Kit Kats - Wasabi, Sakura Nihonshu, Sakura and Roasted Soybean

Ever since I got my box of Kit Kats I've been fearing this day and alas it's finally here... the day I'm going to try the wasabi Kit Kat. I can stand some spicy foods, but the instant slap to your tastebuds that wasabi delivers can be a bit too much. I hope Kit Kat has realized this and dulls it down a bit, or maybe they'll go for the hyperrealism approach. If the worst-case scnario happens though, at least I'll get to cool down with some nice sakura flavors afterwards.

The wasabi Kit Kat seems benign from the outside, with its lovely light green color and creamy smell. But I'm not going to be deceived by that, no way. Wasabi itself has this same inviting color. I take a deep breath, and see if it's going to sting me the same way...

And surprisingly it doesn't burn at all. In fact the first thing I get is the creamy taste, which leaves me wondering if this is even the right Kit Kat. But then I get the taste. The familiar pungent taste that accompanied the quick fire that wasabi produces, but without any of the fire. How they did this I don't know, but it's a miracle and it's pretty wonderful. It's pleasant to eat and hides a complex flavor underneath it's simple creamy exterior. The Kit Kat creators must have been wizards to come up with this.

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

Chocolate Kinako Mochi DIY

Not any especially new territory here, as I've had mochi and kinako snacks before, but the combination of them with chocolate is something I don't think I've had. It seems like it would make a good combination, with the sweetness of chocolate and the umami of kinako, with a solid base in mochi, but we'll see how this translates into DIY form.

Unfortunately, the mochi seems to have come to me broken, oh no! I'm also surprised that it's hard, as similar DIY packs have opted for soft candy here, but from what I see I'll be pouring water on the mochi to soften it up. There are also two packs consisting of the chocolate and kinako, and a utensil as expected.

After pouring the water on the mochi, things made more sense as it softened up almost immediately, and the texture definitely seemed akin to mochi. There seems to be much more kinako than chocolate which is surprising, both smell as I'd expect them to.

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.

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!