Japan’s Sweet Tooth Leads to Limited Edition KitKats

While the KitKat was invented by Britain’s Rowntree confectionery company in 1935, the Japanese are the taking the wafer chocolate candy to the next level. The name of the chocolate bar resembles a Japanese expression—kitto katsu—used by students to wish each other luck before exams. According to a spokesperson for Nestle Japan, it appears that Japanese parents are buying KitKats for their children on exam days. But the sweet-toothed Japanese are no longer satisfied with the plain chocolate flavor, leading the candy company to introduce a variety of limited edition and odd flavors. These include Soy Sauce, Apple, Kiwi, Strawberry, Banana, Green Tea and Cherry Blossom, just to name a few. 

Recently, avclub.com’s Taste Test group tried out some of the stranger varieties, including Soy Sauce, Cherry Blossom, Green Tea, Banana, Strawberry Kinako and Exotic Tokoyo. Here’s what they had to say:

“Of [the varieties tasted], Banana and Soy Sauce pulled in the highest ratings. Soy Sauce had a distinct maple-syrup flavor and very little ‘soy sauce’ taste, at least to our unrefined Orientalist taste buds. Kinako had a similarly distinct, unassociated flavor: peanut butter, which made the whole package similar to a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Exotic Tokyo drew the strongest reactions, as its mix of passion fruit, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, black currant and pepper (with milk chocolate) gave it the boldest flavor of the bunch. Cherry Blossom was the least popular, earning the dreaded Cherry Robitussin comparisons.”

More in Sweet Applications