Want Want Follow Me Senbei Milk Tea

Want want? Follow me? Sounds like this cracker really wants me to like it. And I really want to like it, as the idea of a milk tea flavored cracker sounds tail-waggingly good. But it's going to be hard to convert the refreshing, satisfying taste of milk tea into solid form... or maybe not. The British imagery on here is also a little confusing, maybe it's British milk tea? Do they even have that over there? That would be my kind of tea time.

The cracker is pretty similar to its appearance on the package, and it's definitely intriguing me. It's a nice light brown color with white icing splotches, which could be the milk. I'm certainly intrigued, though the scent is quite mild. I get the tea and the rice flavor, but no milk, hopefully all that goodness is hiding within. The crackers are also quite light and hollow meaning I'll probably be chowing down on a lot of these soon if I like them.

The cracker has more of a savory component to it than I thought, which I guess should be expected - it is a rice cracker first and foremost. The flavors within it are quite nice reminding me of some of the best rice crackers I've had, it's very rich in its grainy flavor and there's a lot of nice depth here, almost like a rice-wheat mixture, but likely just rice. The milky bits add some much-needed sweet touches to this, and although milk tea isn't the first thing that comes to mind here, it's still quite good. It's got some nice light sweetness just like the drink, just in a different form factor. These might in fact be the perfect companion to some milk tea!

Rating; 7 - Aroof!

Afternoon Tea White Chocolate Milk Tea

I looooove milk tea. So when I saw a milk tea featured in this month's TokyoTreat I was definitely wagging my tail and running around in circles! And now it's time to try it. This is also white chocolate, which is a flavor I don't believe I've had with milk tea before, but it seems like it should blend perfectly, considering white chocolate in Japanese snacks is usually used to create a milky taste.

Unfortunately the bottle is a little smaller than some past drinks considering this little glass is the entirety of the drink! But no reason to fret over that, there's always more milk tea. It's surprisingly a brownish color despite being white chocolate milk tea, but in this case that's probably the color of the tea taking over. I'm not actually sure what kind of tea this is, maybe jasmine or black tea? Regardless it has a nice sweet, milky, earthy, and chocolate-y smell and I'm looking forward to trying it.

It's pretty satisfying to drink as I'd expect. I get milk as expected, then the robustness of the tea, which comes out very strong. The chocolate isn't the strongest flavor in the mix, which I actually quite like, as if it took over everything it would taste more like chocolate milk. In addition because it's white chocolate it blends more with the milk than clashing with it, while the tea flavor still gives it a little of the earthiness that the white chocolate needs. It's also surprisingly on the lighter side of sweetness, which is good considering it's meant to be afternoon tea, so not overbearing. I think it could stand to be a little more flavorful and maybe a thicker texture would do it wonders, but it's a very nice drink! I wouldn't mind more of these and less fizzy drinks in the boxes.

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

Kyoro-Chan's Custard Pudding Snack

We finally get some pudding in TokyoTreat, ruff ruff! Interestingly enough these are chocolate flavored as well, which is a combination I don't believe I've had before. They are also supposed to look like Easter eggs per the packaging, which by the way is so cute with the bird popping out of the egg! I hope that doesn't actually happen with this snack because that would be pretty creepy.

I was surprised to learn that not only do these snacks look like eggs, but there's an Easter egg hunt right on the box! On the last try I finally found Kyoro-chan, that sneaky little rascal. The egg appearance of the candies is really nice, not only in shape, but the white color and specks are all very realistic and fun. And the smell coming from the box is absolutely tantalizing. While these are chocolate on the outside, the custard smell comes through loud and clear and I can't wait.

Interestingly enough though, the custard filling is more of a solid crispy wafer texture than the thick liquid-y texture of normal pudding. The flavor still comes through nicely. The chocolate seems to be white chocolate which actually works better, as the milky flavor blends better with the also milk-based custard. The milky flavor of these is also what sticks out the most, with the eggy pudding flavor as an accent. It's not what I was expecting but I do quite like it. It gets a little stale after a while but still a creamy milky delight in each bite. Makes me feel all cozy like I was inside an eggshell! But of course with all the energy to burst out and play.

Rating: 8 - Rowf!

Hokkaido Matcha Milk Candy

Multiple things about this candy seem pleasant to me. The pleasant pictures on the packaging of the farm and the high detail pic of matcha suggest a down-to-earth candy straight from the farm with no other complications. I even looked to see if Hokkaido was a farming region after I remember having other snacks with this mentioned, but nope, it's an island. Maybe an island with pretty good farms.

As expected, the candies come individually wrapped. The matcha candies are circular and have a nice varied texture and deep (but not too deep) green color. I can't get much of a smell from it but I also have a bit of a cold, so that could be inhibiting things.

Good thing cold doesn't inhibit taste, because I get the most wonderful matcha flavor putting this in my mouth. I think if this were just matcha it would be a little bit grating, but the milk component thankfully adds the needed base. I've tried putting matcha powder in milk before and had great results from it, but this basically simplifies the whole process of mixing them together and puts the two flavors together perfectly in one great candy. It's basically all I was looking for in this and a bit more, because it also lasts quite a long time! I feel like I'm in a matcha wonderland, laying and sniffing the matcha grass while watching the milk clouds go by. Mmm. Perfectly relaxing and chill, and as the farm packaging suggests, the core ingredients straight from the farm, and nothing more.

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

Ginbis Shimichoco Corn - Milky Red Bean

My stomach is growling more than I ever do right now, and of course because of that I grab the largest, most appetizing, filling snack I can find in the TokyoTreat box - this one! I know shimichoco corn has had a really nice texture and flavor, with a puffed corn base on the inside and icing on the outside, and I hope this red bean flavor will take it up another notch. I love red bean normally, and combined with the milky white chocolate flavor? It seems like it's set up for success with this type of combination, and the image on the bag of red beans drowned in milk looks tantalizing.

The corn itself takes on the white color of the milk more than the red bean, but you can see the red bean in there through red flecks mostly on the tips of the stars. The smell however seems to be an even distribution of milk and red bean, the red bean adding some earthiness and substance, and the milk adding creaminess and richness. They seem to go well together.

Biting into it, I once again experience the nice texture of the shimichoco corn, with the the inner corn part providing some real substance, and adding a new flavor to what I smelled before that works quite well, in this case the starchy base. This snack seems to have everything going for it: sweetness, earthiness, richness, a bit of fruitiness actually that I wouldn't expect from having the red bean in here. There's also some grittiness that the dust on the surface adds to it that I'm really enjoying.

In fact, it's hard to write this review because I can't stop eating this. There's so much depth of flavor and a ton of sensations that I'm getting here, and it's a really satisfying bite all the way through. I may have developed some self control from some of my canine brethren but I'm losing all of it here, because this is too good. Maybe I'll need to go out and hunt for more!

Rating: 10 - AWOOOOOOO!!!

Tirol Gelato Pack

I already know Tirol churns out some great concoctions, and who doesn't love gelato? A bunch of other Japanese snacks have done a great job replicating ice cream flavors so far, but gelato is a new avenue, as are some of these flavors. The three here are pistachio, milk, and mixed berry, all of which are very exciting flavors. But I got my nose on that pistachio.

Pistachio is up first, and it has a super interesting appearance and smell. Both are true to the nut: the chocolate is green with brown flaky bits mixed in, which creates a fine nutty texture. The smell is equally nutty, and actually quite strong!

The taste displays a little more depth, as it's very creamy, I guess to stay true to the gelato theme, and that balances out the nuttiness very well. No special filling on the inside, but it really doesn't need it, the combination of the nutty flavor and creaminess and crispy rice gives it everything it needs. It really is a great treat that manages to evolve the pistachio flavor into something more. I wish I had more of these, aruff!

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

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!

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!