Glico Apple Custard Pretz

Pretz are to pretzels as Japanese KitKats are to candy bars. They're the bold adventurers of the pretzel flavor world and come up with more provocative flavors than their more popular cousin and rival, Pocky. Pocky is hamstrung to a certain extent by the fact that it's distinguishing feature is a coating of chocolate or chocolate-like substances. That means that it is hard to develop savory flavors for it. Pretz, which is unfettered in this regard, can prance about nakedly in any environment it chooses - sweet, savory, bold, weak, vegetable, fruit, etc.

The naked Pretz in this case comes with sweet flavorings. These options, though possible in the pretzel world, tend to be relatively rare without the inclusion of coatings. Besides this apple custard variety, there is also a strawberry one and the remainder of the family is showing its stuff in meaty, fishy, savory options like takoyaki, okonomiyaki, wasabi, and mentaiko. Those are perhaps their best turns. The more "mundane" options are buttered potato, pizza, tomato, and "salad".

Looking back, I was surprised to see that I had reviewed 10 varieties of Pretz before, and I liked every single one of them. It caught me off guard because I don't really seek it out or consider it all that interesting. Further inspection revealed that most of the flavors I tried were somehow "weird" and no longer available. I should be more impressed with the brand, but like a woman with a great boyfriend that she somehow manages to take for granted, I simply did not notice. I'm sorry Pretz. I will try to do better by you.

I can say that particularly now because this flavor keeps the batting record for the brand intact. I really liked these. Though the smell was slightly funky and off-putting, the taste was surprisingly good. There is a first hit of very faint custard followed by a salty apple flavor. As you crunch your crispy, fresh pretzel stick, the apple gets stronger and it takes on a more astringent apple cider flavor. It fades away just a bit as you finish off a stick.

It's not out of the question that one would find the apple portion of this overbearing or the mix of salt and sweet unappealing. Personally, I sometimes salt apples when I eat them anyway so this is a natural pairing for me. The custard element is relatively subdued and tends to lend a richness and balancing flavor rather than a strong element, so don't expect too much on that front. For me though, this really "worked" and I'd buy it again.

Pure Love Gummy

If you asked someone what "love" tastes like, the answers you're going to get will vary wildly based on the age, gender, and maturity level of the object of your question. Personally, even thinking about what a feeling tastes like sounds like about as warped a case of synesthesia as one could encounter, but I'm willing to play along a little.

This gummy candy was released as part of a promotional campaign in which one could win a date on a white horse with a "prince". By "prince", they mean some smiling dork in a weird costume and by "white horse", they mean a carriage being pulled by one. The winner of the contest could have an awkward encounter and some inane small talk about apple pies with the actor who pretended to be an object of romantic desire. 

Why are apple pies coming into the mix? Well, it appears that "love" tastes like apple. When I bought this package of gummy candy at Nijiya market (for $2.19/206 yen), I didn't know what they were going to taste like and the clerk we asked said she didn't know either. If I had thought for a second, or used some other part of my brain, I would have looked at the ingredients list which helpfully lists "apple juice" among the many chemicals and sugars used to create these vaguely heart-shaped blobs.

When I opened the packet, still oblivious to the composition of the contents, I thought they smelled like super strong pear, but the flavor was much more clearly apple. In fact, it's not just apple, but double strength applesauce flavor with a citric acid bite on the end. Though I like apples in general, these are a bit too strong for me. I also like Pure gummy candy quite a lot, but this one absolutely comes in as the least enjoyable one I've ever had. 

I'm sorry, Kanro, but love definitely doesn't taste like apple to me. In fact, I'd much rather it tasted like orange. If there is any balance in the universe, come next setsubun, there will be a "hate" candy to represent the yang to the love candy's ying. I'm voting that hate taste like the darkest of dark cherry that they can get their hands on, but I'm guessing they'd go for something like durian. 

Pure Gummy Apple Ginger Ale

This flavor of gummy is part of Pure's "wild pure" line. The thing that makes them "wild", apparently, is the kooky notion of including two different flavors rather than one. Apparently the people at Kanro (which makes the Pure gummy line) live a very sheltered existence.

I spied this out of the corner of my eye just as I was checking out at a Lawson 100. I didn't get a good look at the package before grabbing it and slapping it down on the counter and I thought it said "Apple Ginger". I missed the "Ale" part and probably wouldn't have opted to buy it had I known. It's not that I dislike ginger ale. In fact, I really like the drink but my experience with it in candy is that it tastes like flat, stale soda rather than a delightful bubbly concoction associated with dryness and our neighbors in the great white north. Still, I'd spent my 100 yen ($1.30) and now I was going to chew it up regardless of my mistake.

The picture above is the contents of the entire bag (46 grams/1.6 oz.). Each candy has collagen (good for your skin) and Vitamin C (good for what ails you) and provides 12.3 calories. This is a good candy to have around for a flavorful bite or two and, even for a gummy/gummi, doesn't stick too badly to your teeth.

When I opened the bag, it smelled rather intensely of fake apple flavoring. In fact, it reminded me of rotting apples sitting in a hot kitchen, a scent I can identify with after the long and oppressive Tokyo summer. The scent of the actual candy wasn't as strong as the air released when the bag's seal was broken, but it still smells like fermented applesauce. Pure gummy candies are covered in citric acid powder to give them a sour bite and that was present here, though it was masked to a great extent by the relatively strong apple flavor with liberal amounts of ginger. There's also an intense perfumey kick at the end of the bite which is elevated by the tangy powder.

I had mixed feelings about this. I like the texture of the gummy, which is slightly chewy and firmer than European or American gummy candies. I also like the general flavor balance and the citric acid powder on the outside. The fact that these aren't incredibly sugary is a bonus, but ultimately the apple flavor itself was just too overpowering for my tastes. It's a good candy on the whole, but probably not for everyone.

Luna Winter Apple with lemon and ginger yogurt

The Japanese are big into seasonal anything, so I'm guessing there is some special significance to these being "winter apples". I doubt, however, that my taste buds will know the difference. They're not exactly the most refined papillae out there, after all, but I also doubt that a 100 yen ($1.20) carton of yogurt requires a greatly refined palate.

I found this yogurt at Lawson 100 shop, but I'm sure it can be found in supermarkets and other convenience stores. I'm not a huge fan of apple treats, or even relatively healthy things like yogurt, but the inclusion of ginger and lemon made the idea of this more attractive to me. I also liked the fact that it's only 69 calories for 120 grams (4.2 oz.). It also helps that it is made by Luna, maker of many delicious yogurt offerings in Japan.

The yogurt smells like apples, which is no surprise. There is a generous amount of small, nicely firm apple chunks and they are liberally seasoned with lemon and carry a nice hint of ginger as well. I liked the fact that the fruit was substantial enough that you could actually chew the little apple pieces, but not so big that you felt they hadn't cut them up enough. The yogurt is a little runny and also a bit sweeter than I'd like. I think that is because this uses Sucralose artificial sweetener and it can pack a harder punch. However, I'm sure it is what keeps the calories down.

I'm rather torn about this one because I thought it was fine, but I'm not sure that I'd buy it again. The main issues I have with it is that the lemon and ginger is a little too intense in a way which  makes it seem almost "perfumey" and it is a bit too sweet. That being said, as a run-of-the-mill fruit yogurt option, this is certainly fine. However, given a choice between this and the "Apple Pie" Night-time Sweets yogurt, I'd take the latter any day. It has a better sweetness balance, the cinnamon works well in it and has the same number of calories as this ginger and lemon apple yogurt.

Lotte Frutio Gum

I've written before that I'm not a big consumer of gum, but that has since changed. I'm not sure why, but now I find myself subscribing to "Chewing Magazine" and wanting to walk around my neighborhood like a well-mannered cow working its cud. This image can be further enhanced by the fact that chewing sugar-free gum (especially that made with Xylitol) has some unfortunate side effects that may contribute to global warming. I realize that may provide an insanely sexy image for some of my male readers, but I hope the fact that I'm 46 will keep your hormones in check.

You'll note that at the top of the plastic canister with this gum, it says "Plus X". That isn't some secret ingredient. It's the flatulence-inducing Xylitol which is supposed to be good for teeth. We may all be going around leaving smelly vapor trails, but we won't have any cavities!

You can buy Frutio gum pretty much anywhere in Japan, though these larger plastic versions are usually only at supermarkets and snack shops. In convenience stores, you can generally get packs of individual flavors. I won't buy these plastic micro-buckets unless they're deeply discounted to about 399 yen ($4.76) or less. I got this one at Okashi no Machioka snack shop for that price, but I see these at markets for around 600 yen ($7.16) quite often.

There are three flavors and a pad of Post-it notepaper in the canister. The paper is to put your chewed gum in so that it won't stick to someone's shoe or the side of your trash can. The flavors are juicy lemon, juicy grape and juicy apple. Each has a nice candy shell surrounding its gum interior and all are so small that you'll likely need two pieces to feel you've got enough to work with.

The apple is the  most artificial tasting of the bunch, as is so commonly the case with green apple flavors. It's not bad, but definitely my least favorite. The lemon is the nicest with a good strong tang and somewhat authentic lemon flavor. The grape is pretty standard fake grape, but I liked it. The flavor lasted about 10 minutes tops on each of these, but that still puts them a cut above a lot of the gum in Japan.

The thing which makes me like Frutio (and I've bought it at least 3 times already) is that it isn't a mix of "mint" and fruit which is so often the case in Japan. The flavors are pure (fake) fruit rather than something which resembles toothpaste spread on a slice of fruit. Clearly, I'll buy this again, but only if it is on sale.

Luna Apple Pie Midnight Sweets Yogurt

A long time ago, someone once said that they believed with the release of new products in Japan, I'd never run out of things to review. At the time, I agreed, but now, I'm starting to think that that assertion is both a little right and a little wrong. Certainly if I want to try regular chocolate Pocky, chocolate Pocky for men, thin chocolate Pocky, and double chocolate Pocky types of releases, then I will never run out. However, if I'm not looking for minor variations on themes (or revisiting seasonal reissues of old products in new packaging), the market isn't quite the cornucopia of variety I once imagined it to be.

Fortunately, there are ways to branch out that don't include reviewing every minute variation on a theme, and that's to turn to other product types. This is why this yogurt is being reviewed. It's not because I'm focusing more on healthy snacks (perish the thought), but because this is a rich vein of largely untapped varieties for me. Of course, inevitably, I'll go through enough varieties that I'll have to find myself a new well to tap, but I'm not going to worry about that for now.

After perusing the wasteland of Seiyu's snack aisle, populated by Crunky "Nude" balls (sound more interesting than they look), imported Goldfish crackers, and rice crackers I've largely already reviewed, I wandered over to the dairy section to buy cream for my husband's coffee. Being a man and having a masculine metabolism, he can afford to dump pure molecules of fat into his morning brew without suffering dire fatty consequences. As I approached the check-out, I gave the yogurt section a quick scan and the wedge of apple pie on the cover of this small (110 gram/3.9 oz.) carton of yogurt caught my eye. Of course, I'm not stupid. I don't think it's going to contain actual chunks of apple pie crust since it's only 63 calories, but I am just dumb enough to be suckered in by the idea that it might taste like pie.

This is made by the company that makes the bestest vanilla yogurt in the universe, Luna. I like the fact that this is marketed as "Midnight Sweets" and has a design meant to elicit images of dark creepiness. The advertising blurb says that this is good for bed or bath time and has fiber to fill you up and no calories from fat. It also mentions that a portion of the money from sales goes toward a breast cancer awareness and screening charity. This is the first product in Japan I've seen with the ubiquitous (back home) pink ribbon. For the record, Japan has socialized medicine, but mammograms are not covered by it.

The carton size is a little deceptive because it's only about 2/3 full. The yogurt also is on the thinner side, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. After peeling back the foil, I gave it a sniff and it smelled of apples and cinnamon. This yogurt is quite sweet, but it has a good mixture of cinnamon, apple and yogurt. The yogurt is mellow and smooth and the little chunks of apple are firm but easy to bite into.

I wouldn't say this tastes like "apple pie", but I would say it is a pretty tasty yogurt that makes a good snack. The prominent cinnamon and apple flavors were satisfying and well-balanced. The yogurt wasn't too sour. I'd definitely go for this again, though likely not as a late night sort of thing.

Tirol Petit Autumn Dessert Assortment

I've been thinking about the product positioning of Tirol (non-premium) candy in Japan and it occurred to me that they represent the same place in the market as Hershey's kisses do in the U.S. They're small candies that are individually wrapped and can be manipulated into a variety of flavors while still maintaining their essential nature. The main difference is that the Tirol candies are more sophisticated based on their more versatile shape, and have about 10 calories more per candy because they are slightly bigger. Being a Japanese product, they also are more elaborately packaged, of course.

I was drawn to this variety pack of autumn dessert candies at 7-11 (for 105 yen/$1.25) because of the inclusion of Mont Blanc roll as a flavor. All of the flavors have appeal for me, but it's hard for me to resist a sweet based on this chestnut-paste-based pastry. As readers of my other Japan-related blog know, it is my favorite item when I have access to a patisserie. Frankly, I was also drawn to the sophisticated package design and autumn colors as I trudged around in 95 degree F/35 degree C. lingering summer weather.

There are three types of candy and nine squares in total. The entire bag is 314 calories and each is about 35 calories. There is a huge list of ingredients since each one has its own separate listing but nice things like real orange peel, apple puree, and mikan (Japanese tangerine) pulp are included as are a lot of not so impressive things like oblaat (the stuff used for medicinal capsule casings), gelatin, and cornstarch. 

Mont Blanc Roll:

This one smells a bit like coffee, but I think it's a misleading olfactory cue. It really does taste just like the pile of creamy chestnut paste that is heaped onto Mont Blanc cakes. In fact, if it weren't for the difference in textures, you'd probably be hard-pressed to tell the difference between this candy and the real deal. If this weren't so small, the flavor may actually be too intense. The pastry has some other aspects with it to dilute the flavor but this is purely the taste of the cream. Still, as a small morsel (about 1 inch/2.54 cm. square), it's very tasty as is. The texture is soft and yielding, but not particularly creamy.

Orange:

When I cut this in half for a picture of the interior, it was a little tough because of the thick gummi-like interior. It smells very strongly of orange and the dark chocolate coating combined well with the sweet interior. Still, this seemed to have a bit of an orange Tootsie roll thing going on which I didn't simply love. I think this would have been a bit better had it been milk chocolate or even more intense dark chocolate. The orange flavor is the real deal though, and this was fine. I wouldn't buy it alone, but I'm good with eating the three pieces in this assortment and they won't go to waste.

Apple Pie:

This is exactly the same as the premium apple pie that I loved so much and praised in an earlier review. It's every bit as good as the original with nice chewy bits of apple, a strong hint of cinnamon, crunchy bits of "pie crust" and a white chocolate base.

This is a very nice assortment. In fact, it's one of the better ones that I've come across from Tirol in a long, long time and I would recommend it to anyone who finds the flavors appealing. In order of preference, I'd say that I still loved the apple pie best, then the mont blanc roll, and finally the orange. My husband liked the orange one best, so tastes do vary.

Mixed Juice KitKat (mini)

I vowed some time ago to stop buying bags of KitKat minis in order to review them. Most of them are simply not worth having such a large quantity of and it takes forever for me to eat them. With summer coming on fast (as it always does in Tokyo), I have to keep chocolate in the refrigerator or risk it melting away. I decided that I'd only try these oddball flavors if I could find a single mini on sale at a convenience store. This tends to end up with me trolling all of my local "conbini" for single minis on sale, and mainly failing. Frankly, I wish Nestlé Japan would either stop selling things in big bags of mini bars or improve their distribution of lone minis in convenience stores. It'd sure make my life easier.

During the Golden Week holiday, a week with a string of national holidays in early May, my husband and I took a very long walk and stumbled upon a 7-11 that had the mixed juice mini that one of my commenters had told me about. One bar was about 40 yen (44 cents), I think. The truth is that I didn't save the receipt or pay much attention. I was just glad to find a single mini on sale somewhere and opened my wallet and tossed money on the counter. I had also seen this reviewed, rather unfavorably, on Jen's KitKat blog. My expectations were appropriately low.

This smelled rather "fruity" in the way that I remember children's "tootie fruitie" types of candies when I was a kid. It's like an indistinguishable mishmash of fake fruits. I think that Juicy Fruit gum has a not dissimilar scent, though the intensity of the aroma coming from this bar was far less than with that gum.

The first taste of this was of apple. Note that the wrapper doesn't show apple, and Nestlé Japan's web site says that the flavors are peach, strawberry and banana. They also indicate that this is "fresh and sweet" and ideal for family get togethers during Golden Week.

The second flavor was banana. I really didn't detect anything else except rather sweet white chocolate. The ingredients list doesn't reveal anything about the fruit used in this, but it does let you know that the orange coloring comes courtesy of paprika. Note that there is no calorie information on my package, but I'm guessing this is in the 65-70 calorie range, as is often the case with mini bars.

This wasn't bad, and I kind of enjoyed the fruitiness of it in a nostalgic way. It isn't the sort of thing that I'd like to eat again and again, but it was an interesting sampling. If you're pretty open-minded about sweet white chocolate and fruity flavors (particularly fake ones), you might enjoy a nibble of this. I definitely wouldn't recommend buying a big bag unless you're sharing with your office or friends. The bottom line is that I don't regret having a few bites of this, but I wouldn't buy it again.

Tirol Premium Apple Pie Chocolate

It's been awhile since Tirol has hit a slam dunk with me. When I stopped by 7-11 to pick up some of their cheap (100 yen) 16-oz. cans of Coke Zero and noticed the box of these apple pie chocolates by the register, I was skeptical that they'd impress me this time around. My previous experience with apple chocolate in Japan was with Sequoia's offering and I don't think the Japanese have quite the same concept or taste for apple treats as those whose culture derives from Europe.

I'm very pleased to say that this one was a home run (and I mix my metaphors between basketball and baseball...I'm sure there will be a football one in the near future). This was a heavenly little square of apple delight on multiple levels.

First of all, the apple flavor is good. It's a bit on the strong side and some may find it artificial, but I felt it was not fake at all - just strong, and well tempered by a very noticeable presence of cinnamon. The texture of this is unique and varied in a way that delighted me no end. First, the square is riddled with crunchy little bits of "pie crust" and interspersed with chewy bits of apple nestled in softish white chocolate.

All Tirol premium candies are about 1-inch (2.54 cm.) square. This candy was 55 calories, which puts it in the ballpark of most of the premium chocolates. One thing which caught my eye as a former Apple (computer) geek (I'm fully recovered now... really... yeah) was the little white icon of an apple on the back. I don't think it was an attempt to copy Apple's trademark, but it did remind me of it.

These are available in a wide variety of convenience stores for 32 yen right now and I strongly suggest giving them a try. It is sweet, so I recommend having it with some coffee or tea between bites (I favored it with a very strong skinny latte). That being said, it is small, so you'll have it finished in 4 tiny bites. It's hardly enough to be overwhelmed by cumulative sweetness. Oh, yes, I forgot to say this was a Tirol touchdown (had to get in one more sports metaphor).

Sequoia Baked Apple Chocolate

While Nestle is grinding out new KitKat flavors as if the bar's consumers had the gustatory attention span of a 2-year-old, Furuta releases a couple of new and unique Sequoia chocolate wafer bars a year. Even though I have been less than thrilled at times with the Sequoia offerings, the scarcity of new variants always makes it more exciting to come across one. Perhaps absence does actually make the heart grow fonder, even when the one you're missing is the red-headed stepchild of the wafer-based chocolate family.


I found this bar at Family Mart for about 50 yen (55 cents). It's the same size and weight as regular Sequoia bars which is about 10 cm x 2.5 cm (about 4 in. x 1 in.). These bars are pretty solid, but the weight is not given on the wrapper. The package describes the composition of the bar as an outer shell of baked apple chocolate (including cinnamon), "milk cream" around the wafers, and milk chocolate on the bottom. When you open the packet, you can smell the apple flavor.

This bar is good on some levels, and less so on others. On the plus side, the flavor has depth and the texture has complexity. You can taste apple, wafers, sweet white chocolate, and bittersweet chocolate to varying degrees. Unfortunately, the overly sweet white chocolate flavor dominates such that there are only hints of the apple and bittersweet flavors. The texture is an interesting mix of almost fudgey or ganache-like interior filling, grainy sugary goodness, crispy wafers, and a slightly firm chocolate coating. Both my husband and I were disappointed that cinnamon did not figure very much at all in the flavor profile despite it being mentioned as a relevant component.

I liked this despite the indifferent rating I'm giving it. The main question I have to ask myself though is, 'would I buy it again?' The answer is no and that's mainly because it's just too sweet. I only ate about 1/3 of it for this review and I consumed it in 3 bites with a cup of tea. I could easily see this being just too sweet if I didn't have a beverage or ate more at once. I would recommend this as a curiosity to anyone inclined to sample it, but I doubt anyone will be missing it when it's finished with it's run on convenience store shelves.

Vegetable Mix KitKat

Naming this a "vegetable" KitKat isn't exactly truth in advertising. It does contain apple, carrot, grape, lemon, celery, green pepper, asparagus, Chinese cabbage, kale, and an increasingly diminishing list of vegetables and herbs. That being said, this really tastes like apple with an undertone of carrot. These are the only two flavors that are truly present. The bar smells like apple, and that is the dominant flavor, but the carrot comes through as a secondary flavor.


This KitKat is a joint venture between juice maker Ito En and Nestle Japan. The bar is likely flavored with the components of one of It En's juice varieties. I can't say that I've sampled them since I am a bit wary of Ito En after my previous experiences which ranged from "meh" to "yuck". I can say that there are quite a few vegetable and fruit juice combination drinks for sale in Japan and most of them favor the fruit end, just as this bar does. That makes the vegetables mere marketing tools rather than serious components. It's tantamount to pureeing one small, well-cooked broccoli floret and dropping it into a huge bowl of brownie batter and saying that the brownies now contain vegetables.


The advertising cheat aside, this bar is actually just fine. It's not stellar, but it is pleasant in the same way as the apple flavor KitKat. The carrot aspect adds a little more depth to the flavor profile and perhaps the overall fruit and vegetable combination mitigates some of the sweetness of this being a white chocolate-based bar.

I'd actually consider buying this again if the mood hit me. Mainly, you'd have to be thinking that something with apple flavor would be appealing, and that the texture of wafers would be good to go with it. There's something about this type of candy bar which makes it feel less heavy than chocolate, despite actually being the same calorie-wise as a regular KitKat.

This is also reviewed at Jen's KitKat blog here.

Sweet Box Apple Pie

Several months ago, one of my husband's students brought back a box of "apple pie" from Korea and gave it to my husband as a souvenir. That box had about 10 or 12 little pies in it and he slowly ate them. I had just one.


Fast forward to today when my husband and I amble down to the local QQ (99-yen shop) and meander around looking for band-aids and various snacks. Among the pile of snacks elegantly displayed in their original cardboard boxes and stacked at the back of the shop are these Sweet Box apple pies. The style of the box design as well as the picture of the pie on the box looks very much like the Korean pies that he got as a souvenir. Out of curiosity, and because he kind of liked the pies, we picked up a box.

Note that this box only contains 5 pies and cost 99 yen (about a dollar) and the Korean one had twice as many. The origin of the pies is China, but the distributor is Japanese. My guess is that these are exported to various countries with different packages based on their ultimate destination.

One can't expect much from this sort of thing. The best you can hope for is a happy surprise. Of course, I wasn't going to be surprised because I had the Korean ones already. The main problem with these "apple" pies is that the apple portion is so sparse. Most of it is "pie". And by pie, I mean a very dry, flaky crust, which is half pie and half cracker.


The smattering of apple filling tastes a bit like super thick apricot and apple jam, and is not very sweet. Because of the distribution, the first bite is mostly dry pie with the tiniest hint of the fruit. The second bite of filling is a bit better, like a tart apple, but there's so little of it that it's not worthwhile.

On the bright side, each 4 cm by 8 cm pie is only 63 calories. You're not getting much for the investment. I think these might actually be useful for pairing up with ice cream. The texture of the dry pie would probably add something to a sundae concoction, especially if you paired the ice cream with some sort of fruit sauce.

All in all though, these are really not very good. The pie is substandard. The filling is fine, but too sparse. About the only good thing is the price, and even then I think you could do better with your 99 yen on something infinitely tastier. I won't be picking these up again.

Apple Vinegar KitKat

This particular KitKat has a few fewer calories than the average one. Most of the other varieties are 110-120 calories for two fingers. This one is only 100. That vinegar must be good for you!

Yes, you read that right. This is a vinegar flavored KitKat. This sounds a lot stranger to us Western folks perhaps than to Japanese people, who actually have "drinking vinegar" which they consume for health purposes. That is why there is a picture of a refreshing glass of iced vinegar on the front of the box.

If you're interested, there's a survey about the vinegar drinking habits of Japanese folks on the excellent web site, What Japan Thinks. According to the survey, about 56% of Japanese people have at one time or another drunk vinegar. The biggest reason they drink it appears to be to relieve fatigue. Mind you, I don't believe vinegar necessarily helps with anything health-wise, but I'm betting that it probably isn't bad for you and there's probably a chance it's beneficial.


The packaging is interesting because they're using the same inner package wrapper design as the apple KitKat. However, this is a white chocolate-based KitKat rather than a milk one like the plain apple variety.



The bar smells mildly of apple. There is no scent of vinegar that I could detect. The first bite of this tasted like apple cider. I didn't have much of a sense of the vinegar taste until the second bite where it leaped up and tickled the back of my nose. As I finished off the first finger, I had a strong sense of apple vinegar flavor building up.

The surprising thing about this is that it's really not bad. It's not the sort of thing that you'd sample and think the flavors are discordant. The apple vinegar flavor offsets the sweetness of the white chocolate without creating a weird combination. My feelings about this are similar to the ones I had with the Muscat of Alexandria KitKat. That is that I think it's interesting and am happy to have sampled something unique, but I won't be craving it or buying it again. Once is enough.

Note that there is also a lemon vinegar KitKat on the market, but I haven't run across it yet. Both the apple and lemon vinegar KitKats are part of a campaign by Nestlé to get people to use chilled KitKats in summer sweets preparations. There are recipes for concoctions on the cooking web site. The apple vinegar recipes include one for "healthy ice" which is a frozen concoction including (among other ingredients) apples, sugar, condensed milk, cocoa powder and the apple vinegar KitKat. There's also a recipe for "refreshing mousse" which includes the same KitKat, tofu, honey, and yogurt.

This was also reviewed at Snack Love.

Apple KitKat

When I started this blog, one of the things I thought was that I'd now have a good excuse to sample all the various KitKats in Japan and that'd be just great fun. Now that I've had my way with a fair number of them, it's starting to feel like sampling them is a burden.

It's not that the basic Kitkat isn't enjoyable or that some of the variations weren't tasty, but just that some are so far-fetched that it gets increasingly difficult to work up any enthusiasm for them. The apple KitKat I'm reviewing sat in my basket of "for review" foods for over a month before I finally got to it because the idea of "Apple + chocolate" just wasn't something I expected to "work". I must note that the previous sentence is the most I've ever found myself putting quotation marks around words in one single phrase.

This particular KitKat is produced for charity, incidentally. Profits from sales of the apple KitKat will be donated to the community chest in Miyagi prefecture to help aid in rebuilding due to damage from the Iwate Miyagi Inland Earthquake. Apple was chosen as a flavor, I'm guessing, because Miyagi is well-known as a supplier of apples and Japanese "nashi" pears.


The apple KitKat is mercifully made with milk chocolate rather than white chocolate infused with flavor. The white chocolate ones seem to often be too sweet and the mixed flavor can be overbearing. As with all Japanese KitKats, it's a box of two packages with two fingers each. One package is 109 calories. The inner packaging is kind of cool in design with a bit of a pop art feel due to the posterized apple used as a graphic and the bright yellow and red colors.


The big question is whether or not you can get something for your charitable impulses if you buy one of these. When you tear open the package, you get a strong apple scent, but they otherwise look like regular KitKats. The flavor is actually quite good. To my taste buds, the mellow milk chocolate and the apple went surprisingly well together. The apple taste is very present, but it doesn't seem too "chemical". The bar is also not overly sweet. I rather enjoyed it as the apple flavor really brought to mind a nice, crispy, fresh apple. I would definitely rate it higher than some of the other fruit-flavored KitKats (like the Muscat of Alexandria variety), but not as high as some others (like Yuzu). Honestly, I could see myself buying this again if I was in the right mood.