Tohato Matcha Caramel Corn

The kind people at Tsunami.hk noticed my penchant for matcha, so this matcha Tohato caramel corn was just one of several matcha products in the samples they sent.

Tohato is a Japanese snack company, and Caramel Corn is one of their best known snacks, along with Tyrant Habanero. The two product lines are practically polar opposites (except that both are crunch snacks); Caramel Corn is sweet and sports some cute packaging whereas Tyrant Habanero is spicy and features Halloweenish "scary" faces.


This matcha caramel corn was made with kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup), which has a flavor like mild molasses. I could smell the kuromitsu, alone with hints of matcha. It was a light and crunch snack, and I could really taste the bitterness from the kuromitsu. It went very well with the green tea flavor, which also has a slight bitterness. To balance out the molasses and tea flavors, there was a moderate dose of sweetness.

The finish had a bit of fruitiness, and it really reminded me of a sugary cereal (maybe Froot Loops). The texture was like a cereal, too, and it even cut the roof of my mouth. Everything about these was light and addictive, although they left a slight oily film in my mouth. Despite the film, I ate half the bag in one sitting. I'd advise you to either do the same or share them with friends quickly, because after only a few hours open (rolled up with a rubber band), they had started to go stale.

A-

Tohato Caramel Corn website

Pure Green Apple Gummies

What more can I say about Pure gummies that I haven't already said? Instead, I think I'll blog about my childhood penchant for apple juice. It was my beverage of choice every time I flew on a plane or rode in a train, from age 7 to 17.

Really, I didn't fly that often, but the memory just stuck. As a result, I've always associated apple juice with the excitement of traveling. I haven't drank apple juice in years, but even things that smell like it give me the urge to travel.


The open bag smelled like apple juice, and yes, I felt the urge to take a train to Montreal or fly to Disneyworld. The gummies were sour, and they had a nice, tart apple flavor.

As with all Pure gummies, the flavor was very authentic. Apple fans would probably really love these. See, even though I like apple juice and apples, apple candy has never really been my thing. Still, these were very tasty, but not my favorite Pure flavor.

B+

Pure Website

Calpis Marshmallows

Calpis products call out to me whenever I see them, but this is one of the weirder ones. These marshmallows came in a strip of four bags for $3.39 US, which seemed a little pricey, but just unique enough for me to purchase anyway.

Although I like S'mores and Rice Krispie Treats, plain old marshmallows aren't really my thing. Maybe it's the overwhelming sweetness, maybe it's the texture, maybe it's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's fault, but I've never been a big fan. It feels good to get that off my chest.


The marshmallows were round, about an inch in diameter, and smelled like Calpis. Unsurprisingly, the marshmallows were sugary and sweet and didn't seem too different from normal marshmallows. The package promised a jelly center, and there was one, but it was more like a gel.

This gel was the source of the Calpis flavor, and even though it was nice and tart, it was overpowered by the sweet marshmallows. These just ended up being mildly citrusy marshmallows, but they weren't bad at all. Everyone I shared them with enjoyed them, I was surprised that I didn't mind them myself.

B-

Calpis website

Chocolaterie Chocolates

My sister and her husband went on a trip to New York City and the surrounding area recently, and sometime between sightseeing and attending a taping of The Colbert Report, they bought some chocolates at a shop in Nyack, New Jersey and brought them back home.

Chocolaterie is run by Annette van Loon, a Dutch woman who moved to the United States but missed the chocolate of her homeland so much that she decided to open a European chocolate shop. I've done my best to match the flavors my sister and brother-in-law brought back to the guide on the website, but I could be mistaken.


Papillon (French for butterfly) was Fair Trade Certified, and it had a very buttery filling surrounded by a nice, bitter chocolate. The honey and ginger flavors in the filling were subdued, but it was definitely a nice piece. B+

Aztec Spicy Truffle had a dusty brown sugar coating over sweet dark chocolate, but the ganache was quite spicy. Along with the chili flavor, there were hints of ginger and liquor. Despite the sugar coating, the level of sweetness was just right. A-


The Brandy Truffle had a sweet and milky white chocolate coating, balanced with a milk chocolate inner layer. The filling wasn't distinctively cognac, but it had a very tasty liquor flavor. B

The Rum Truffle was simply fantastic. The filling was ultra boozy and distinctively rum, and the chocolate coating was perfect with it. I'd love to eat this one again! A+


The Ginger & Honey Heart was another nice quality dark chocolate piece. The ginger flavor seemed stronger than in the Papillon, and the honey gave it a slightly deeper flavor. B+

One of the truffles was a bit stale in the middle. I'm not sure what happened, but it had a sugary grit throughout and I don't believe it was supposed to. That truffle was excluded from the rating.

Overall, I enjoyed the liquor chocolates and truffles the most, and was pleasantly surprised by the punch of the Spicy Aztec. If I'm ever in the area, I would definitely stop by to try other kinds!

Chocolaterie Website

Mentos Fuji Apple

These days, it seems like Mentos are more known for their reaction with Diet Coke, but I can't help but remember the goofy ads from the early 90s (or the parody music video by the Foo Fighters) where ordinary citizens solved their problems with breath mints.

This Korean flavor of Mentos was provided by Tsunami.hk. The English slogan for Mentos is The FreshMaker, but the Korean website included a few others, like That's so Mentos and Be fresh with world best seller Mentos. If freshness is your goal, a fruity flavor like Fuji Apple probably isn't the best choice, but it's an orange Tic Tac situation: these are candies, not breath mints.


The candies had an intensely powerful and realistic apple juice flavor, but the strength did hurt the authenticity just a bit. Still, the Mentos were very juicy and tart, and it was easy to knock back several in one sitting.

These would probably please anyone with a favorable opinion of apples, and though I can't say for sure that they taste like the Fuji variety, I was impressed that these tasted like apple without tasting like cider. Still, I can't imagine a worse breath mint, so you may want to pop some regular Mentos afterward, just in case.

B+

Mentos website