and it's nice to see it used so frequently in Japanese candy. It's very strong here, almost to the verge of overpowering but not quite. Texture is fine, a little bit less on the chewy side than most gummies. It's too bad (or maybe a good thing) that there aren't more, I'd be popping them into my mouth nonstop!

Rating: 7 - Aroof!

Ginbis Big Bar Z Milk

A familiar face showed up in this month's Japan Crate, another Big Bar Z! And this one is milk flavored, which could be very interesting. According to the description, the milk flavor is emulated by white chocolate, which of course isn't milk, but seems like it could be a noble attempt. I guess I'll see how it stacks up to the normal Big Bar Z, which was a chocolate puffed corn bar covered in a layer of chocolate icing.

Surprisingly this one isn't star shaped, but instead like an umaibo, a cylinder with a hole in the middle of it. And it does very well capture a milk flavor, at least in the smell. I can definitely tell it's white chocolate, but in this case whatever they did made the white chocolate emulate milk quite well. I ain't no feline, but I'm still very much itching to try this and see how this smell stacks up with the texture.

All in all? It works very well. I was worried the puffed corn flavor would clash with the milk flavor but it doesn't, I guess in this case the taste is a bit reminiscent of Corn Pops with milk. All that in the form of a bar! It has a good amount of crunch too to make the flavor seem satisfying, but not so much that it becomes a drag to eat. Unlike it' chocolate sibling, it doesn't have as much icing, which actually works in its favor because it doesn't feel like a tasty outer filling vs a not so much tasty inside. Everything blends together more. The flavor gets ever so slightly stale as I eat more of it, but that's more of a minor nitpick because I can't be satisfied with just milk like those pesky meowers are. But overall, very good job Ginbis! I thought I had tasted all they had to offer, but I was wrong.

Rating: 8 - Rowf!

Koikeya Savory Salt Potato Chips

At first glance these just look like plain potato chips, granted with 100% on the bag twice for whatever reason. However, these chips have their own Japanese touch to them in the form of an umami flavor consisting of bonito flakes, anchovies, and konbu (kelp). So basically land meets see, potatoes with a touch of the ocean's offerings. Guess I'll find out if that's a pleasant marriage.

Konnyaku Jelly Stick

When I saw this I was thinking "oh no just a jelly stick?" After all, I already tried those and this one doesn't even appear to have a flavor. Or does it? This one is unique in that it is not made with gelatin, but instead konnyaku, which is a gelatin-like substance made from the konjac plant, which is... a potato? This is weird. How does potato become jelly? I guess we'll find out.

I can already praise this jelly stick over the other ones because I was able to open it without getting my paws sticky! The strip was in a reasonable place this time, so good job. The sniff test results in a slight lime flavor, which makes sense because konnyaku is mixed with lime water in the process. But what is the flavor of this alone? Who knows. It does have zero calories, so maybe even nothing. I'm getting kind of a mint smell too, which worries me, because this pup does not like mint. Easiest way to have me tuck my tail in.

Already I can see this is different. It didn't spill anywhere because it is more solid than gelatin based jelly, I had to bit off a chunk instead of squeezing the whole thing into my mouth. But despite the smell, this really doesn't have a flavor. Or any sweetness. Why did someone make this again? I might as well be drinking water, or breathing. The texture isn't even that exciting. I have no idea why any person would ever buy this or enjoy this. It's not a terrible taste, it's just... nothing. I kept biting off jelly bits in hopes of having some flavor, but I really never got anything. Just a slight hint of the minty and lime-y smell. I'm utterly baffled. Konnyaku could have it's purpose as a flavor sponge, but by itself it's entirely a waste of your time. Silly humans, when we go on the hunt we never come back with flavorless food.

Rating: 1 - Awwwrrrr...

Black Thunder Kinako

Two Black Thunders in a row? Guess Japan Crate isn't too good at mixing up their candy month to month. Regardless I loved my first Black Thunder bar, and this one has an extra touch to it of kinako, which is a soybean flour. What would that make it taste like? No idea. But Japanese folks certainly know what to do with soybeans from my experience. Many times have I glazed a catch with miso. Mmm.

Appearance wise, it's the same. Smell wise there's definitely something different. A bit more of an earthy flavor I think? Not sure.

Tasting it I can see that the extra chocolate was instead subbed out for the soybean flour. It's a bit of a different taste than the other one. I like the original Black Thunder better because chocolate chocolate is always a pleasing combination and I don't get quite enough chocolate from this one, but it's still very good. The crunch is the best I've had of any chocolate bar and the added soybean flavor is interesting, but there's ultimately not enough of it in here to make up for the loss of extra chocolate.

Rating: 6 - Aruff!

Chocolate Banana

And here we have the simply named Chocolate Banana. I tried to find a brand name for this or something, but nothing. So I guess it'll be a mystery, and really sad if I end up liking it because I don't know where to order more. But here it is, the taste of this will certainly be an enigma because I don't think I've ever had a chocolate with a banana flavor.

You can see it here on the other side, they didn't quite go for the chocolate covered banana approach but instead chocolate slathered on one side, and with part of the peel included. So not very realistic, but it at least looks pretty. After opening it up, I can definitely smell the chocolate the most but there is definitely a hint of banana flavor here.

I take a bite of the exposed banana side first and it's quite good! I have ragged on artificial banana flavor before but it tastes alright with the chocolate, and there seem to be equal parts of both. The banana flavor provides sort of the creamy addition to the chocolate that has worked time and time again. Also the peel side doesn't taste any different, it's the same banana flavor, I mean good thing, who wants to bite into a banana peel? But overall the flavor combination works, I'm not sure it's special enough to seek out exclusively but it's a fun combination of candy flavors that ends up working quite well for a nice bit of sweetness.

Rating: 6 - Aruff!

Cabbage Taro, Okonomiyaki Sauce Flavor

Now not many people know this since I only blog about snacks, but I love Japanese food of all kinds, and have many an occasion snuck my way into Japanese restaurants to try some of their cooking. In particular the one thing that always made my mouth water was okonomiyaki. Cabbage on its own doesn't sound exciting, but when baked into a pancake it suddenly becomes the most delicious thing ever. Throw some meat on that and you got yourself a meal. I even managed to cook some of my own once for an alpha wolf and he loved it. What does that have to do with this snack? This is a puffed snack that is apparently flavored like cabbage, but doesn't actually have any cabbage in it, instead the rich flavors of okonomiyaki. If it's anything like the real deal, you can bet my tail will be wagging as I chow down on these.

January 2018 Japan Crate

New year, but more importantly, new month and new Japan Crate! This one is themed on Attack on Titan, and I have minimal knowledge on this manga so you'll won't hear any references from me. Besides based on the images, it looks really scary, doesn't it? But nevertheless, I am excited about a good few of the treats lying within. Here's what we have (in reading order from the left corners of the items):

• Potato Chips Salt and Hokkaido Konbu
• Uma Salt Potato Chips
• Bottle Sour, Cider Flavor
• Attack on Titan Collectible Download Card (not a candy but still there...)
• Chocolate Banana
• Maken Gummy Cola
• Big Bar Z Milk
• Onigiri Senbei
• Henshin! Transform Glasses
• Lemon Flavor Pocky Colorful Shower
• Konnyaku Jelly Stick
• Cabbage Taro
• Black Thunder Kinako
• Odangoyasan DIY Kit
• Gabunomi White Cola

While I'm a little disappointed that there's a card instead of more candy, that may be my stomach talking. I'm particularly excited about the DIY kit from this month, because it looks like there's a variety of fun things to make there, as well as the cabbage taro. Not sure what to expect from the Bottle Sour or the glasses, and there are some variations on things I have had before like the jelly stick and the Big Bar Z. Should be an interesting batch!

Tirol Choco Pack

I return! After enjoying the holidays with my pack, it's time to get to trying some candy again, and this time I've got a few things to try. I've heard of these Tirol chocolates for a while now but haven't gotten the chance to try them. Finally a pack appeared at my local Japanese market and I pounced on the opportunity. I love the square wrappers, when you put them together it looks like tiles! Not sure how to describe it, almost like a retro vibe. And I'm certainly excited to try the cookies & cream flavor, I love that Hershey's cookies and cream bar!