Meiji Takenoko no Sato Cookies & Cream

 

This is definitely one of the things I was looking forward to in this box, because I loved the original Takenoko no Sato. It's one of those snacks that nails every avenue, with it's nice rich semi sweet chocolate flavor with a nice sweet crunchy biscuit backing it on the inside. And this one steps it up a notch with a cookies & cream flavor! It's also a limited edition flavor, so this won't always be around sadly.

One of the things I didn't catch from the box is this actually seems to be the reverse of the snack I had earlier! There's chocolate biscuit on the inside this time and vanilla with cookies coating on the outside. I quite like this variation in textures from an idea standpoint. The smell is also absolutely tantalizing, it smells like an Oreo except the cream filling is even more pronounced than normal, being on the outside.

To my surprise, the coating is even softer than expected. My teeth slice right through the vanilla frosting, and it's incredibly creamy, having somewhat of a milky taste to it. The chocolate inside too is surprisingly soft, not as soft as the outside, but I quite like it. This means the whole thing really gels together and blends into cookies & cream goodness. One of my favorite textural touches in this is how the top point of this is entirely frosting so there's one bit of really soft cream that makes the whole thing just that more enjoyable to eat.

Just like an Oreo though neither of these components is exceptionally great alone (yes I'm looking at you cream-lickers), but together they form something really special. The creamy frosting would be too sweet and one note if not backed by the less sweet chocolate filling. The only thing holding this snack back is like the other one, the dryness of it. But the flavor combination is incredible, as is the texture variety, and it's so great that I think I can give it a perfect mark. Oreo could certainly learn a lesson here!

Rating; 10 - AWOOOOOOO!!!

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.

Ice Cream Lolly, Chocolate

Having had one of these already, I know the greatness of this concept: all the goodness of ice cream in hard candy form, without the need for freezer or the meltiness or the extra calories. But now it's a chocolate flavor! Last time I remarked that the strawberry flavor was too subtle, but I don't expect that to be the case with this one, as chocolate tends to stand out a bit more.

Already it looks like both halves might even be chocolate, because the bottom half has a light brown tone rather than the pure white of the vanilla. However the more likely case here is that some of the chocolate from the chocolate top leaked down into the vanilla part. There's not a very strong smell here, so looks like I'm going to figure out the truth all through taste. The chocolate has a very nice dark color too it though which seems promising.

The chocolate flavor on the top half, like the other lollipop, is quite subtle. I expected a huge burst of chocolate, but it's rather light and faint once again. The vanilla flavor seems that way too, with a bit of milkiness. I keep sucking and sucking on this trying to leech more flavor out of it, because what's there is great, but it never seems to be enough. The chocolate flavor is nice and pure, no hint of any ice cream flavor, but it doesn't overdo the sweetness and is overall pleasant, and adding the vanilla on it completes the combination quite well. This one sadly seems even more faint in flavor than the other one... and it's the most tragic thing because the flavors great, I just want more of it... why must they tease me so...

Rating: 5 - Ruff!

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.

Ice Cream Lolly, Strawberry

Ice cream? Lollipop? Sounds like an unlikely pair but the more I think about it the more it could be the next big thing. So many times you want that flavor of ice cream but don't want it to melt or are in colder weather. But this treat promises an ice cream flavor without the brain freeze or melting, and with two flavors to boot - one vanilla and one strawberry!

Unfortunately the treat is smaller than it appears on the package, but still has some quite vibrant colors. The vanilla is a little more brownish than expected, but the strawberry has a nice dark pink color. It's also uneven on the stick, so hopefully it doesn't slide off! Smelling it yields a faint combination of the two flavors, as expected.

Both flavors, just like the smell, are slight, but the more I lick them the more they make sense. As this is ice cream flavored, both are slightly milky. Surprisingly the vanilla flavor comes across much stronger than the strawberry one. Actually if I didn't know any better, I could confuse the strawberry for the cherry on top of the ice cream easily. The combined taste, however, is where this shines. The vanilla flavor is not too sweet, very well defined and authentically vanilla, and then the strawberry part adds a bit of a fruity undertone to the whole thing. It's nice, but it doesn't scream amazing because of its relatively mild flavor. Very pleasant and long lasting though!

Rating: 6 - Aruff!

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!

Baked Ice Cream Kit Kat

So this I believe marks the first Japanese exclusive Kit Kat flavor I've had and boy is it a flavor. For those who don't know Japan has tons of exclusive Kit Kats. It's actually not fair. If I knew this I would've gone back in time to tell mama wolf to swim to Japan before having me but nooo, that's an impossibility. So it's still possible to get them here, but it's more inconvenient for sure. I'm interested to see how they get an ice cream flavor in this, and you can bake them! Luckily Japan Crate provided two so I will be trying one as is and one baked.