Calpis Kit Kat

I don't like Calpis. In part because it tastes like flat Fresca, but also because it looks suspiciously like skim milk despite claiming to be a soft drink. But mostly I don't like it because Calpis sounds like cow's piss and who would want to drink something called that? I do giggle every time my friend Miwa orders it though. And she gives me a strange look every time too. It's our tradition.

Usually I comment on how a particular Kit Kat is good but not as good as the real thing. But this time is different. The Calpis Kit Kat is a huge improvement over the real thing. I can say with confidence that I would rather have a Calpis Kit Kat than drink cow's piss...I mean Calpis.

They came in a bag of minis bought at my local supermarket and each mini is 69 calories. The Calpis Kit Kat is made with lemon smelling white chocolate. The chocolate itself has a nice mild lemon taste to it and the creme gives the bar a nice sour finish. Really other than the wrapper there is very little to indicate that this is a Calpis Kit Kat in particular. If you had blindfolded me and asked me to name that flavor I would have guessed lemon. Calpis has more of a lemon lime flavor to it. It's like a flat Seven-Up. But there was little hint of lime in the Calpis Kit Kat - more lemon than anything else. I'm not a huge fan of citrus-y flavored chocolate so this isn't going on my list of favorites but it was a decent Kit Kat. If you like lemon with your chocolate then I suggest checking it out.

Final Score: 6

Yubari Melon Kit Kat - Hokkaido Limited Edition

Japan is obsessed with brand names. Even certain fruits and other food items can be more expensive if they have the right name on the label. And I'm not kidding when I say expensive. A friend of mine tried strawberries that cost $10 a piece this weekend. I've seen mangoes advertised at 8,000 yen for one mango. That's $80! A melon from nowhere, Japan will sell for a lot cheaper than a melon from Yubari, Japan. The average price for the Yubari label is $60-$150. More expensive ones will set you back $200. The record price for a Yubari melon...$20,000!!! I sure hope it was covered in platinum.

The truth is that I never used to be a big melon fan. I would eat cantaloupe when my mom would buy it but too often it was pretty dry and disappointing. And I never touched the honeydew melon that was completely void of any taste that came in institutional fruit salads. But that was before I came to Japan - land of $200 melons. If you are going to charge 20,000 yen for something it better be good...damn good in fact.

Actually even the 1,000 yen ones are pretty amazing. It helps that my town is famous for melons. If you feel like spending some serious cash on a melon you can get one that was grown in a box so that it comes out square. Or if you're like me you're content with the round ones as long as it's so juicy you have to eat it standing over the sink (and they usually are.) I usually get a couple free during melon season thanks to my many farmer friends. I've even become a huge fan of Suntory's melon soda even though I've been informed that only kids drink it. Japan's melons are sugoi oishii.

That being said, I've never had a Yubari melon and because I'm frugal and don't think laying out a $100 for some melon is a good idea I'm going to guess that the closest I'm ever going to get to eating one is this regional limited edition Kit Kat. Too bad too because if they are anything like Tahara melons then I would be very happy to eat one. As it was the Yubari Melon Kit Kat was an okay substitute.

I got this box as omiyage from a friend who went to Hokkaido during winter vacation. It's another box designed to be sent through the post with five minis inside. Each mini is 66 calories. The first thing I noticed about them was that they are made with milk chocolate. If you are a regular reader of this blog then you know that I much prefer the milk chocolate over white so combined with my new found love for melons I was very excited to try this Kit Kat.

Upon opening the wrapper I could instantly smell melon. It smelled slightly artificial - like a melon soda - but it wasn't off putting. It had a very strong melon taste - more like cantaloupe than the green melon flavor you get with soda or other melon flavored sweets, which makes sense since Yubari melons are very similar to cantaloupes with an orange flesh rather than a green one. The chocolate has only a very slight melon flavor so I assume most of it is concentrated in the creme. I did note that the chocolate was nice and creamy in these bars, much more like a classic chocolate Kit Kat. Overall the bar was not too sweet. It was just the right balance of melon and chocolate.

I'll admit right now that I ate all 5 minis in one sitting. In part because I've just started working out again and that usually sends my appetite through the roof and in part because they were so delicious. It makes me sad actually to think that I don't have any more left to try, (until I remember the four Kit Kat varieties in my kitchen and several more recently ordered via the internet.) If you get a chance to try these definitely take it. And if you ever try a real Yubari melon then let me know! I want to know what a $200 melon actually tastes like.

Final score: 8.5

Purple Sweet Potato Kit Kat - Okinawa Limited Edition

I've mentioned before that one of the best parts about having a candy review blog is not only that you have a great excuse for eating a lot of chocolate (not that I've ever needed one) but that people start giving you candy. I recently got three boxes of Kit Kats as omiyage from friends.

This was another "mailer" souvenir box that came from my friend Kaoru. Although she delivered it by hand rather than mailing it since she just lives down the street from me. She got to go to Okinawa AND Hawaii this fall and was kind enough to bring me back souvenirs. The Purple Sweet Potato Kit Kat is a limited edition from Okinawa because these potatoes are native to that island. It's not exactly a unique flavor as you can see here and here, but it is a delicious one.

The box comes with 5 Kit Kat minis and is designed to be sent through the mail. Each mini is only 69 calories, made with white chocolate. Purple sweet potatoes really are purple - inside and out - and this Kit Kat strives to replicate that deep purple color. It's not quite the same hue but close enough. It smells strongly of sweet potatoes and with sweet potato flavor in the chocolate and creme it achieves a nice sweet potato taste as well.

I liked it. It was another great snacking experience from Nestle. But other than the color it was very similar to the Roasted Sweet Potato Kit Kat that I reviewed back in the fall. The Roasted Sweet Potato Kit Kat was maybe a touch sweeter than this one. It's hard to remember the finer details in taste, but in essentials this was the same flavor. You can do different variations on coffee and strawberry but there doesn't seem to be much to do with sweet potatoes. Maybe throw in some cinnamon and nutmeg and call it sweet potato pie? It makes me more confident than ever that I made the right decision not to buy the other sweet potato regional limited edition.

But despite the repeat in flavor it was one that I really liked so I don't think I'll have any problem finishing these off. Thanks again Kaoru for the great omiyage!

Final Score: 8

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

A Random Combination

I know the last time I had some mouth watering fudge I thought, "you know what would go with this? Some Camembert cheese!" Oh wait, that wasn't me, that was Nestle. I found this in a Lawson's in Aso and was so confused by the random pairing of Camembert and Fudge that I wasn't even sure that I was reading it right.

"Do you think this is cheese flavored Kit Kats or Kit Kat shaped cheese?" I asked my friend.

Turns out it was Fudge Kit Kats and Kit Kat shaped blobs of dehydrated cheese flavored sticks claiming to be Camembert. It might say "The Excellent" on the package but that would be false advertising. I'm not saying that cheese and chocolate can't go together (hello chocolate cheesecake!) but Japan has this weird thing about putting the wrong kinds of cheese with chocolate like the cheddar cheese chocolate I tried at 100% Chocolate Cafe in Tokyo.

It was, however, a good excuse to have some more Fudge Kit Kats. I just wish I could have had more of the chocolate and less of the fake cheese.

Milk Coffee Kit Kat

I've tried the Espresso Coffee Kit Kat, Tiramisu Kit Kat, Cafe Latte Kit Kat and now comes the Milk Coffee Kit Kat. That makes four. Four! I have tried four coffee flavored Kit Kats in the nine months I have been buying and blogging Kit Kats. It must be hard to keep up the pace they do releasing new flavors all the time so they aren't opposed to tweaking existing flavors and re-releasing them. But as long as they stick with the more delicious ones and don't decide to extend the Rose Kit Kat into a longer campaign of various flower flavors then I guess I won't complain. Because the truth is I like coffee and I like coffee-flavored Kit Kats.

The Milk Coffee Kit Kat comes in a box of two that proclaims that soon the cherry blossoms will bloom. Er...in about three months maybe. Right now it's time for long underwear and pocket warmers, but talking about sakura around New Year's is something of a tradition here in Japan. No weirder than talking about groundhogs in February I guess. Although I'm still not sure what Milk Coffee and cherry blossoms blooming have anything to do with each other...

Anyway, each bar is 100 calories. They are white chocolate with just the slightest hint of brown. They smell faintly of coffee, but nothing like the overpowering smell of the Cafe Latte Kit Kat minis. The taste is milder as well. The chocolate has a milk taste to it while the coffee flavor is concentrated in the creme. It's definitely delicious but it's doesn't scream COFFEE!!! like the Cafe Latte Kit Kat did. The problem with releasing so many varieties of what is essentially the same flavor is that I become more critical because I have something to compare it with. The Milk Coffee Kit Kat is a great snack and goes nicely with a cup of coffee but it doesn't stack up to the Cafe Latte Kit Kat, which is still easily one of my favorites.

Then again I don't drink my coffee with milk. I like it strong and sweet so if you like your coffee white then you might prefer this coffee variety over the Cafe Latte.

Final Score: 7

Green Tea Kit Kat - Kyoto Limited Edition

I've reviewed the Green Tea Kit Kat once before. That one came in a mixed bag of minis and wasn't my favorite. This one came from a box of Limited Edition Kit Kats from Kyoto. Now I know there are different kinds of green tea. There is the really thick kind that looks like pea soup and is served in a bowl and tastes bitter but goes well with sweets. And there is the less thick kind served in cups. But please don't ask me which is which when it comes to these Kit Kats because I have no idea. I've tried looking it up but my Japanese kanji skills are failing me. If anyone knows better than me then please chime in.

Like the other regional limited edition boxes this had 12 minis in it, each only 69 calories. My friend Kristin bought these in Kyoto Station when she was here visiting me and was nice enough to let me have two in order to review. (Apparently I am breaking a tie in her office as to whether these are good or not.)

I wasn't a huge fan of the first Green Tea Kit Kat I tried. It didn't really taste like green tea and it had a very unpleasant aftertaste. This one, however, wasn't as bad. It smelled of matcha and it had a darker green tint to it than the last one. Despite the extra green dye it had a milder green tea taste than the last one. It was very sweet thanks to the white chocolate and the matcha taste was very mellow. It almost smelled more like green tea than it tasted. There was none of the bitterness that I associate with a bowl of tea here in Japan. But that's not a bad thing. You always have a sweet with your tea and in a way you could say that Nestle has combined both the tea and the sweet into one package. I wish it had been a little bit more bitter but I feel that way about most of the white chocolate Kit Kat.

Overall, it was a nice snacking experience. I'm not sure I would buy another box and I'm glad I only had the two to eat but it was much better than the last Green Tea Kit Kat I tried so thanks Kyoto for another delicious Kit Kat!

Final Score: 7