The March TokyoTreat box of delicious Japanese snacks celebrates the coming of spring and the blooming of the sakura (cherry blossoms)! Peach and sakura flavours are featured, so let’s take a look inside this month’s box.
On top is the lovely menu booklet!
I’m repeating myself from last month, but I’m so pleased this is back! There’s lots of lovely information inside, plus a full contents list. It just wasn’t the same online, so this is a happy return and such a pleasure to look through while I’m unpacking.
You get instructions for the DIY candy kit, and they tell you more about this month’s featured snack. (Hint: delicious.)
My favourite part is actually the bonus information about an aspect of Japanese culture. They’ve even added some Japanese vocabulary to try out!
Anyway, snack time.
First of all, this month’s drink, Peach Coca Cola! This is a brand new flavour, only available in Japan. It’s such a novel thing that it even made it into the UK press!
This is a Sakura Shrimp Potato Rings Party Pack. Ten cute little packages of crunchy potato rings, which are very similar to Hula Hoops. The packaging is Japanese Hinamatsri (Doll Festival) themed too. I’ve had the regular salted version and they’re delicious! Unfortunately I can’t actually try these because I’m allergic to shellfish. However I will make sure they go to a happy home!
Red Bean is a very popular traditional flavour in Japan, and these Shimi Choco Corn Milky Red Bean are flavoured with the real thing! They are little creamy and crunchy corn stars.
Calbee Salty Split Pea Sticks look remarkably like actual peapods! They are actually pea corn snacks, and are salty and delicious.
Umaibo are one of my favourite ever Japanese snacks! They are crunchy corn tubes in masses of different flavours, and this one is Veggie Salad Flavour. I don’t quite know how they do it, but it really does taste of salad! Also, did you know ‘Umaibo’ means ‘delicious stick’? A very appropriate name!
A kenosei snack is a snack that has some kind of health benefit, and TokyoTreat includes one every month. This one is Ginger Tea Hard Candy, which is designed to help soothe your throat. After all, spring may be coming, but those winter colds are still around!
I’ve been dying to get my hands on Sweet Sake KitKats so I’m thrilled there are THREE in this box! They really do taste of sake, though not too strongly, mixed with white chocolate. Apparently they even contain a tiny bit of alcohol, so I’ve got an excuse to keep them away from Little C!
This Befco Sweet Soy Sauce Cracker Share Pack consists of four little packages of crispy rice crackers. They are flavoured with honey and soy, a delicious flavour combination. I had intended to eat just one while writing, but I carelessly tore two packs at once while separating them, so was forced to eat them both. They were so good I had to put the remaining packs away as I could have easily munched my way through them in minutes!
This month’s anime snack is Anpanman Festival Rice Puffs. They are white, green & pink rice puffs, and are salty and sweet. Like the Potato Rings, the package also has a Japanese Hinamatsri (Doll Festival) theme. I’ve not actually heard of Anpanman, but Wikipedia tells me he is a very popular character with young children.
Chocolate and kinako (roasted soybean powder) feature in this month’s DIY Candy Kit. The Chocolate Kinako Mochi DIY Candy contains tiny mochi (soft rice cake) that you soften with water and then dip into chocolate sauce and kinako. I love kinako, it’s got an incredibly rich toasty flavour, so this is perfect.
These are three little dagashi snacks. The Melon Pandaro on the left is a little melon-flavoured butter cookie inspired by Japanese melon bread. And yes, it is in the shape of a panda! On the right is Squid Jerky, a popular snack. And above are Puccho Gummy Hoppe-Chan Cherry. They are little hard gummy sour cherry candies, and the packaging, featuring a popular Japanese kawaii character, is very cute!
Finally this month’s featured snack, Sakura Marshmallows! These delicious little blossom-shaped marshmallows are flavoured with real sakura essence, and are meltingly lovely. They work very well in a cup of hot chocolate too!
Oh, what yummy springlike things we have this month!
I’m slightly sad that I don’t get to eat the potato rings (or the squid jerky, though that’s not as appealing!). But the rest more than make up for it.
The Sake KitKats are amazing, I’m so glad to finally have the opportunity to try them! I’m also a big fan of crunchy snacks, so the pea snacks and the crackers are some of my favourites this month. Oh, and I’ve decided that I have no intention of sharing those crackers, they are far too moreish.
It’s pretty special to get the Peach Coca Cola, as it’s so unusual and Japan-specific. I don’t much like Coke as a rule, but the peach flavour makes it surprisingly drinkable!
The sakura marshmallows are incredibly good; I’m usually not that big a fan of marshmallows unless they’re toasted, but the sakura flavour of these is really something else. Hmmm, perhaps I should try toasting them?
Anyway, this is a wonderful box, with a great Japanese seasonal theme, and I’m looking forward one day to seeing the famous sakura for real!
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Premium: $35 per month containing 17 items: 5 popular Japanese snacks, 1 party pack, 4 share packs, 3 dagashi, 1 anime snack, 1 DIY candy kit, 1 kinosei snack, 1 Japanese drink
Classic $25 per month containing 12 items: 4 popular Japanese snacks, 4 share packs, 2 dagashi, 1 DIY candy kit, 1 kinosei snack
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A different version of this review was first published on allsubscriptionboxes.co.uk.
