Gudetama Orange Yogurt Hard Candy

If I was rating candies based on cuteness, this would probably get a perfect 10 already. Making a candy in the likeness of Gdetama himself? What a great idea! For those who don't know, Gudetama is a very lazy, possibly depressed egg, meaning he is probably all of our spirit animals at some point in time. And the flavor of this candy sounds very appealing, not too often we get an orange candy.

Well, it's a little disappointing that the outside of the candy isn't orange, nor does it actually have the Gudetama face on it. It's just the wrapper. To compensate though, there are lots of different faces on the candies. The bottom right one bother me the most... what became of this egg? Is that when he's hard boiled? There's only a very slight orange flavor from the candy, which makes sense since it's in the yogurt shell.

Instantly though upon putting this in my mouth I get a very yogurty flavor with an orange taste, and it's quite pleasant! It captures the taste of both things perfectly, the orange tastes perfectly natural and I get the milk tanginess of the yogurt too. After a while the candy breaks and I get this wonderful strong orangey sauce running though, I guess that would make this the yolk? It's very in your face and I appreciate that it isn't the flavor for the entire thing so it would get annoying, but that burst right at the end is pleasant and leaves quite a strong impression. Certainly doesn't make me feel lazy like Gudetama.

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!

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!

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.

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!

Christmas Fueramune

It's another whistle candy! I'm going to take a guess and say that fueramune means whistle ramune or something like that because I think I remember the pineapple one having this name too. This one though, is not any particular flavor so I have no idea what it's going to taste like. Pretty sure I've seen ramune soda but haven't drank much of it, at least it's been to long for me to have a sense of the flavor. But at the very least, we've got some fun Santa packaging and whistling to go along with the candy!

Pine Awadama Fizzy Candy Red

This may be the most enigmatic thing in the December Japan Crate because I can't see what it is from the wrapper, and all I know from the infozine is that it's apple flavored and fizzy. Though I did look up what Awadama means and it translates to "bubble ball." So I'll assume this is one of the many Japanese hard candies associated with soda. At this point I think there are more associated with soda than not over there. What is it about the two that are so similar? I have no idea.

Fue Ramune Whistle Candies: Pineapple

Yep, you read that right. Whistle candies! Seems like Japan likes to have a little more fun with their food, so they created these candies that are basically like Lifesavers, but you can whistle through the little hole in them. Cool right? They probably don't have these in America because American children are annoying and loud as it is, so this would make it even worse. Bleh. Good thing the alpha wolves scare them away every time. As a side note, there are actually 8 in this package, but I've already tried a few out of sheer curiosity. They're fun, I'll tell you that much!

Taberundesu-Hi

Yes, do not be fooled, it looks like a camera. A little weirder looking than the one I nabbed at the park one day to take these pictures for sure. But instead of dispensing film it dispenses candy. Not only does it dispense candy, but it's a fortune telling camera. These are the possible outcomes:

• Green: Things are looking up!
• Pink: Popularity is coming your way!
• Orange: Uh oh! Mom's gonna be mad at you.
• Gray: Something will make you anxious.
• Yellow: You'll have good luck tomorrow afternoon.

Um, pretty random outcomes, especially since I assume there's more than one of some colors in here. They I assume I have an angry mother then, but mine is nothing of the sort. Regardless, I guess I'll try to interpret what these outcomes might mean. It's also worth noting that the word Taberundesu means "I'm gonna eat it" which is a rather odd name to pair with a fortune telling camera. What were the humans behind this thinking? No idea. Strange creatures, they are.

Rapoppo Farm Sweet Potato Candy

More sweet potato! Not that this pup is complaining, whether alongside or instead of a hunk of meat the vegetable never fails to delight. This candy comes from Rapoppo farm, which I'm told is a sweet potato themed bakery. Just another item on the list of things I ask, "why isn't this closer to my den?" Doing my research, they have bruleed sweet potatoes, cookies with sweet potatoes, and sweet potato custard among other things. Now I'm a dignified wolf, but I would certainly sit and beg and do whatever for any of these confections... not that I can. Maybe I'll have to concoct some myself.

November Japan Crate Odds and Ends

Aruff! Hi everyone, this is my first blog post so thank you all for reading as I begin this journey. I have quite the appetite, especially for new and out there stuff, and like any good boy I want to share all my food adventures with you.

But before we begin I'd be amiss if I didn't talk about the Japan Crate that just arrived a few weeks ago, and that would be my first Japanese candy box, the November Japan Crate. I started off getting a three month subscription and we'll see where things go for there. I'm all for whatever gets me the yummiest snacks at the best value.

Now since I've already scarfed up most of the snacks in here I won't do a full review for everything, but I'll give mini reviews for ones that I ate long ago.

Kagikko Chocolate Key - This one's pretty self explanatory - it's a bunch of chocolates arranged in a key shape. Why? I have no idea. It seems there are a bunch of these out there all in different shapes. The candies themselves tasted exactly like M&Ms, maybe a bit smaller. I ate them almost immediately because nobody eats just one M&M. Cool idea to arrange them in a shape I guess, but I wish the candy itself was more unique?

Rating: 3 - Rrr

Rilakkuma Gum - Okay first of all this packaging is ADORABLE! I love how cute Japanese packaging can be and this one certainly made me whimper in adoration. The gum itself surprisingly had a ridge shape to it, but once in my mouth it behaved like any other gum. It had a nice cola flavor which at first was pretty strong then it lost flavor quickly, which is kind of sad. I suppose I'm used to Extra.

Rating: 4 - Boof!