Adventures in Kit Kat'ing

Drum roll please…..we’ve made it to 30 days!!  We hope you’ve enjoyed these 30 days of life updates, and we hope that it has encouraged you to think about coming to visit us in Japan!  (*HINT*HINT*)  I’m not really that subtle…

So let’s finish this 30 day blogging challenge off sweet with adventures in Kit Kat’ing!

Sakura Matcha Green Tea Kit Kat: A spring time cherry blossom specialty (that is actually sold at the airport year-round for tourists) that celebrates a blend of two uniquely Japanese flavors, sakura and matcha. It was very sweet, and mainly tasted like white chocolate, with a flavoring of matcha tea.  The sakura flavor is very subtle and more of an aftertaste than full flavor.



Soy Sauce Kit Kat (Syoyu-fumi Tokyo Edition): This Kit Kat tasted very sweet, but not really like soy sauce. I'm not even sure how to describe it actually.  Guess you’ll have to come to Japan and try it yourself!



Royal Milk Tea: Calling all European tea drinkers…this Kit Kat is for you!  This tasted just like milk with a strong tea aftertaste.  Any tea drinker would savor this flavor.



Cafe latte Kit Kat: FABULOUS if this coffee lover must say so myself! This Kit Kat made from Hokkaido milk tasted like strong espresso. Soooo good! And it came with an instant coffee drink.



Hojicha-Roasted Tea Flavor Kit Kat: (Itohkyuemon Hojicha - Kyoto Edition) Hojicha tea is actually a green tea that is roasted to a brown color.  It is very bitter in flavor, and leaves your mouth very dry after a cup.  I am not a huge fan of the tea, but I actually really enjoyed the Kit Kat.  It tasted exactly like a cup of Hojicha tea without the dry mouth that follows. It was interesting how much of the roasted flavor you could taste as well.



Yubari Melon: This Hokkaido Kit Kat is also sold at the airport for tourists like myself. I am happy to say that James bought an entire box.  The Yubari Melon is a specialty melon grown in Japan’s northernmost island that sell as gift melons. This Kit Kat is probably the closest I will get to experiencing the taste of the Yubari Melon.  It tastes just like cantaloupe chocolate.

キットカット

A year later, and I am STILL excited when I find new Kit Kats.  I have a ton of new flavors to share with you, so here is a small preview of the awesomeness to come.  (Kit Kat party anyone?)

Sweet Donations

Being obsessed with Japanese Kit Kats becomes even better when the Kit Kats are supporting a good cause!  In the aftermath of the March earthquake and tsunami, Nestle released the Tohoku regional Kit Kat nationwide in an effort to raise money for disaster relief.  For every Kit Kat sold, Nestle will donate 10 yen to the relief effort.  It is very unusual for a regional Kit Kat to be released Nationwide, and though I had already found this Kit Kat on a trip to northern Japan, I bought a few to support the effort.



This bright green Kit Kat is an edamame (soy bean) paste in what I believe is a mochi ball.  I think this is edamame paste mochi, though I have never had Zunda before, so I am not positive.  I love the bright green color of the chocolate, and I really enjoyed the taste as well.  But most importantly, I enjoyed knowing that my Kit Kat obsession is going to a great cause.  Please remember that while the devastation may not be in the news still, the people of Japan are in great need of help.  It takes a very long time to recover from such traumatic events, and I encourage all of you to continue donating to the relief effort.

Kit Kat Mania

Matcha Green Tea: Tastes just like Japanese Matcha, which I would describe as a bitter green tea latte.  The Kit Kat is sweet, of course, but it has a very full flavor of green tea.  I really like this one!  This is a regional Kit Kat from Kyoto.

Candied Sweet Potato:  This Kit Kat is inspired by the Japanese dessert Daigakuimo, which is a candied sweet potato with sesame seeds. I like the actual Daigakuimo and the Kit Kats! These one's taste much more like sweet potato than the regular sweet potato Kit Kat.



Wasabi Kit Kat: This sounds awful, but is actually one of my favorites so far. While it's very sweet, there is a nice spicy aftertaste of Wasabi.  You have to get through the sweetness to enjoy the aftertaste.  This is a regional flavor that is available in Shizuoka & the Kanto area.



Cheese Kit Kat: European Cheese Kit Kat, to be exact.  I hated this one.  It smelled bad when you opened it, and it tasted gross.  It reminded me of spray can cheese, which I've never liked.



Kutsurogi Cacoa: PURE AWESOMENESS!  This Kit Kat tasted just like the center of Lindt milk chocolate truffles.  I was a huge fan. If you enjoy smooth chocolate then this Kit Kat is for you.

Kit Kat Awesomeness

Since my first Kit Kat post, we have found many new flavors of Kit Kat’s to share with you.



Almond Tofu: We found this Kit Kat in a little shop in Chinatown, Yokohama.  Annin Tofu is an awesome almond jelly tofu pudding that is served at many places for dessert.  This is the Annin Tofu Kit Kat.  It tasted just like the dessert, a very sweet almond taste.

Sweet Potato: We found this Kit Kat in the train station at Odawara.  The Kit Kat is very sweet, and has a sweet potato aftertaste.  I would have preferred more of a sweet potato taste, but it was still very good.

Marron: Marron is another name for chestnut, and is put in everything here in the fall.  We have been buying many marron products these last few weeks.  This kit kat was very nutty in taste, and used a dark chocolate.  It left a strange aftertaste, but not a bad one.  We found this one at a grocery store in Odawara.

"Kit Kat" translates as "Surely Win"

Before moving to Japan, I had no idea there were so many different types of Kit Kat’s.  The only one I knew of was the original chocolate wafers I craved after every “Give Me a Break” commercial.  I admit it.....advertising works on me!

Since moving to Japan, we have discovered that there are a TON of Kit Kat flavors.  I was taking a class about grocery shopping in Japan when my adorable Japanese grocery shopping teacher took me down the candy aisle and told me about the different Kit Kat’s in Japan.  I was hooked!  I bought a bag of Crème brûlée or Flan Kit Kat’s on the spot.  They were sweet and awesome!  Since this first purchase, we have been hitting up every 7-11, AM/PM, and Lawson’s we can find looking for more.

So far, we have been able to find a few, but there are many more we are still looking for.

Crème Brulee: Very sweet, and very awesome!

Strawberry/Banana: Good, but very sweet. Almost too sweet.

Coke/Sprite: I think this tasted horrible.  Especially the coke part!  The sprite part was better.

Aloe Yogurt: Tasted like sunscreen….ick!

Salty Caramel: Soooooooo good!  Tasted exactly like it sounds.

Bitter Almond: Dark chocolate with almond slivers.  This is my favorite so far!

Semi-sweet: Dark chocolate.  Tasted a lot like the original.  Very good!

Let the Kit Kat search continue!  I will update you when we find more flavors!