Miso Kit Kat - Tokkai Hokuirku Limited Edition

When I think of miso I think of miso soup. Or I think of the disgusting miso glazed fish I sometimes get in school lunch that makes my hands smell fishy and my breath bad for the rest of the day. I don't really think of Kit Kats. Until now of course with the Miso Kit Kat.

Although I should mention that miso is also used in sweets. Just not in the sweets that I am a fan of. Mochidango is sometimes covered in a thick miso glaze for instance so the jump to Kit Kat is not as strange as I first thought. But still...miso?

This is another regional limited edition from the Tokai area. The red miso or akamiso is popular in this area. When we have miso soup for school lunch it is almost always akamiso. Although that didn't really occur to me when I was making my online purchases. Almost immediately after ordering it online I had two different friends email me to tell me they had seen it in Nagoya and Toyohashi (basically not very far from where I live.) So I probably could have saved myself some shipping costs. Oh well.

This is another white chocolate Kit Kat. For 810 yen plus shipping I received a box of 12 minis. Once again on the inside panel there was a very nice description of what I can only imagine has something to do with either the Tokai region or the production of akamiso, maybe both. (I really need to bone up on the Japanese!) Each mini is 68 calories.

It had a strange smell, very sweet and kind of custardy. I'll admit to being a goof and sniffing the miso I had in the kitchen and comparing. It didn't really smell the same but I don't usually keep akamiso around (I prefer shiromiso) so that might account for the difference. As I said earlier I was thinking more miso soup than mochidango when I ate this so I was very pleasantly surprised. It was very sweet and reminded me of custard although it lacked the ending bitter note that the Custard Pudding Kit Kat had. The miso is already sweet and the combination with the white chocolate made it even more so. In the end, even with ice tea to wash it down, it was a little too sweet for me.

Final Score:5.5

Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat - Koshin Limited Edition

So if you follow this blog you'll know that recently I realized that not only are there Kit Kats to be found in my local supermarket and conbini but that there are special limited edition boxes that are only sold in certain cities/regions of Japan or on the internet. So I broke down, pulled up the Nestle E-shop in one tab and Babelfish in the other, and ordered me some strange regional Kit Kats. This is not one of them. I mean it is a regional limited edition, Koshin Limited, according to the box, I just mean it's not that strange of a taste. This is the consolation prize I allowed myself for actually buying Miso Kit Kats and Soy Sauce Kit Kats. If I was spending all that money then I felt that I should at least have one box of appetizing sounding chocolate on there.

Despite all that the Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat was a little disappointing. Maybe I had my hopes too high, after all blueberry cheesecake is pretty awesome (and blueberry cheesecake ice cream is even better.) But the Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat failed to deliver. For 810 yen plus shipping I got a very nice box of 12 mini Kit Kats. There's also a very nice description of the area it's from on the inside. Or at least that's what I imagine it says since I can't really read it. I pretend that it says something about a lake and mountains and delicious blueberries because that's what the picture on the box evokes, but really it could be about anything. They are 69 calories for one bar. It was white chocolate with a very very faint hint of a blueberry smell. The blueberry taste was just as mild and if I wasn't such a conscientious reviewer and been looking for it I might have missed it all together.

I would have liked a much stronger blueberry taste. And even some more cheese flavor would have been good too. In other words, it wasn't a bad snacking experience but it wasn't one to write home about either. Definitely not worth the hassle of ordering it online but I also won't mind serving it to friends with tea when they come to visit. (Just a note if you ever visit me you will almost certainly be served Kit Kats because I have to get rid of all these mini packs somehow. They will also feature heavily in Christmas presents this year too.) Final score is middling for being a less than creative flavor without really delivering on the flavor.

Final Score: 5

Sports Drink Kit Kat (or lack thereof)

I despair of ever finding a Sports Drink Kit Kat. It was released this summer while I was in the States visiting family and even though I've been searched in Toyohashi, Tokyo, and Kyoto I haven't been able to spot one. It was a joint venture with JFA Dream Asia, which promotes football in Japan, and tastes like one of the many grapefruit flavored sports drinks available here. I'm sorry I missed it but make sure to check out the review at one my favorite blogs, Japanese Snack Reviews. And also at Tasty Japan and Japanese Kat.

Since I don't have a review for you this time, instead I present you with pictures of another Kit Kat lover - my nephew. He certainly knows the value of a good chocolate bar but he does still struggle with the idea that you have to take it out of the package before you try to eat it. He's a quick learner though!

Salt and Caramel Kit Kat Bites

This new Kit Kat is part of Nestle's Halloween campaign (you can see a smiley face wearing a witch's hat in the corner.) There are also Caramel Pudding Kit Kats out right now and I haven't tried them yet to see how they stack up against this other Caramel incarnation. It is odd to have both out at the same time I think, but I'm glad all the same.

This was not a regular Kit Kat but was a small bag of Kit Kat bites. I would have preferred the normal fingers but overall the taste wasn't affected by the size or shape. Nope, I think fingers or not they were pretty tasty. Downright delicious actually. Although with caramel it didn't take much work to win me over. I'm already a fan. But this went above and beyond. You get smooth chocolate caramel-y taste at the beginning and finish on a salty note. I think it was the addition of the salt that really made it pop for me. I was hooked. Along with the Kinako Ohagi Kit Kat, you might see me in the 7-11 across the street buying some more Salt and Caramel Kit Kat Bites.

Final Score: 9

Kinako Ohagi Kit Kat

It's fall in Japan so even though the weather is still hot and humid there is a plethora of autumn related products flooding the market. Nestle's latest Kit Kat is based off a traditional Japanese treat served during Higan, the three days around the spring and fall equinoxes where people visit their family graves and pray for their ancestors' souls. Ohagi - a treat similar to mochi covered in sweet beans, sesame, or kinako - is named after a fall flower called Hagi. (In spring the same treat is actually called botamochi.) If you remember from my Kinako Kit Kat review kinako is toasted soy flour and it's delicious. There's a picture of a piece of kinako ohagi on the Kit Kat box.

I've never had kinako ohagi and to be honest I probably never will. (I'm not a fan of mochi or sweet beans.) But the Kinako Ohagi Kit Kat hit the mark. It was milk chocolate and had the same nutty smell that the Kinako Kit Kat had. It's that nutty flavor of soy flour that I really like and it's concentrated in the wafers. In fact if you had given this to me in a blind taste test I might have guessed peanut butter first, although it's a little more subtle than your regular PB.

So that settles the kinako part but I was left a little confused about the ohagi. It wasn't until I read the back of the box that I realized that there are rice puffs in the chocolate coating to account for the ohagi. Their extra crunch is lost with the wafers, but I did spot one or two when I ate the second bar. Overall, I really enjoyed this Kit Kat. If I didn't have other Kit Kats in the kitchen and in the mail I would definitely buy this one again (I still might actually!)

Final Score: 9

Cookie Plus Kit Kat

If the Cookie Plus Kit Kat doesn't sound very exotic to you then that's because it's not. Cookies and chocolate were meant to go together and frequently do. But that doesn't mean this wasn't a perfectly good Kit Kat. It just meant that I wasn't nervous to try it like I was the Apple Vinegar Kit Kat.

To start with this box of Kit Kats was 80 yen more expensive than a regular Kit Kat, but it came in a cute box. For 200 yen you got ten Kit Kat bites. These are even smaller than the minis, consisting of one square bite instead of fingers. Small but delicious. And each bite is 48 calories so I had 3-4 each time without feeling guilty. It's milk chocolate, so I like that. A vanilla cookie, (similar to the ones I used to dunk in Kool-aid during Children's Church,) is crumbled up and layered above the wafer. This gives it a little bit of an extra crunch and adds some sweetness. It tastes like chocolate and cookies - a match made in heaven.

Overall it's very edible. It's the first Kit Kat that I could really see being marketed successfully in the US. However, that means it lacks the creativity that I've come to expect from my Japanese Kit Kats. So while four of these with some ice tea makes for a great snack, it was lacking adventure.

Final Score: 6.5

Next up I try something with a little more Japanese flavor - Kinako Ohagi Kit Kat!

Kit Kat Special Release Map

Turns out I wasn't even looking for half the Kit Kats I should have been while traveling this past week. There are special release Kit Kats for certain cities and regions only. Check out this crazy map that shows where to find what and when. I might have been able to grab three of those in Tokyo alone. Although we did manage to snag some of the Green Tea Kit Kats that are especially for Kyoto.

Click here for a larger version

Of course they are also available on the internet if I want to pay 840 yen with shipping. I'm going to have to decide here soon how far I want to take this project. Do I stick with the general release Kit Kats and shop in my local conbinis or do I extend my search to internet shopping as well. Part of the fun is trying to find all the flavors in different stores and coming across ones I wasn't expecting to see. It's like a treasure hunt. But getting candy in the mail would be fun too. And really can I leave Japan next year without ever trying the Soy Sauce Kit Kat?

What do you think readers?