Candy Japan Review

Ugh, I am finally getting situated with the school year again, so I promise now I should be posting more. Not as much as I did in February, but more.. I will get less busy in the winter, but then I might have practice for a percussion group for over 24 hours a weekend! How crazy, now, on to the review!

As you all probably know by know, I have a small (gigantic) obsession with Japanese candy.  There's a subscription for that now! It is called Candy Japan is a bi-monthly candy subscription. Twice a month, they send you "interesting and delicious" candies in an envelope for you to try.  They say to expect 2-6 candies per month.  This subscription is $25 a month, so about $12.50 per envelope.
The owner of this subscription kindly sent me their last July shipment in exchange for an honest review. 

Okashina Mizuame- See below for a more detailed explanation.

Coris Whistle Candies- I've hear of these before and always wanted to try them. You simply put them in your mouth and blow, and the magic of science produces a really high-pitched whistle sound.  I'm sure this would get on someone's nerves, but I liked it since I am really bad at whistling.  I think it was soda flavored, and I really like soda flavored things because that is kinda a trademark of Japanese candy.  Soda flavored things taste kinda like a bubbly soda pop, or Ramune if you have had that. 

Does this look familiar to you if you have read my blog before? I bet it looks like some Awesome Japanese Candy!  This candy came with three different packets of flavored liquid sugar (basically) to mix together and stuff. The blue one was soda flavored, which I love, the yellow was lemon, and red was strawberry flavored. You start out by mixing one of the packets with another one in the plastic tray. You keep trying different flavor combos until you have all of the packets in the container.

After all of the liquid sugar is stirred, this is the final product.  I think the main thing about this candy is that it is supposed to taste like grape at the end.  It definitely did! I didn't know soda+lemon+strawberry=grape!

A lot of Japanese stuff in general comes with free bonuses.  The whistle candies came with a little box with this novelty ring.  This may be a nice surprise to some kids.

As for the value of this box, I am very confident that these candies didn't equal the $12.50. But then again, shipping is super expensive, and you are paying for things you can't get anywhere.  So I think it is a matter of personal opinion if it is worth the money.  For a candy addict like me, it would definitely be worth it. 

Verdict: I am definitely considering to sign up!

July/August Skoshbox Review

I'm not dead! This past week up until now has just been work.  My only free time has been at night.Hopefully I'll post more often again. 

Skoshbox is a new Japanese monthly subscription box. Ever since dumpling box went under, I've felt this lack of asian stuff being delivered to me. The timing of this box was perfect! As you most likely know, I am a huge fan of Asian cultures. Not only do they send food and stuff, but they also send stationary, like fun pens and erasers! Each box also has a card with a description of every item. Even though I am not Japanese, this box still interested me a great deal. This box is $12 a month including shipping, and I think that is on the cheaper side of subscription boxes.

This box was founded by two close friends that have lived in Japan and the U.S throughout their lives. The two friends were basically surrounded by Japanese culture all the time.  They saw that access to a variety of Japanese stuff was not only scarce, but also quite pricey. So then bam! Skoshbox was born.

 This month's box came with chopsticks! I have a bunch of matching chopsticks in a drawer so these would look weird with them. I'm sure they'll go to use though.  Skoshbox also includes an info card with a tidbit of information about each product; I always love it when boxes have these. 

Elise Stick- This was a wafer like stick filled with matcha green tea flavored filling. I love green tea flavored stuff, and this was no exception.  It was a nice light snack.

Mini Salad- This were rice crackers with a flavor based of salad dressing! Pretty tasty in my opinion. 

(2) Umaibo- These are flavored puffed corn sticks. Umaibo comes in a bunch of wacky flavors! The ones included were relatively mild, just cheese and corn. 

Fuwa Fuwa Jelly- The Japanese sure do like their jelly candies! This one had marshmallow and melon flavored jelly/jell-o.  I thought it was pretty tasty, but it got really sweet, almost too sweet.

Milk Caramel- Caramel is always welcome in my opinion. This wasn't the best thing I'd ever have, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

Melon gummy Candy- I think I got this in a Dumplingbox (discontinued) once! Or something similar. Like Jelly, the Asians also like melon flavored things.  I drink melon flavored milkis (milk flavored soda, yeah it sounds weird but I like it) and ramune (kinda like a japanese sprite) all the time! Oh and the gummy was pretty good.

Grape Gummy Candy- Like the melon flavor, grape is used in most asian stuff. It was also tasty.  

Cheese Kibun- Cheese flavored rice crackers? Sounds good to me.  I love cheese and most things relating to cheese, this was a delicious little snack.  Very flavorful.

Suzume no Tamago- This literally means "Sparrow's Egg." Just peanuts coated in a savory rice cracker shell. Savory rice crackers can make anything taste good! I usually don't like peanuts, but I did like this.

Almondrush- This was just white chocolate with a ton of almond slivers inside. I liked it a lot, more than I thought I would actually. The almonds had a nice flavor and added some texture to the otherwise mediocre white chocolate.

Verdict:  Overall, I really like Skoshbox. I think it was worth the twelve bucks and I will definitely stay subscribed. 

Awesome Japanese Candy! Part 5- Kracie Popin' Cookin' Waffle Kit

Part four of my Japanese Candy series! This one is also one of the more complex ones, most of the Kracie and Popin Cookin ones have a lot more steps to them.I am still saving the sushi kit for last.  If you are wondering, I purchased all of these fromwanwan.fm/store, a store owned by a Japanese youtuber, MarimoMarshmallow.

 I highly doubt my waffles will turn out as awesome looking as these. 

 All of the candies in for Poppin Cookin have a bunch of packets, plastic parts too. You are supposed to cut the plastic part into more parts buy cutting along the lines. 

 First you mix the big orange packet with some water in the provided compartment and get this weird dough stuff.  It had a really weird texture.  Then you squish them into a weird heart shaped waffle mold to get the waffles!

 I am most definietly not an expert in this. 

 Then you make the blueberries. You make them with the purple packet and some water. Then you pour your liquid in the blueberry molds and wait a couple seconds. I added too much water so, as you would expect, the blueberries weren't very solid. 

 More toppings! You make some whip cream and some sort of syrup with this more powders and more water! The picture above shows the whipped cream.  

Yeah, not nearly as good as the one on the packaging, but whatever.

Taste Test

The waffles- These weren't too great, but they weren't bad. I thought they tasted a little bit like soggy bread, but not really. It is really hard to describe.

The blueberries- These tasted like blueberry flavoring, which isn't' too bad in my book.

Syrup- This tasted kinda like normal strawberry syrup, yum!

Whipped cream- This actually tasted like whipped cream, which creeped me out to some extent.

Everything together- Pretty good! Really sweet and waffles! I would say most of the poppin cooking kits are more fun to make than eat, but they aren't bad to eat either!

Awesome Japanese Candy! Part 4- Meiji Pizza Kit

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile  I've been pretty busy. Part four of my Japanese Candy series! This one is also one of the more simple ones. I am saving the best for last (the candy sushi kit).  If you are wondering, I purchased all of these fromwanwan.fm/store, a store owned by a Japanese youtuber, MarimoMarshmallow.

 This mascot dude is on a couple other Meiji Products. 

 See, this one is pretty simple. Only five packets of stuff!

 First you gotta combine the blue and yellow packets together to make the dough.  The dough itself tased like lemon-lime soda, a lot of Japanese candies are flavored like that. I think it was supposed to taste like Ramune. Then you put it in the tray and make the dough into a circle. NOTE: This kit makes two pizzas, but I only showed one because there's no point in showing the other identical one.

 Then you mix some water with the red packet to make the sauce! At first it was really liquidy. After a couple of minutes, it got all jello-like.  It didn't taste like much on it's own really. 

Finally, you add the green packet full of "cheese" and the gummy toppings! At first the cheese was like a powder, but when you added it to the sauce, it crackled and made itself look like melted cheese. I thought that was pretty cool.  And apparently the Japanese like to put basil leaves and prawns on their normal pizza.

Taste Test

This tasted pretty good. It was mostly lemon soda/ramune flavored.  But that is not a bad thing at all.  The gummies tasted like a generic gummy, and the cheese had more lemon flavor. The cheese also crackled like pop rocks in your mouth. Overall, I liked making this set and eating it!  

June Jungle Stand Tasting BAR Review

I am really liking. The Jungle Stand.  It is a tasting "BAR" that offers a unique tasting experience. Each BAR is priced at $9.92 a month, and I think that price is fair since I have never felt ripped off by them. This is my third box and I think this was my favorite box from them so far. . This box is really great for having fun with family and/or friends (party hard!). 

This month's theme was Taste of Taiwan. I was psyched about this theme. You all probably know now that I love asian food.  It is just way better than all other foods in my opinion. I probably sound super biased right now.

Sachima- This was fantastic. It was kinda like a rice krispy treat, but was really light and melted in your mouth. This had a strong caramel flavor.  But I really can't get over how great this was.  I am definitely buying it the next time I make a trip to the ole asian market.

Rice Cracker- I've gotten this in the Skoshbox Promo Box, and a past dumplingbox. It is pretty much a classic.  But this one is more sweet than savory.

Sesame Pastry- This was very similar to the banh cam I made recently (recipe here, it was really good. If you are confused on the name, just call them sesame balls). Except my banh cam had a bean filling, this was very airy in the middle.  But the flavor on the outside was the same. I also really liked the texture of this, very light.

Squid- I love squid! I eat squid jerky all the time with a spicy sauce. This tasted good, once you got past the fishy taste.  It is kinda sweet tasting, that's why I usually eat it with a spicy sauce. 

Pumpkin Cake- I got two of these, but I'm not complaining because they were awesome. The pumpkin flavor was very subtle.  I wouldn't describe it as a cake, but whatever.

Peanut Brittle- This was ok, I thought it was a bit hard.

Overall, I loved my June tasting bar, and it was definitely worth the ten bucks. My favorite thing was the Sachima, but the Sesame Pastry was a close second.

Verdict: Awesome Box.

Skoshbox Promotional Box Review + Coupon!

Skoshbox is a new Japanese monthly subscription box. Ever since dumpling box went under, I've felt this lack of asian stuff being delivered to me. The timing of this box was perfect! As you most likely know, I am a huge fan of Asian cultures. Not only do they send food and stuff, but they also send stationary, like fun pens and erasers! Each box also has a card with a description of every item. Even though I am not Japanese, this box still interested me a great deal. This box is $12 a month including shipping, and I think that is on the cheaper side of subscription boxes.

I really want them to send Japanese Kit-Kats. They are extremely different to the American Variant  They come in a bunch of flavors, like a LOT of flavors. I've had them before and they are awesome! But they are expensive, and shipping from Japan is also pricey. That brings me to the next part, why they started this box.

This box was founded by two close friends that have lived in Japan and the U.S throughout their lives. The two friends were basically surrounded by Japanese culture all the time.  They saw that access to a variety of Japanese stuff was not only scarce, but also quite pricey. So then bam! Skoshbox was born.

The staff of Skoshbox have created a coupon code for my readers! Use code ASNRVIEW19 at checkout and get a free mystery gift in your first box! Sounds like a good deal to me. But hurry, this coupon expires July 15th, the deadline for the first box, so get onto it!

 The boxes don't look like this yet, but I have to mention that I really like this logo. 

 First look

Look Green Tea Chocolate- MyChonny on youtube called these baby diarrhea candies on his recent video, haha. But that is besides the point, these chocolates are awesome. I really like the subtle, sweet flavor of green tea, and I didn't know how good it tasted with green tea! Inside it also has milk and azuki, adding to the creaminess.

(2) Kaki No Tane- These were pretty good. I liked the spicy rice crackers. The peanuts were a bit plain but tasted good with the crackers.

(2) Milk Hardcandy- Wow, these were surprisingly good. They tasted a lot like milkshakes, like the card described. I will probably buy more the next time I see them.

Orange Bubble Gum- This has a great orange flavor, but it ran out a little quickly.

(2) Umaibo- I think I got something similar in a dumpling box, but this was like a savory version of that. They apparently have a lot of  unique flavors. I want to try the natto (fermented soybeans), but it might be terrible. But the ones that I got were really good.

Choco Ball- These were pretty awesome. The card says they have an almond in the center but I thought it tasted more like a peanut. I initially though I wouldn't like it because of the nut, but it turned out to be not overpowering at all. It just added a bit of crunchiness.

Haichu- I eat the chinese variant of this ALL THE TIME. It is great. I never had this kind, but it was pretty similar, if not the same.

Koala's March- This was a lot like hello panda, but I think this had more chocolate!

Umaibo- This is pretty much a classic, and it is never disappointing. I really like savory/salty crackers and was craving some at the time; this hit the spot.

Beer Nuts- I got these instead of the Air-In eraser, but I am still happy with these.  They were peanuts with a weird kinda salty coating.  I am not sure if they have beer in them, but the red banner just says beer nuts.

Marble Chocolate- These are kinda like a Japanese version of M&M's (or smarties for any international people).  I think I liked these better because the chocolate just tasted better. It may have been darker, I just can't put my finger on the difference. But there definitely was a difference.

Overall, I was super impressed with this first box. If all the boxes are going to be as good as this one, or better, than I am a fan. It may seem like I am being overly nice on this review, but that is not the case; I honestly really liked this box. I would've payed the twelve bucks for it.

Verdict: I am definitely subscribing.

**I was provided this box free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this for free did not affect my opinions in any way. 

Awesome Japanese Candy Part 3! Kracie Dodotto Candy/ Dot Drip Candy

Sorry that I haven't posted in a couple of days, I just haven't felt like it; and I don't want this to feel like a job.  Anyways, welcome to part three of my Japanese candy series, the chemical reaction edition. Like the last post, this is one of the more simpler candy kits, but it is nothing short of awesome!

If you would like to purchase these, I bought them from here.

 Nonchalant octopus is nonchalant.

 See! This set is pretty simple.

 First you fill up each side with water up to the line in the container. Then you add packet 1 to the square, and 2 to the circle shaped hole. Then ,obviously, you stir.

 I was kinda sad that I didn't get the nonchalant octopus. But anyways, this is where the "Dot Drip" part comes into play. Included in the set is this little octopus. You squeeze the octopus like a pipette and suck up some pink liquid! Then make the octopus poop into the clear liquid. It creates awesome little spherical gel balls that remind me of mini-boba or salmon roe (this reaction comes into play for the candy sushi kit too! Post of that coming soon).

Lastly, you add a third powder with some water and the remains of the pink liquid, and it creates a grapy-foam thing. It tasted kinda weird, but not bad.  And then you mix them all together and it looks like this!

The Taste

The dots- These were quite pleasant actually. Tasted like bubblegum, but what was really awesome was the texture. It really did have the texture of boba! Maybe this is how they make it.  

The foam- It was kinda sour, but still tasted good. I think the flavor was grape. My fried that I made this with thought it was disgusting, so I happily ate the rest of it. 

Together- Pretty tasty, and an interesting texture. Overall  I really enjoyed this candy set! Stay tuned for more.

Awesome Japanese Candy! Part 2- Meiji Fluffy Bubble Shake

Part two of my Japanese Candy series! This one is probably the simplest candy I got.  It only has two powders, and it takes almost no skill to make! If you are wondering, I purchased all of these from wanwan.fm/store, a store owned by a Japanese youtuber, MarimoMarshmallow.

 I found the mascot of this to be slightly creepy.

Not many materials needed! 

 First, you were instructed to fill the plastic bowl with some water.  Then you add this wierd cotton candy like thing. It was a bit more silky than cotton candy, and dissolved super fast! Even faster than normal cotton candy I think.  I snuck a little piece of the cotton by itself and it tasted like really strong ramune (a japanese soda).

 After the cotton is dissolved, you add the white powder, and then it starts to look more like a "bubble shake." The powder tasted like lemon on its own.

This think rose up real high! It almost overflowed, and it would've probably if i mixed any more!

Taste Test

The shake tasted pretty good! It was like a really bubbly, foamy, ramune.  I would definitely have it again. 

Awesome Japanese Candy! Part 1- Kracie Popin Cookin Curry Rice Set

I love Japanese candy, mostly because I find it so different than the American variety.  Some are weird, some tasty, and some a little of both. I had an urge to order a bunch, so I did from this store. The store is owned by a Japanese youtube channel called Marimo Marshmallow, that specializes in candy videos. You can also purchase all the candy you see in their videos in their shop. Most things in the shop are around three dollars, which was cheaper than most of the sites I found, and I like supporting channels I enjoy.  

This candy series will be a seven part series that I do throughout the next week or two. I didn't think of starting it until I got my package, and thought some people would be curious about them.  Some of the candy I got is really weird, this is one of the weirder ones, since it actually is supposed to taste like curry, yeah, weird.  Stay tuned for more in this series! (drinking game: take a drink everytime I say something is "weird" lol)

Doesn't this look appetizing! (answer: no)

 Many of these candy sets have lots of powders and plastic things to mix the powder in!

Mixin' the rice. It kinda smelled like onions which kinda scared me. Rice isn't supposed to smell like onions. But I continued the mixing fighting the urge to run away.  But the scent grew on me. 

 More Mixing! This is the powder for the croquettes. This smelled like onions too, but was a little different.  I was used to the odor by now. 

 I am so creative with the shapes I turned the croquettes into aren't I. Yep just a triangle and a circle.  Can't you see the screen bursting because of an overflow of creativity? I know I can. 

 You were instructed to crush these little bead-like things and then coat the croquettes with the powder. I think this was supposed to add texture.  

 The croquettes all coated up.

 The infamous curry that actually tastes like curry. Not indian curry like most people would think, but Japanese. So this curry doesn't have much spice. You might be able to see that there are little vegetables in the liquid. Yes this was one of the packets.  The curry didn't smell bad though, so I wasn't dreading eating it. 

Doesn't this look tasty?

The Taste Test

Croquettes- These didn't have much flavor, but they weren't bad. I would describe them as onion play-dough. Poppin Cookin is known for having "interesting" textures. I can't decide if I like them or not though!

The rice- This also had a weird texture. Not like rice, but again, it wasn't bad.  Like onion fluff or something.  

Curry- I actually liked the taste of this!  It had a nice zing, per say, to it. I would like curry that actually tasted like this in large quantities!

All together- The curry flavor dominated everything when you had them all together, so I guess it was good.

Overall, this kit was really fun to make, especially with a group of friends (which I did). I would say that the prep is more fun than the eating, maybe, but neither part is bad. It tasted OK, and I wasn't expecting much, so I guess it exceeded my expectations.  

 Stay tuned for more awesome Japanese candy coming soon!

A Very Sad May Dumplingbox Review

*Sigh* This is the last dumplingbox that I will receive. I was quite surprised when I found out that they will no longer have this subscription because business was going really well for the owner. The most likely case is that she got too overwhelmed with all her subscribers and didn't want this box business to take up her whole life. But you can still buy this month's box on their website.

Anyways, I really like this box. It is a box of Asian snacks that just started four months ago.  It cost(ed) ten dollars per box including shipping.

 I really like the dumplinbox logo

Golden Fuji Vegetable Flavor Cracker (Hong Kong)- These had a really subtle flavor. I didn't think they tasted like vegetables, something more like pizza sauce.  The texture of these crackers were nice also.

Mimilo Lemon Cream Wafer- This was my favorite thing in the box. Inside this package were two white wafer cookie things that had some sort of lemon cream filling. Really refreshing in a sense. I usually find lemon candy too sweet to be lemony, but this had the perfect amount of sweetness.

Orion Choco Pie (Vietnam)- There is an American variant of this, but I forgot the name. Side note  I thought Lotte (a Korean brand) made these. The labels look the same. Anyways, I used to have these all the time! Some people would say they are like a chocolate marshmallow burger, but I would say they are like s'mores in cookie form. s

Milkita (Indonesia)- These were kinda like a hard candy version of laffy taffy. Not bad, but not amazing.

Kasugai Maccha Ame (Japan)- This was tasty. I would describe it as a green tea flavored hard candy. I do have one weird complaint, it lasted way too long! Like, I had to spit it out because I got tired of the flavor. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

Almond Candy (China)- Whoa, this had a super strong almond flavor. I wasn't a huge fan, but someone who loves almonds might be.

Some snack thing without a label and doesn't look like a sesame cracker- Apparently I received this instead of a sesame cracker, or this is a sesame cracker (don't think so).  But it was way too hard for me to eat without breaking a teeth so into the chute it went. 

Flower Kiss Candy (Japan)- This had a great flavor. I was a bit wary at first, because I thought it would taste like flowers. It turned out that it tasted like fruit. It was also kinda creamy. And it didn't last too long, just as much time as I wanted it to.  Overall, pretty awesome.

I really liked this box, and this subscription overall. I am just super sad it got cancelled. I am even more saddened by the fact that there aren't any other Asian snack boxes yet.  Someone start one now! 

Verdict: Sad-face :(

April Dumpling Box Review

First of all, sorry for not posting in over a week! I just haven't really gotten anything to review lately. Expect a double graze box review tomorrow though!

Dumpling Box is a monthly snacking subscription box focused on Asian Snacks. When I fist saw this box, I immediately subscribed, since I LOVE Asian snacks a lot! I am always a little biased to anything Asian though, but this is my fourth month of this box and I think it is awesome! None of the boxes so far have been disappointing.

Dumpling Box costs $10 a month including shipping. It is paid with a recurring payment thing from Paypal. I am pretty sure that everyone gets their box delivered on different days, because everyone pays on different days. This box is usually the first box I get every month, so I think I get it earlier than most. I once told Anisha at Everyone Loves a Treasure that I received my dumpling box in the previous week and she said that she didn't even get billed for hers yet! But that isn't much of a negative to the box in my opinion.

Each box comes with a little info card with a list of all the products with their ingredients and their country of origin. I don't think this is particularly a box for a health nut, since Asian snacks tend to be more processed than snacks sent in most sub boxes. These don't seem to bad for you though. On the other side of the card, Shelly (the founder) writes a little summary and usually a story about one or two of the products. This time there was a story about the discovery of tea and the invention of the tea bag. She also said that this box included a competition between two types of pumpkin snacks, and two types of jelly ones.

The outside of the box

Daliyuan Soft French Bread Banana Flavor (China)- This kinda reminded me of Hawaiian rolls, but with a slight banana flavor. If you've had them you know what I am talking about. I didn't like it as much as the rolls, but it was still good.

Saquima (China)- This was my favorite thing in the box by far. The texture of this pastry was just so awesome. It had a little crunch and it was surprisingly soft sometimes. It was kinda sweet, but not overpoweringly sweet, pretty awesome snack in my opinion.

Pumpkin Wheat (Korea)- This was some sort of hard-ish pumpkin taffy. It was super hard at first, but after it was in your mouth for a while, it softened up and was pretty tasty. I'm not sure if I liked it better than the other pumpkin thing (see below).

Pumpkin Seed Biscuit (Hong Kong)- This had a nice crunch too it. I like pumpkin seeds, but it just wasn't too spectacular.

IKC Assorted Jelly (Korea)- I am pretty sure the writing on this isn't in Korean, so I think I received a different product. It was still jelly though, so maybe not. I didn't no what flavor it was. The best way I can describe it is a salty cola. Yeah, I didn't like it very much.

Chaoli Lemon Flavor Candy (China)- This was a standard lemon candy, nothing too special.

Green Tea Biscuits (China)- These had a really nice texture to them, and I really liked the subtle green tea flavor. Pretty good overall.

Inaba Irodori (Japan)- I've had this before and it is just a nice savory snack, so I thought it was pretty tasty, but I'm a sucker for savory snacks, especially Asian ones. This had a jumble of ingredients like Wasabi peas and rice crackers.

Ten Candy Ton (Taiwan)- This was interesting. The outer cone tasted a little weird but the inside was filled with delicious jelly! The cone was OK but the jelly was awesome. I liked this way better than the other jelly product.

I really liked this box. I think I was with Dumpling Box since their very first box and, they have progressively gotten better in my opinion. I think I will be keeping this subscription since it is pretty budget-friendly and I am never disappointed

Verdict: This is a great box, so subscribe if this sounds like your cup of tea or if you just want to mix things up!