Blueberry Kit Kat

One of the foods I miss the most in Japan is blueberry pancakes. I suppose I could make my own but blueberries (like everything else) are expensive here and unless I have blueberry syrup from Cracker Barrel to go on them it's just not the same. To make up for the lack of blueberry pancakes though I do have some pretty fantastic blueberry honey (also expensive but worth it) that I slather on home made biscuits, which for the record are almost as good as Cracker Barrel's. Man, I miss Cracker Barrel.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I was excited to see some Blueberry Kit Kat minis and that I'm still avoiding the Aloe Vera Yogurt Kit Kats sitting in my kitchen going on a month now. I found these minis in a mix pack at the 7-11 that also came with regular chocolate and what else but some more Strawberry Kit Kats. I did notice a bag of nothing but Blueberry at the grocery store yesterday so if you'd rather not have more Strawberry Kit Kats (understandable) I suggest looking for that bag instead.

Each Blueberry Kit Kat mini is 66 calories. They are made with a very creamy milk chocolate. That or they melted a bit when I left the house and turned off the air conditioner. It has been pretty hot here when it's not raining. Either way, even if it was messy, I liked it. They have a blueberry smell and a nice blueberry flavor in both the chocolate and the creme. It could be a little more but it's better than the Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat where I struggled to find the blueberry taste.

I'm a big fan of Nestle's fruit/milk chocolate combinations and this is just one more example to add to a list that include the Yubari Melon Kit Kat, Banana Kit Kat, and Strawberry Kit Kat. They do a better job of sticking to the natural flavor when they use milk chocolate versus white. Then again I don't like white chocolate that much so take that as you will.

Overall it was a really good snack but it's still not as good as some blueberry cheesecake ice cream! Especially in the summer heat. But if you don't mind a little chocolate melting on you then I would recommend picking these up.

What are your favorite blueberry treats? Muffins, pancakes, cheesecake, ice cream, jam? Are there better blueberry chocolates out there I should try? Let me know in the comments!

Final Score: 8

Strawberry Kit Kat Little

I'm going to be honest. I don't buy EVERY Kit Kat that I find. I passed up a Green Tea Kit Kat Bar last month because I'm not really a huge fan of Green Tea Kit Kats and I've already tried three or four different varieties. It wasn't on the Breaktown website so I assumed it wasn't new.

But despite having tried more Strawberry Kit Kats than any other flavor I still find myself picking them up. This isn't even the last one! I just bought a mixed bag that had more Strawberry Kit Kats in it (although to be fair I bought it mostly because it had Blueberry Kit Kats too.) The only thing I can say is that even though Nestle overdoes it with the Strawberry variations there must be a reason why...people like me keep buying them.

I am however getting a little tired of writing about them so this review is going to be short. Here we go...The Strawberry Kit Kat Little(s) consists of a handful of cube shaped milk chocolate "balls" with 186 calories. The strawberry taste in these chocolate cubes is almost identical to that of the earlier Strawberry Kit Kat mini. The main difference is that with the Kit Kat Little that flavor is more concentrated. I actually prefer the stronger flavor and so these consequently are my favorite of the many different Strawberry Kit Kats I have tried.

If you do happen to come across these and liked the Strawberry Minis and don't mind to have another Strawberry Kit Kat and you also don't mind cube shaped chocolate that melts in your hand then definitely pick these up! There you go, another Strawberry review in the bag. I'm getting to where I can write these in my sleep.

As some of you know, my contract is ending soon and I'll be heading back to Ohio - land of boring Kit Kats. I hope to keep this blog going however by ordering Kit Kats via sites like NapaJapan. What does this mean for the Strawberry Kit Kat? Well, it will be more expensive to have them shipped from Japan rather than picking up a bag while in 7-11 to pay my internet bill so this might very well be the last impulsive Strawberry Kit Kat purchase. Nestle will have to really reinvent the Strawberry Kit Kat for me to buy it again. (I say that now...I'll guess we'll see though.)

Final Score: 9

Contest Winner!

I had lunch with the 8th graders today and after a halted explanation in a mix of Japanese and English about this blog the always genki Honoka chose a winner for the anniversary contest. I asked her to write down any number from 1-67 (the number of comments on the contest post) and then give me the number. She chose lucky number 7. That means Kate you are my winner! Please email me your address at jenken04 @yahoo.com so I can send you your fabulous prize.

To everyone else thanks for participating! I loved reading your ideas for future Kit Kats. Who knows maybe Nestle can take some inspiration and save us from anymore Strawberry Kit Kats!

Bitter Almond Kit Kat

Nuts and chocolate go together. Beauty salons and Kit Kats...well I don't see the connection there but I'm not going to complain because Nestle and its latest partner Tokyo Beauty Clinic came up with a pretty good Kit Kat. I was so excited about this one, especially since the other TBC sponsored Kit Kat is Aloe Yogurt (not a flavor I'm looking forward to frankly) that I broke into the box before I remembered to take a picture.

The Bitter Almond Kit Kat comes in a box of two. Each bar is 99 calories and made with dark chocolate. Because of the way a Kit Kat is made - chocolate covered wafers - it makes putting whole almonds into the mix a little tricky. So instead they are ground up and mixed with the chocolate. You can see flecks of beige in the chocolate and the bar gives off a nice almond smell. The chopped almonds give it a more diffuse flavor and it's really the dark chocolate that shines through on this bar. I'm a big fan of dark chocolate so this bar was a huge hit. It was bitter but not too bitter and combined with the almonds and wafers it made for a great snack.

Like I said before nuts and chocolate are a no brainer. And dark chocolate is always a winner in my book so while this isn't one of the more exciting Kit Kats I've tried, it is one of the better ones.

Final Score: 8

Reminder

My anniversary contest is still running but it will be closed on Wednesday, June 16th! So if you haven't entered yet hurry on over and comment.

http://jenkenskitkatblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/contest.html

Yawata Five Spice Kit Kat - Nagano Limited Edition

Nestle does not make it very easy to get my hands on some of these regional limited edition Kit Kats. I travel quite a bit but I'm loathe to plan according to my Kit Kat needs. Lucky for me though I have friends who also travel and are kind enough to bring me back Kit Kats as omiyage. That's how I got my hands on this chili flavored Kit Kat from Nagano. You can buy the Nagano Apple Kit Kats online but this offering is only for those traveling through the region. My friend Marie happened to be there back in March and brought me back a mailer box.

The best part about this Kit Kat? It's not that it's dark chocolate although that is a bonus. No it's the name which when I plug into babelfish comes back as "The Five Conspirators." Not one, not two, but five different spices have conspired to bring you this hot Kit Kat. This is a candy bar for spies or corrupt Japanese politicians.

The Five Conspirators Kit Kat comes in a box of 5 minis (or a larger box of 12) and each is 67 calories. They are made with dark chocolate and like the Chili Kit Kat balls they don't smell like anything other than chocolate. The spicy kick is lurking beneath the surface. It's there though. It comes on slow, building in heat. I liked these better than the Chili Kit Kat balls though. The dark chocolate is a better compliment to the spiciness. I've also found that the Kit Kat Little are more concentrated in flavor so my sensitive palate handles the heat better when it's more diffused throughout the larger Kit Kat mini.

In the end I really enjoyed these minis. If you are ever in the neighborhood of Nagano then I wholly recommend searching these out. Or if not there's always hope that maybe someone will offer them online.

Final Score: 8

Cherry Kit Kat - Yamagata Limited Edition

From what I can tell the Cherry Kit Kat is less common than a Strawberry Kit Kat but only slightly. I missed the Cherry Kit Kat season last year but I did like the Sakura Matcha Kit Kat released earlier this year.

There are two cherry seasons here in Japan. The first is in April when everyone has flower viewing parties and gets drunk under the cherry blossoms. Later comes the cherry-eating season. Now is the time to get cherries. I think the cherry blossoms are beautiful but I much prefer to eat cherries and I spend a lot of money this time of year buying them. (Fruit is soooo expensive here!) When I saw that there was a Cherry Kit Kat I was both excited and wary. I like real cherries too much to waste time with fake cherry flavoring.

I bought these two precious minis online. For the longest time they were listed but out of stock but with regular and diligent checking I was finally able to score some. You can't buy these from the Nestle E-shop. You have to hope Napa Japan has some in stock or make your way to Sendai in order to try this one.

Each mini is 69 calories. They are made with white chocolate and colored a dark pink color. They have an artificial cherry smell to them. Upon tasting them, the chocolate itself has a slight cherry taste to it. If it was just that it would be too sweet to be good but the cherry creme between the wafers has a tartness that rounds out the sweetness of the chocolate. It is an artificial cherry taste to be sure but it's not so bad. It reminds me of a cherry icee but without the awkward red lips afterward.

Although I would rather have the real thing over this Kit Kat bar it was nice to finally try a Cherry Kit Kat. If you can get your hands on it then I recommend giving it a taste but I wouldn't go all the way to Sendai just to try it.

Final Score: 6.5