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

Strawberry Kit Kat - Tochigi Limited Edition

A few weeks ago I took a trip up to Nikko where I ran across yet another regional limited edition. Usually I get excited about finding rare and hard to get Kit Kats when I travel but this time I actually questioned whether I should buy these or not.

Why? Well because this will be the FIFTH strawberry Kit Kat I have tried since I started this blog. This blog is still pretty young. It's been less than a year since I started on my crazy quest to try every Kit Kat Japan has to offer and already I have tried four other strawberry versions. But in the end I did buy them because you can't buy them online or find them in regular shops so if I was going to do it then it had to be while I was in Tochigi Prefecture visiting Nikko.

As a regional limited edition this particular Strawberry Kit Kat came in a box of 12 minis that cost 810 yen. Each mini is 68 calories. They are made with white chocolate and have an artificial strawberry scent to them. The taste is also artificial and this incarnation lacked the sour note on the end that redeemed the white chocolate versions that came before it. Without that little bit of sourness this bar was too sweet for me and because of the plethora of other strawberry Kit Kats out there this one was underwhelming.

I wholly suggest visiting Nikko but while there you should pass on the Strawberry Kit Kats and instead try the age yuba manju (a more traditional Japanese treat that is crispy, salty, and sweet all at once.)

Final Score: 5

Check out my other Strawberry Kit Kat reviews here:

Strawberry Kit Kat (circa May 2009)
Strawberry Cheese Cake Kit Kat
Sparkling Strawberry Kit Kat
Strawberry Kit Kat (circa January 2010)

Strawberry Kit Kat (again)

This reminds me of the enka song my friend Bob (not his real name) sings every time we go to karaoke. The chorus is mooooichido *clap, clap* mooooichido *clap, clap* something something mumble mumble mumble. Right, so I don't remember all the words (that's what the karaoke machine is for) but the moichido part translates to one more time *clap, clap* one more time *clap, clap*. So here we go one more time with another Strawberry Kit Kat. For past installations please see the first Strawberry Kit Kat, the Sparkling Strawberry Kit Kat, and the Strawberry Cheesecake Kit Kat.

The latest Strawberry Kit Kat came from a bag of minis found at my local grocery store. Each mini is only 66 calories but what sets these apart from the pack is that they are milk chocolate rather than white chocolate. So right there I'm a little happier and more inclined to like them. There is a strong but fake strawberry smell to them and the taste is pretty artificial as well with most of the strawberry flavor centered in the chocolate. The Sparkling Strawberry and the first Strawberry Kit Kat I tried had a sour note that this Strawberry Kit Kat lacked and I can't say that I missed it. It's a nice snack but I only wish it could taste a little more like the strawberries grown here in Tahara and less like an artificial additive.

And that's why strawberry flavored candies are not my favorite; they can't ever live up to the real thing. If I had to choose between a chocolate covered strawberry and a Strawberry Kit Kat (even a milk chocolate one) I would definitely go for the real strawberry. This latest incarnation of the Strawberry Kit Kat, however, is the best I've tried so far. And I look forward to trying Nestle's next stab at strawberry (right around this time next year if I had to guess.)

Final Score: 6

Sparkling Strawberry Kit Kat

It's strawberry season in Japan. Well, technically it will be strawberry season in January but Nestle thinks that December is close enough so we have not one but TWO strawberry flavors out right now. I'll be reviewing the other one later. Today it's the Sparkling Strawberry Kit Kat.

I'm not sure what is supposed to sparkling about these strawberries. The front of the box suggests something carbonated - I guessed champagne. And it did have some fizzy powder in the creme, similar to the Ramune Kit Kat, but it didn't really sparkle in the way I had hoped. No edible glitter or champagne flavored creme.

The Sparkling Strawberry Kit Kat is 99 calories a bar and comes in a box of two. It was white chocolate and pink colored. It definitely smelled like strawberries but it was the fake kind. The taste was also of the fake strawberry variety. The chocolate was a very tart strawberry flavor. It reminded me more of the strawberries I eat back home in America, that need a little sugar sprinkled on them, rather than the really sweet strawberries I get here in Japan. I prefer the sweeter variety so this extra sourness was not something I really enjoyed. The addition of the fizzy powder didn't do much in the way of making it fizzy but may have contributed to the sourness because I remember liking the Strawberry Kit Kat I tried back in May.

Overall, I give this one a lower score. It was too sour and there are several other strawberry Kit Kats out there that I like better. Now maybe if it had really sparkled...

Final Score: 4

Strawberry Cheesecake Kit Kat - Yokohama Limited Edition

I recently took a trip up to Tokyo to visit a friend. I warned her before I came that I would be hunting Kit Kats so she wasn't surprised when I insisted on going in every conbini we came across. Although a fat lot of good it did me since I didn't find a single one I didn't already have. I had better luck in the train station though. They had lots of regional specialties on sale for those travelers looking for some last minute omiyage.

A few of them I had already tried, like the Soy Sauce Kit Kat and the Wasabi Kit Kat. And then there was the Sweet Potato Kit Kat that looked similar enough to the Roasted Sweet Potato Kit Kat that I didn't think it was worth the money to try it again. (If anyone has tried this one and wants to let me know if I made the right decision that would be great!)

But they did have Strawberry Cheesecake Kit Kat, which although it is doing very poorly in my poll, I just couldn't pass up. They actually had two choices available. The large box of 12 for 870 yen or a smaller box of 5 for 370 yen. The smaller box is actually made for mailing to your friends, which I think is a cute idea. I know I like getting candy in the mail!

The Strawberry Cheesecake Kit Kat is a specialty of Yokohama. With 69 calories a bar, this Kit Kat is another white chocolate Kit Kat but unlike the other strawberry varieties I've tried, it wasn't pink colored, just plain white. This is similar to how the Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat looked. Unlike the Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat though there was more of a noticeable strawberry taste although I still could do with a little more cheesecake flavor than what I got. What little there was tasted more like yogurt although it did a good job of balancing out the sourness of the strawberry flavor that I've tasted in other Kit Kat strawberry varieties. Overall it was a good snacking experience. I won't have any trouble finishing off my little mail pack. (Sorry friends you won't be getting any Kit Kats in the post anytime soon.)

Final Score: 7

Strawberry Kit Kat

Once I started my little Kit Kat project I've had to be on the lookout for any new flavors. This means checking all three local grocery stores and nearby conbinis but also keeping an eye out when I travel. I found the Strawberry Kit Kat in a small store in Kamakura, a touristy spot near Tokyo whose main attraction is a very large statue of Buddha. We originally bought it to prevent fainting from hunger while on the Daibutsu Hiking Course. But we didn't end up eating it because there is this awesome cafe along the trail that serves pretty good curry (although most things taste good when you've just hiked up a mountain.) So we brought the Strawberry Kit Kat back to Tahara with us. But we didn't eat it there either. We finally ate it on the ferry as a mid-morning snack with coffee on our way to visit Ise-jingu. It turned out to be worth the wait.

Strawberries and chocolate is a match made in heaven, so my expectations were pretty high. It's colored pink and smells like strawberries. It too was made with white chocolate so it bordered on the almost too sweet side but it had a kick of sourness that saved it. Having it with coffee also probably helped. Maybe I need to make sure I have tea or coffee at the ready when trying any Kit Kat with white chocolate. Either way, the Strawberry Kit Kat got two thumbs up from both me and Erin.