Kakigori Ramune Candy

We've had our fill of popsicle candy in this TokyoTreat, and now it's time for another cooling summer treat in the form of shaved ice! This is always that thing that you find on a super hot festival day and then it becomes the most appealing thing in the world... and it's fairly hot now, so I come to this snack with the same request. It seems that it has a cooling sensation much like the popsicle kit, and I'm certainly ready to be cooled. Hopefully everything will gel with the strawberry and ramune flavors a little better this time.

The candy, as depicted on the package, comes in these tiny tablets, which is good because, while tiny, it ensures I'll think twice before eating them all at once. Or maybe not if they're amazing. Both have a sweet vibrant smell with their respective flavors shining through and have a chalky texture, as some of it rubs off on my paws.

I pop the strawberry one in my mouth and it has a very satisfying pop as I bite through it, and I get the cooling sensation that was promised to me. It's a bit different from a purely strawberry candy, the flavor definitely seems more like the strawberry syrup that comes out of those shaved ice machines, which means it's quite accurate, and the sweetness and cooling sensation skew it away from a purely strawberry flavor. This is not a bad thing, actually it's a pretty refreshing difference, and the cooling sensation is used very well here, not being overbearing or obscuring the flavor. I already feel a little more cooled down, as I start to pant less. The ramune flavor also provides some nice refreshment. It has the rare distinction from other ramune snacks of actually feeling like it quenches my thirst, in part because of the wonderful cooling feeling. This takes everything the popsicle snack tried to do and does it right, managing to capture all the sensations of shaved ice in one convenient candy. I should keep more of these around for the summer!

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

DIY Popsicle Kit

Summer is rapidly approaching, and though it's still a little chilly outside here, TokyoTreat comes to the rescue for those hot days with this popsicle kit. Oh, you mean there's no actual freezing involved? Well then it's perfect for days like today! It'll be interesting to see if they try to still make this kit have the cooling sensation that popsicles are known so well for.

Much like the candy apple kit, the contents are simple: some pre-made candies and two toppings. I'm not sure what exactly the toppings are, looks like a syrup and... powdered sugar? I taste a bit of the syrup and it seems to be ramune flavored, and the powder... what is this stuff? It has such a cooling sensation to it, I'm really impressed, whatever this is. The ramune candy doesn't have much of a smell, but there's an intoxicating strawberry smell coming from the entire package.

The assembly process is not the cleanest one. The syrup adheres well, but the cooling powder in turn doesn't seem to adhere that well to the syrup. It actually seems to merge with it a bit, which is a little odd. But here we go! It's an odd combination of flavors. The strawberry candy is nice, but I feel like it needs something different than what's presented to it. The ramune syrup and cooling are nice touches, but it still doesn't give me a popsicle sensation. I guess I am crunching it and not licking it after all, but what's a hungry pup to do? The ramune one is even more questionable. It comes off a little strong at first, but has a weird aftertaste? Something about it is not pleasant and I can't put my finger on it, but it crosses the flavor line into a not-so-great place. Overall I can't really recommend this one, the strawberry candy is okay, but every other decision going into these popsicles is questionable.

Rating: 2 - Awrr

Maruta Nericcho Soft Ice Cream DIY, Strawberry and Cider

Japanese candy includes many attempts at imitating ice cream without the meltiness, with varying but usually positive degrees of success. Now we have it in DIY form, with two flavors and these very happy little ice cream cones filling each other. The cider flavor (which likely means ramune) is of particular note, as I haven't had ice cream quite like that before. Maybe it'll work, maybe it'll be a disaster, or somewhere in between.

The contents of this DIY are quite simple, but simplicity can be sweet. A packet representing the ice cream, a spoon, and three cones. Which seems like a bargain considering only two are shown on the package!

DIY Dino Island Pudding

RAWRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Sorry, just have to get in the spirit here, as we're going back into prehistoric times where canines definitely weren't a thing. Sad days those were... but instead we have these giant (well, actually small green plastic) dinos roaming the earth. And what better surface to roam in than scrumptious pudding? At least I hope it's scrumptious. And hearty enough to satisfy my inner T-rex.

The contents here are surprisingly simple, just a mold, the two dinos, and packets for the pudding and sauce. Sadly the utensils needed, as well as the cup to mix the pudding in, nor the milk to mix the pudding with, is not included. Thankfully I have all the necessary things. But for those who don't and want to follow along, get them or you'll be disappointed.

I don't usually arrive at the final conclusion so early with these DIY kits, but alas there wasn't much to show in the middle. The steps basically are: mix the pudding powder with milk, microwave it, leave it in the fridge, and then pop it out of the tray and put the sauce and dino toys on top of it. Pretty straightforward, though I didn't know how long to leave it in the fridge. I left it in for an hour, maybe should've been two. As I can't read Japanese, who knows.

Despite being a little messy, the pudding is still delightfully eggy, with more richness as this one takes on a darker color than some of the other pudding I've had. I have conflicted feelings about the strawberry sauce though: well it seems like a nice idea, every bite I have with it completely masks the pudding flavor, and you know I wouldn't want that.  It's nice on its own though, a little oversweet. I find myself wanting more from even the pudding component though, it's nice but not with the depth and perfect balance of sweetness and richness that I'm used to. If anything it needs some more sweetness and a stronger pudding flavor to really draw out what makes this great. I do have to say this is a really nice concept. Visually one of the best DIYs and it's such a simple idea too.

Rating: 6 - Aruff!

Kit Kats: Caramel Pudding, Tokai Red Bean Sandwich, Strawberry Cheesecake

What an interesting trio of Kit Kats! I'm stoked for all of these flavors, but particularly the pudding one, as anyone who's seen me review a pudding snack would know. The red bean sandwich one is certainly a mystery in taste to me as I've never had a red bean sandwich myself. The cheesecake one of course I have a good idea of how it'll taste, having had snacks in this kind of flavor before.

The caramel pudding flavor doesn't appear to have much caramel with the pudding judging by the color, but the smell seems to tell otherwise I get some eggy pudding deliciousness in the smell, but also lots of caramel, almost overshadowing it completely. I hope this doesn't upset the balance of flavor, as these two are amazing in ths right proportions.

Looks like I didn't have to worry too much about that. The caramel dominates the smell but I get more pudding in the taste, though something seems off about this pudding flavor. It's a lot more gritty and shallow, and I'm not too much a fan. The caramel also seems that way, being way too sweet rather than rich tasting. It could be the adaptation to this crunchy wafer texture, but they could've easily done a way better job even on the flavor with that in mind. As it is now it's not too pleasant to eat.

Rating: 2 - Awrr

Meiji Tsukorou Kinoko no Yama DIY

A while back I had one of these biscuit snacks from Meiji and it was quite yummy! But this one looks to take it up a notch, being in DIY form and having different shapes and many different layers. Already looks like ton of fun and hopefully not too much work between me and the delicious chocolate biscuits.

Thankfully it seems that'll be the case as the contents are quite simple: biscuits, molds, and three squeeze bottles with the different toppings.

Baby Bear Gummies

Gummy bears finally make their way into my grasp! For a while I'd think these aren't a thing in Japan, but they copy American snacks like the best of them. I do remember Haribo being mentioned in a manga, so clearly they have a presence in Japan. The question is whether they've elevated these to a whole level of flavor... they've at least elevated the cuteness level, that baby bear is so adorable!

There aren't many in here unfortunately (this is the whole package), but what's in here smells quite delightful. The sweetness makes its way all the way over to my nose from the package, and I can make out the individual flavors of strawberry, lemon, and orange quite clearly.

They're very chewy which is surprising, although actually a little less chewy than those. Nevertheless, the flavor lasts a long time and it's quite wonderful! The strawberry pops with so much vibrance and sweetness. It's really powerful for a tiny little gummy. The orange is very sweet and tangy and actually pretty natural tasting. And lastly, the lemon is a little sour and has a really nice, albeit artificial flavor. Why did this snack have to be the one with only 5 gummies, they're so good! I'll see if I can find a big bag of these, but for now these are bear-ly enough. Heh heh...

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

Meigum Puchi Puchi Sherbet

Many of the DIY kits I've gotten outside of the Kracie ones have been very simplistic and nothing groundbreaking (but still very fun and delicious). This one from Meiji looks to buck that trend as there is a lot going on here. It seems to have three molds, all with different textures and colors, and some spherification action going on! Haven't seen that since the sushi kit. I'm not really sure how this is considered sherbet, considering it doesn't resemble the ice cream style dish at all, but no worries. Going to be a lot of fun either way!

About the number of components expected here lies inside. Three bags for the different layers, along with the animal molds and square containers. More animal molds than I thought - there's a snail, cat, pig, panda, owl, and turtle. How exciting! Also the only tool included is a dropper which is good for the spheres but could be trouble for everything else.

Kracie Popin Cookin Bento

Alas, this is the final Kracie product that I ordered from a box on the internet... for now. I'm sure there will be more, but for now it's been a fun journey, wading through all the powders, generic fruit flavored chewy candy, triangle cups, weird utensils, bags, molds... they've really made something special with all of these, where anyone can play with their food and eat it too. And speaking of playing with your food, I've always had an appreciation for bento. It shares a lot of the same concepts, so in a way this is a meta-DIY kit of sorta, and even has some of the cuteness that bento is known for with that panda face!

This one, as expected from the large number of items on the picture, is quite heavy in components: a whopping 7 packets, a bag, fork, lots of molds, and some guides. Unfortunately the bowl shown on the box is looking a little flat and that doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon.

Kit Kats - Kyoho Grape, Hokkaido Melon, Wa-Ichigo Strawberry

This time we have three more Kit Kats with some different fruity flavors. While matcha and strawberry are familiar territory, I'm really interested to see how grape and melon translate into Kit Kat's wafter structure. The last one is the ever-familiar strawberry but with Wa-Ichigo tacked onto it. I wonder if that will be any different?

As usual I look up the meaning behind any unknown words and see that kyoho grapes are a type of grape grown in Japan. Regardless  I don't expect this to be too different from the normal grape flavor, though this one has a lighter color and different smell than I expected. It smells... almost like grape toothpaste? Not sure if that'll be an entirely bad thing. It's definitely not pure grape smell, kind of muddled with a milky flavor and added sweetness.

The flavor does seem to work a bit in context of the wafer. Without it I imagine a pure grape flavor would be in stark contast to the rest of the treat. It still feels a little out place in candy, after adjusting to it, it's okay, but still odd and not quite what I'm looking for. It's a bit too sweet where from fruit flavors I expect something more authentic. This... is okay, but doesn't quite work for me.

Rating: 4 - Boof!

Nyusankin Yogurt Strawberry Hard Candy

This was another bonus item provided by the wonderful folks at asianfoodgrocer.com, and look how cute it is! I hope I have that boy's face after I taste this. This seems to be quite a unique combination, as we have strawberry yogurt, but in hard candy form. I wonder how they'll make this work? It is also said to contain probiotic ingredients to help digestion, and I could definitely use that after today's feast...

The candies have a really nice color to them. It's like a pink pearl kind of color, nice circle shape with wider edges, looks very pretty and quaint. There's no smell to be found, but this tends to be the case with hard candies as all the flavor is contained within.

Kracie Popin Cookin Cake Shop

Many kinds of cakes here, and they all look so yummy! And rather difficult with all the shapes, but Kracie sure has a way of making it accessible to anyone. I'm interested to see how the solid components are done. There's also ice cream. Everything here looks so fun, and a bright pink color, which I assume is strawberry.

To my surprise, all the solid components are premade. That's a little disappointing, but hey, I guess it just means I'll get to eat everything quicker! That makes this one of the easier DIYs, with only two powders, a pastry bag, and sprinkles to work with. The bags I assume, are the strawberry frosting and the vanilla icing that is shown on the ice cream and wafers.

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!

Kit Kats - Matcha, Raspberry, Strawberry

For this batch of Kit Kats, we've got the ones with fairly plain packaging, but the flavors are sure to be anything but. I'm particularly excited about the matcha one, but the fruity flavors are sure to add a great touch alongside the crispy Kit Kat presentation too.

The matcha Kit Kat, despite the very dark green package, has a bit of a lighter color, but this makes sense. The matcha scent however is very strong ,and there seem to be specks throughout, so it's sure to be great.

Like the smell, the matcha flavor is incredibly strong. Some might almost find this too strong as it seems to lessen the candy properties of the Kit Kat, transitioning more from sweetness into the bitter tea flavor, but for tea enthusiasts like me it's a nice kick.


Rating: 7 - Aroof!

Pokemon DIY Candy Kit

Who doesn't love Pokemon? I'll admit I was a little jealous when I saw that this was included in the February Japan Crate, so when I spotted it at a Japanese market I had to nab it for myself. I love how prevalent Pokemon themed products are in Japan, and considering how popular the series is in the US too, I have to wonder why we don't get more of them? Regardless, this seems to be a simpler DIY, consisting of a mold and some soft candy, though it could still be just as fun and tasty.

Pepsi Strawberry Shortcake

Once again, why does Japan get exclusive flavors of normally US products? It doesn't make the slightest bit of sense, unless everyone there has a refined palette like I do and wants to experience new things. But I still think this would sell very well in the states. It also is possibly mislabeled, saying it's Christmas Cola instead, and I'm not even sure what buyers would consider that to be... peppermint? Eggnog? Though from reading, it seems it was in fact offered in Japan during the holiday season.

Not even any pink tinting here, this soda is completely white in color, which I suppose could represent the cake portion of the strawberry shortcake. In turn it's also a more peculiar strawberry taste than most, where I do get more of the angel food cake taste with just a hint of strawberry. Not exactly sure what the angel food cake flavor is, maybe finally and egg?

Drinking a bit of this soda reveals a very similar flavor. The strawberry is subtle but I think after all the strawberry in this box I actually prefer it to the punch-in-the-face strawberry flavors of the others. This also meshes better with the existing cola flavor, providing a lighter note in there to balance out the flavors. The strawberry seems to just be the proverbial garnish to top it all off. While I would not normally drink Pepsi, this is way more refreshing and light than I'm used to, to the point where I don't even mind the bubbles that much. It's not sure to be my go-to drink, but Pepsi did a very good job of creating a flavor that is a bit different than the usually heavy soda flavor.

Rating: 8 - Rowf!

Meito Maroyaka Milk Chocolate, Strawberry

In addition to the share packs, another cool thing TokyoTreat does is these party packs, and there's no object for scale her but this is a very large bag! I quite like the design of these chocolates, the way the strawberry sits on top of the chocolate makes it look like a gemstone of some sort. Maybe I can get this as a piece of jewelry? Nah, I'd eat it way too soon. This is a milk chocolate treat, and while I'm not as a huge a fan of milk chocolate as others, I look forward to trying it.

Lotte Strawberry Pie no Mi

Strawberry pie? Sign me up! Very excited for this one if it looks like anything like the pictures on the box. Also that squirrel doesn't look nearly as excited as she should be, and I don't see that tail wagging... what a poor spokesperson. Anyways this snack promises a strawberry filling in the middle of puff pastry, which is sure to be an amazing combination. And a relatively big box. Hopefully nice and flaky and creamy.

Lotte Rose x Berry Glamatic Tablets

One unique factor of the TokyoTreat box is that every month it includes a kinosei snack in the box, which means a snack that provides health benefits. That being said, I'm not sure what health benefits this is supposed to have, because as far as I can see, it's a breath mint. Maybe health for my packmates as I lick them clean? Not too sure, but nevertheless, a treat that improves your breath and is tasty is always a plus. Let's see what these are like!

Pretty Cure DIY Strawberry Milkshake

The DIY item from the TokyoTreat box is, rather awrrr-worthy... a milkshake. Last time I had one of these it was just some kind of artificial powder that barely mixed well with the milk in the first place. And from the looks of it, it's made by the same company that made the Minions milkshake. I hope they get the flavor and consistency right, but I'm rather doubtful. At the very least it comes with a collectible cup... of some anime I've never heard of.