Yogurt Kitkats with Fruit and Nut Topping

There's a new flavor of kitkat out - yogurt with a fruit and nut topping. Based on the packaging, I assume it's for Valentine's and maybe White Day.

In general the kitkats with a topping seem to be premium kitkats, and the flavors are definitely better. I often find that fruit flavored kitkats have an unpleasant artificial sharpness to them. But these were really good. There was a tartness to the yogurt flavor, but not unpleasantly so. And the topping was a mixture of real dried raspberries, cranberries and almonds. I would definitely recommend them.

Momiji Manju Kitkats

Momiji manju is a traditional Japanese sweet made of red bean paste wrapped inside of a sweet dough that is baked or steamed in the shape of a maple leaf (momiji means maple, manju is a bun with filling). A friend gave me these  momiji manju kitkats a couple of months ago, and I am finally getting around to writing about them.

I love the packaging, even though it's not fall anymore, and the print of the maple leaf on the actual candy. It always feels special when they print something into the kitkat.

The flavor is a surprisingly accurate and enjoyable, a mixture of white chocolate and red bean paste. You'll need to be a fan of red bean paste to enjoy this one though - if you're not, or if you've never had it before you'll probably be wondering why your candy bar tastes a little bit like kidney beans got mixed in with your chocolate.

Momiji Manju Kitkats

I love the leaf detail

Cranberry Almond KitKats

I came across a new kitkat flavor this morning at the convenience store while I was paying my water bill. From the packaging you can tell they're not just going for a novelty flavor, they're trying to be fancy.

I love fruit and nuts in my chocolate, but I was still skeptical of these. I've been burned by too many bad novelty flavors. (And yet I still keep buying them. I must be a glutton for punishment...or maybe just a glutton?)

When I opened the box I was surprised to see six tiny individually wrapped sticks instead of the usual three packs of double sticks. The cranberry almond topping only seems to cover about 3/4 of the top. I'm not sure if they're intentionally giving you a handhold there, or what.

But despite my low expectations, these turned out to be real winners. The fruit and nuts really comes through in the flavor. And the texture of the nuts and chewy fruit pairs nicely with the crunch of a kitkat. The only downside is that these cost nearly double the price of a regular kitkats. While I wouldn't buy these on a regular basis (Not that there's any risk, they'll have disappeared in no time) I would happily eat them again.

Sake Kitkats

I spotted a box of sake flavored kitkats at 7-Eleven a few weeks ago and had to buy them. They're probably the weirdest flavor I've ever had (though thankfully not the most unpleasant).

They're coated in white chocolate with sake powder mixed into it. And they really do taste like sake. Surprisingly so. Something about the flavor combination made me think of bananas, but John thought I was crazy.

I wouldn't buy more than one package, but they're definitely worth trying once.

Rum Raisin Kitkats

It's been a while since I've tried any new kitkat flavors. I've let a few pass my by, but it also seems like they haven't been coming out quite as often. Just as likely I've gotten less observant, but yesterday these rum raisin kitkats caught my eye.

They come in the hilariously named "big little" size, which are basically kitkat nuggets. I really enjoy this shape, and think the serving size is just about perfect. Sometimes I don't buy a new flavor because I can only find the big bags at the grocery store and don't want to have to eat or give away so many.

The rum raisin flavor is surprisingly well done, and pairs nicely with the chocolate. It really does have a rum taste to it, and I suspect a kid wouldn't like them at all. Consider these adult kitkats.

Rum Raisin Kitkats

The "big little" size

Pumpkin Pudding Kit Kats

It took forever, but it is finally, really fall!  The weather is getting cool, the humidity is dropping, the first hints of changing leaves are starting to show up, and when it isn't raining the sky is turning that wonderful deep autumn blue. We've been sleeping with our windows open for the last couple weeks and really enjoying the fresh cool air.

It's been a while since I've posted any interesting kit kat flavors, I think there are less available in the summer (and I also hate every fruit flavor I've ever tried, so I've gotten lazy about buying those) but I recently came across some pumpkin pudding flavored kit kats in the grocery store. It seems like pumpkin spice is taking over everything back in the US, but it's different here. In the US it seems pumpkin spice actually means cinnamon and nutmeg flavor, and here they mean the real pumpkin, and actually they mean kabocha which is a squash shaped like a pumpkin with green skin and orange flesh.

The kabocha makes for a pretty terrifying looking jack-o-lantern on the packaging, made creepier by the pudding filling, which to me looks more like a lot of melted cheese. Ick. But the kit kats taste pretty good - the creamy flavors are always better than the fruit flavors. The pumpkin flavor isn't very discernible, it honestly tastes more like vanilla pudding, but I like them.

Grilled Pudding Kit Kats

Ok, I've probably said this before, but it's even more true this time. I found the world's craziest kitkats. I wasn't even sure what flavor they were when I bought the bag, but I could tell I needed to buy them asap.

From the picture it seemed like they were supposed to taste like they had been grilled, and while they didn't they were still delicious - a mix of vanilla and caramel. I couldn't read much on the bag, but I could read caramel powder 0.5%. But when I showed them to Raku she was able to shed a great deal of light on the situation. First of all, they're pudding flavored! Incidentally, I learned プリン is the word for pudding (phonetically, purin). And pudding here generally comes as vanilla with a little caramel topping which explains the flavor. But they were not meant to taste grilled, WE were supposed to grill them! Crazy, right?

Our week of fun was obviously the perfect time to test out this madness. First they start to melt and then the tops start to turn golden and then you're like, omg who ever thought of cooking a kitkat? To be honest, Raku and I both thought they tasted better uncooked. They were sort of difficult to eat (we used forks) and the melty-ness of it took away from the usual crunch they have. The flavor however, delicious! Most novelty flavors aren't that great, but I would definitely buy more of these if I saw them again.

More Unusual KitKats

I just can't stop myself when I see unusual kitkat flavors (except for the green tea ones, I never want those).  I've had a few lately that I thought were worth sharing.

The first came in a big box that I got to send to a friend in the US, but I took the liberty of sampling one because it was wasabi flavored!  It was without question one of the weirdest things I've ever tasted. They're bright green, just like the root, and although they were sweet and not at all spicy there was the unmistakable horseradish flavor.  I don't know if I'm crazy, but it always seems like I can taste horseradish and wasabi at least as much in my nose as in my mouth.  Does that happen to anyone else? Because of that flavor it seemed really savory despite being sweet.  I wouldn't seek another one out, but I'm glad I tried one.

I bought the next flavor just because the name was so funny.  Well, let's be honest I would have purchased it anyways.  Men's Almond KitKat.  I have no idea what that name means, maybe it's too strongly flavored for women?  I was also interested in this one because it came in the giant candy bar size rather than the usual sticks.  I split this one with Raku, and we both agreed it didn't taste like almonds at all.  It mostly tasted like chocolate, with a brief flash of coffee somewhere in the middle of chewing that was quickly lost.  The label says something about coffee too, but I can't read all of it, so I suppose that will remain a mystery. It was better than most of the novelty flavors, but nothing spectacular.

The last one we tried was also in the giant candy bar form and it was Royal Milk Tea flavored.  If you're wondering what royal milk tea is, it's something Lipton introduced to the Japanese market in the 60's.  It's pretty much black tea with sweetened condensed milk making it very rich and very sweet.  If you've ever tried bubble tea I think it's similar to the milk tea base.  I see it everywhere and it's insanely popular, though I'm not a big fan of it.  The kitkat was delicious though!  Raku and I both agreed that this was a real standout among the novelty flavors and I'd definitely recommend it if you ever see one.

White KitKats

Finally a KitKat flavor that's actually good!  White kitkats are dipped in a vanilla coating - there are even little vanilla bean speckles - and have chocolate wafers alternating with the normal plain ones.  I haven't seen them them in the candy bar aisle at any of the conbinis, but I picked up a bag of fun size ones at the grocery store.  The flavor is really good, and the coating isn't weirdly soft (maybe because it's not hot and humid anymore?)  This is the first novelty flavor that hasn't been really gross, so if you see them they're definitely worth buying!

Strawberry KitKats

I bought some Strawberry KitKats the other day.  (If I blog about them, it's research not just idle snacking, right?)  I've seen them before but never tried them.

The packaging and the candy were all a lovely shade of pink.  But the flavor left something to be desired.  They had a very artificial flavor, and somehow they were really sweet but tart enough to make my nose prickle at the same time.

Like the passion fruit KitKats it seemed like the outer coating melted really quickly.  Too be fair our house is still pretty warm these days.  In the picture you can see the bottom left corner squished, just from taking it out of the wrapper.

I still think the original chocolate is the best flavor I've had, but I'd rank these better than the passion fruit.

Late Spring

The weather has been wonderful for the past couple of weeks.  It's warm and breezy, and perfect to be outside most of the time.  I know that rainy season (tsuyu) is only a few weeks away and after that the terrible heat and humidity of summer, but for now I'm enjoying all the time I can outside.

There's a little park near our apartment that has lovely flowers all year round (the winter cabbages and camellias are both from here) but it has suddenly exploded into a gorgeous rose garden.

 I found a really fantastic kiwi popsicle at the 7-Eleven.  The outside is like a regular fruit popsicle, but the inside is a crunchier icy texture more like a snow cone.  It also comes in the blue flavor "Soda" and the super gross "Corn Potage" flavor.  (What is Japan's obsession with corn potage?)

Speaking on 7-Eleven snacks, I found some passion fruit flavored kitkats earlier this week. They smelled nice but tasted a little strange.  I'm not the biggest passion fruit fan to begin with though, so they're probably great if you are a fan.  The coating seemed to melt just a little faster than the chocolate does.

Besides enjoying the weather I've been getting a lot of writing done.  One day Raku and I were in Omotesando writing outside at the fancy Starbucks, but also having a great time people watching.  At one point a lady walked by with seven little fluffy dogs that were all the same size and color.

She must work for a pet store 

Then later out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw a big animal walking down the street.  When I looked up there was a man with a donkey selling flowers.

Not your average sight on a Tokyo street