magboo candy and jewelryJapan Crate Japanese Snack Subscription Review and Giveaway!
Posted on September 22, 2014
Oh my goodness! I know It has been a very long while since I have written a blog post! 😦 Work has been busy, which is a very good thing, however, being a team of one means some things get pushed to the back burner. Unfortunately, one of those things is the blog. Many wonderful events have happened since I have last posted here, so I have much to catch up on!
This particular post is about another Japanese snack subscription service called Japan Crate. The company sent me a sample box from their service for me to review and, of course, I am not one to refuse free candy and snacks! One exciting piece of news is that I finally significantly upgraded my laptop! I have an upgraded video graphics card, bigger hard drive…the works! This also means one other fantastic thing…I can finally up my game on video editing and use far superior software! Yay! Oh my, oh my! I have been wanting to do this for quite a long time now. Learning the new software has been a fun challenge, so I look forward to making new and interesting changes to my candy video reviews!
I have reviewed quite a few snack subscription services so far. This is one of the largest, if not the largest box, I have received. The service does cost significantly more than say, OishiiBox, at $25 a month. However, shipping is included and one receives far more product. The majority of snacks in the box are full-sized snack items. Only the Grape Kasugai Gummies was a sample size.
Let’s see what’s in the box!
Popin’ Cookin’ Sushi by Kracie
Nerunerune by Kracie
In each subscription box, Japan Crate incorporates at least one DIY Japanese candy kit. This box contained two DIY kits as you can see from the images above: Nerunerune and Popin’ Cookin’ Sushi.
Sardine Crackers
The above three items are snacks that are in my giveaway! If you are interested in entering the giveaway, details about the giveway will be in the description box for my YouTube video review of Japan Crate. The video will be posted at the end of this blog post.
Hokkaido Potato Chips
Sweet Potato Cough Drops
Strawberry Cake Candy by Hayakawa
Grape Gummy Candy by Kasugai
Pocky Matcha Green Tea
Pocky Matcha Green Tea, unfortunately, was a casualty from my camera fail! I was filming my review and didn’t realize that my memory card ran out of space. The beauty of having an accompanying blog post is that I can make up for any video failures! 🙂 I like many green tea flavored snacks, however, some are more successful than others. I am happy to say that his falls into the realm of successful green tea flavored delicacies! The cookie stick biscuit has a nice, crisp texture and the green tea flavored white chocolate coating is wonderfully creamy. In other words, Pocky Matcha Green Tea was delicious and I definitely recommend it!
Chocolate Cookie
Cookie Chocolate by Kasugai was another video failure. Fortunately, this is the last of my accidental video omissions. This was excellent! This chocolate is certainly in my top favorites from this box! The chocolate was rich and creamy with a subtle sprinkling of fine cookie pieces inside. The proportion of chocolate to cookie was well thought out. This almost reminded me of Nestle’s Crunch because the scale of the cookie pieces is similar to Crunch’s rice crispy bits, however this is far more sophisticated. Cookie Chocolate has a much more rich, darker milk chocolate than Crunch. This was excellent and I definitely recommend Cookie Chocolate!
Apollo Chocolate
Chococones by Meiji
This box contained eleven snacks, most of which were full-sized snacks! If you consider how much you would spend to purchase these from a Japanese Market in the U.S., you would easily spend far more than $25! My favorites from the box were: Chococones, Cookie Chocolate, Kasugai Grape Gummies, Hokkaido Potato Chips and Strawberry Cake Candy.
Now that I have reviewed quite a few Japanese snack subscription services, it seems that there are several that exist out there in the marketplace that can fit your budget or needs. Many of the services include shipping and can be canceled at any time. Some even include small toys in the package if that is of interest to you.
As I mentioned earlier, if you want a service where you receive a lot of Japanese snacks then Japan Crate is a good option. Their website is: www.japancrate.com
If you would like to check out my video review, watch it down below! 🙂
Kracie Fishing Candy Review
Posted on April 12, 2014
We have another Japanese candy review! This is another crazy candy kit from Kracie, which is the maker of Popin’ Cookin’! The Japanese name of this fishing candy set is Asobo Sakana Tsuri.
Front of Package
Back of Package
Below, you can see the contents of the package.
Unlike other Kracie kits, this doesn’t involve actually making the candy. The candy is pre-made and comes in the purple package. What makes this kit unique is that it is a fun game that you can play with other people! The first step to play this game is to put the candy pieces in the clear blue “kiddy pool” above.
You then pop out the colorful paper board hooks, which you then use to “fish” for your candy. The candy is a gummy marshmallow and is shaped to resemble sea life. There are crabs, squid, seashells and fish.
The candy is artificially grape flavored and unfortunately does not taste very good. The candy seems to suffer from an identity crisis as it seems to hover in that twilight area between gummies, taffy, bubble gum and marshmallows. Since the candy doesn’t quite cross over into any clear category, the resulting texture is confusing. It is both hard, foamy and chewy. Not delicious, however, taste, as with most Kracie Popin’ Cookin’ kits, seems to play a secondary role to its interactive quality. In other words, buy this kit to play the game! The fun factor more than makes up for any lack flavor! Here is the link to the candy:
http://oyatsucafe.com/kracie-fishing-set-asobo-sakana-tsuri
I get many questions about where to get other Popin’ Cookin’ kits, so here are more links below in case you are interested.
Popin’ Cookin’ Happy Sushi House
Popin’ Cookin’ Funny Cake House
Popin’ Cookin’ Make Bento
If you would like to watch the video of Shane and I taste-testing and battling it out over the fish candy, you can watch the video below!
Takoyaki Candy Review
Posted on January 8, 2014
The next review in my Japanese candy adventure is Takoyaki candy by Meiji. This is a candy version of the popular Japanese street food. Takoyaki is a ball-shaped dumpling made with octopus, green onions, and ginger. A Takoyaki sauce, similar to worcestershire, and mayonnaise is drizzled over the top and finally sprinkled with bonito flakes.
Above is the front and back of the candy package. This DIY candy kit came with four packets, the cutest little white spoon and a brown plastic tray as pictured below.
When mixed together, the final result was a glossy, miniaturized version of takoyaki. In the center of the candy ball, I inserted tiny little octopus-shaped gummies inside!
I have to admit, this did scare me a little to taste this. Past experience has proven that these little DIY Japanese candy kits are barely passable as edible. When I took a bite out of this, I was pleasantly surprised! This tasted like a soft peach flavored Jello! The interior gummy was firm and grape flavored which contrasted nicely with the soft gelatin exterior. The caramel sauce on the outside had a nice, slightly smokey flavor. The sprinkles were probably my least favorite part, but not terrible. The sprinkles were more airy and chalky in texture than what you typically experience from candy sprinkles. All in all, I definitely give this two thumbs up! A Japanese candy kit that is both fun to make AND fun to eat?! That definitely deserves high marks!
If you are interested in purchasing this candy, I received this kit from Oyatsu Cafe. www.oyatsucafe.com This was something that I picked out from their website to give my honest review. You can also check out my video review on Youtube below!
I hope you enjoyed my Japanese candy review and I will be back with much more! 🙂
Choco Neri Candy Review
Posted on December 14, 2013
I sincerely apologize for the long delay in posting on my blog as well as making candy videos! 😦 Fall and summer are always the busiest seasons for me. I exhibit at several shows, work on an increased number of freelance projects as well as teach. I feel fortunate to be able to survive in a career path that I love! With that said onto our Japanese candy review! 🙂
A Japanese online candy company, Oyatsu Cafe, contacted me to see if I was interested in receiving some of their candy in exchange for making review videos. Obviously, I said, “Heck Yes!”. I go out hunting for bizarre Japanese candy finds all the time specifically for review, so this was the perfect match! I was able to go onto their website and pick out some candy that I was interested in and they sent it to me directly from Japan. I chose to focus on picking DIY candy kits, such as Popin’ Cookin’, since I find these the most fascinating to review.
The first candy I will be reviewing is Choco Neri by Kracie.
Choco Neri
Choco Neri is a DIY chocolate candy making kit. The end result is a sticky chocolate mixed with large puffed rice. The package contains three packets, a large mixing container, a measuring scoop for water, and two wooden craft sticks.
Package contents
You mix all three packets with a scoopful of water which forms a gooey mass of chocolate and puffed rice.
Choco Neri ready to eat!
Surprisingly, this tasted good! Choco Neri is one of the best Kracie DIY products I have tried in terms of taste. The chocolate has a smooth, sticky consistency and has a very distinct milk chocolate flavor. The soft texture of the chocolate pairs well with the crunchy texture of the puffed rice. The chocolate also has slight underlying notes of citrus which creates a more full-bodied flavor. I definitely recommend Choco Neri and give this two thumbs up! If you are interested in this product, you can find this at Oyatsu Cafe online:
http://oyatsucafe.com/candy-snack-food/kracie-popin-cookin/kracie-choco-neri
I you would check out my video review on Choco Neri, check it out below!
I hope you enjoyed this review and stay tuned for more bizarre Japanese candy reviews!
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