Ezaki Glico Baiton d'or (luxury version of Pocky)

A few days late, but Happy Pocky Day... (11/11) Yes, in Japan, there is a Pocky Day. If you're wondering what Pocky Day is... it's similar to Valentine's Day where people give each other Pocky for the sake of romance. And.. No, you don't need to have a boyfriend to receive a Pocky. You can receive one from friends, family, etc. Plus, on the day, Pocky are on sale at the price of 111 yen, and in some drug store, the price lowered to 108 yen in the city I live in. 

So, in the honor of the belated Pocky Day, today I will be reviewing about Baton d'or (luxury version of Pocky). 

Baton d'or is an extended line of Pocky, but more luxurious through the use of expensive ingredients, produced by... Ezaki Glico. Baton d'or means 'golden stick' in French, which tries to emphasize the meaning behind this brand, how luxurious and sophisticate it is, guess that's why they use French name. This product line was released in the mid of 2012, and have been in quite a high demand. 

Currently, there are only two shops in the whole of Japan that sell Baton d'or, and both are in Osaka (Umeda Hankyu and Takashimaya Osaka). Most of the days, all of the Baton d'or are sold out by 2pm as they are quite limited. When I was purchasing these expensive Pocky at Umeda Hankyu, I had to wait in line for nearly two hours.

There are four main flavors: Strawberry, Milk (chocolate), Cafe, and Vanilla (white chocolate). 

Seasonal products: Purple sweet potato (October-December 2013), Uji Matcha (January 2014~) and Sakura (March 2014~)

I got to taste five flavors (Uji matcha, straberry, milk, cafe, vanilla), and I have to say, the bread stick part smells heavenly. Obviously, they are made with fine butter. As for the coating part, my favorite will have to be the Uji Matcha, as the favor is very deep and satisfactory. All the other coatings were good as well. Cafe (coffee) has real crushed beans mixed with white chocolate. Strawberry has real strawberries mixed with white chocolate. Milk chocolate has a strong sense of vanilla to it, while white chocolate has a slight smell of almond-ish.

At 481 yen per 20 sticks, it's rather expensive. Even though I think it's a good experience for me, I will stick with my normal Pocky sticks.

Recently, I've started a Facebook page for reviewing Japanese snacks in English and Thai. So if you're interested, please check it out :) https://www.facebook.com/japanesessweets

KitKat Region Pack キットカット味遊記

It has been awhile since I've reviewed a product, but... Here we go. :)

I'm sure that most of you who has travelled to Japan would have seen, if not brought, variations of Kit Kat that are available in various regions of Japan. In many places of Japan, there is a regional/city/prefecture flavor for Kit Kat, which is available in most of the souvenir shops. Being the snack addicted that I am, I went a step further, and searched for a box set that would have most of the regional flavors in one. Even though I wasn't sure if 'KitKat box set' existed, but I went ahead to search for it anyway. Luckily, I found that there was indeed a KitKat Japan set, which I'm not too sure about its English name, but in Japanese it is キットカット味遊記. I'm not too sure how to read the kanji, but I think it's something along the line of Miyuki (??) Anyway, for the purpose of this blog, I will just call it, KitKat Region Pack +_+

I think the best thing about this product is its packaging, both on the outside and inside, making it a prefect souvenir to take home. However, be warn that the packaging is pretty big, but of course, it's not heavy.

The picture above is the back side of the box showing all the 15 flavors inside the box, which consists of:

1. Edomame - grounded green soybean with white chocolate from Tohoku region.

2. Black Honey - collaboration with Eitaro Satoshi with white chocolate from Tokyo.

3. Wasabi - collaboration from Tamaru-ya with white chocolate from Shizuoka prefecture and Kanto region.

4. Red Beans Sandwich - classic menu called 'Ogura Toast' with milk chocolate from Tokai and Hokuriku region.

5. Lemon, mandarin, Lime - a classic blend of the three with white chocolate from Shikoku and Chukoku region.

6. Benimo - popular dessert made from purple taro with white chocolate from Okinawa and South Kyushu region.

7. Amao Strawberry - one of the most famous strawberry in Japan 'Amao' with white chocolate from Fukuoka.

8. Uji Matcha - collaboration with Ito Kyuemon teahouse comes Kyoto's Uji Matcha with white chocolate from Kyoto.

9. Hoji Tea - collaboration with Ito Kyuemon teahouse comes Kyoto's Hoji Tea with white chocolate from Kyoto.

10. Cinnamon sable (Hachi tsu bashi) - collaboration with Shogoin, famous for Kyoto's traditional sweets, comes Cinnamon sable flavor with white chocolate from Kyoto.

11. Apple - apple with milk chocolate from Shinshu (now known as Nagano Prefecture).

12. Pepper - collaboration with Yawata-ya comes one flavor pepper with bitter chocolate from Shinshu. 

13. Blueberry Cheesecake - blueberry cheesecake flavor with white chocolate from Koushinetsu and Onshinetsu.

14. Strawberry Cheesecake - strawberry cheesecake Yokohama edition with white chocolate from Yokohama and Kanto region.

15. Le Lectier - A kind of pear known as 'Le Lectier' speciality of the region with white chocolate from Niigata Prefecture.

As for the tastes, I actually didn't like most of it, except for the Amao Strawberry, Strawberry Cheesecake, and the Blueberry cheesecake flavor. (I wouldn't buy it again for myself though) Most of their flavors are pretty strange, if not a bit fake AND very sweet. I thought I was going to enjoy the Uji Matcha flavor, but it turned out to be very sweet, and somewhat fake. I definitely prefer Nestle's new Otona Matcha Kitkat to this Uji Matcha one.

However, I do think it's a good souvenir for people who are interested in the different regional flavours  Trying all of these flavours was indeed very interesting. >.<

I brought this set from Nestle.co.jp online shop, and it costs 2,500 yen (exclude shipping) back in February. The good news is that in the last month or so, the price decreased to 2,000 yen. However, the bad news is... the KitKat Region Pack is no longer available through Nestle.co.jp online shop, but I do think that it will come back on sale soon, as it's a pretty good souvenir product, especially for international tourists.