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!

Ginger Tea Hard Candy

This is the kinosei snack in this month's TokyoTreat and it unfortunately came a little late for me, as it's suppose to sooth throats, and I had a cold last weekend... But regardless, my throat could always use a little soothing. The flavor for this one worries me just a bit because ginger in the past has been a bit too strong for me at times, but maybe this candy will strike a nice balance.

Unexpectedly, the candy came invidually wrapped in these foil wrappers, which made it a bit difficult to open, but that also should be good since it helps them maintain their freshness. The candy itself looks really pretty. It's this slightly clear amber color and the most aesthetic rounding that a rectangle could have. No noticeable smell though, but that has been the case with hard candies before and hasn't affected the flavor.

The flavor thankfully isn't overbearing. It's actually quite pleasant - slightly sweet, it's almost like a warm ginger tea hug right by the fire.Everything about this flavor feels nice and gentle with a little bit of spice that only serves to emphasize the warmth and caring it seems to give. As time goes on that hug only seems to be warmer as more of the flavors release. And it really does feel soothing to the throat - as those flavors slide down, my throat gets clearer, as if the spicy was attacking all the gunk in it, and replacing it with the earthy taste of the tea.

The flavor doesn't ever really evolve into anything else, or have any change of texture, but it's nice and solidly comforting, and really doesn't need to be any thing else. While I doubt it would ever be a substitute for cough drops, this is a really nice way to soothe a throat that has taken a beating, and even without that this flavor is sweet, earthy, pleasant, a little spicy... All like a nice warm hug.

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!