Four Fingers of Disappointment

Having received a delumptious package this morning from my new favourite website http://www.napajapan.com/ , a site that sells rare and regional varieties of Kitkats from across Nippon, I figured that I should catch up on the last month’s offerings before tucking in to anymore.

Unfortunately, recent ventures from those culinary genii at Nestle Japan have been a little on the disappointing side. Ho hum.

Strawberry Cheesecake KitKat – 2 Fingers

This is a regional variety from Yokohama, near Tokyo, that was purchased by my fellow hunter, the lovely Miss Manami. Unfortunately, upon arrival, this box of white chocolate fellows had all but melted into wafer-y lumps. Of course, twenty years on from the “broken biscuits aren’t the same” debacle, I could just about see past the fate of these poor mutants. Just about. The cheesecake variety certainly tastes like the real thing, but alas, this somehow doesn’t translate to a chocolate bar, leaving the consumer with a kind of feety aftertaste. I have yet to try the likewise regional Blueberry Cheesecake variation, but if this (and the Blueberry KitKat… To follow…) is anything to go by, I’ve rather lost my excitement.

Blueberry KitKat – 1 Finger

I must say, I don’t usually get excited about fruity KitKats, since there is most often something horribly saccharine about them. Blueberries being one of my favourites of natures snack, however, I decided to give this one a fair chance. Silly me. Remember way back before Tim Burton’s take on Willy Wonka, when you could buy WonkaBars that were purple and possibly Snozzberry flavoured? They were cool, ‘cause it was purple. And Wonka. Unfortunately, as I bit into this milk chocolate bar, I found myself flung back to childhood and that all too familiar taste. Which now, quite frankly, tastes awful.

Bitter Almond KitKat – 1.5 Fingers

Almonds have always been a case of take it or leave it for me. Occasionally, a shot of almond syrup in a latte is okay, but as a rule, the weird little nut whose name nobody is truly sure how to pronounce has never done it for me. As such, this KitKat, though capturing the taste of the real thing perfectly, really doesn’t tickle me. I’ll be sending a load home to my mother; a big fan of almondiness, so I’ll be intrigued to hear her opinions.

Aloe Yoghurt KitKat – 2.5 Fingers

There’s something of a “best of a bad bunch” feel here… Though, upon occasion, I’m quite fond of aloe flavoured stuff (gawd bless you, you crazy vegans!), I’m not sure if the partnership with chocolate really works. White chocolate, with a kind of sickly stickiness to its flavour. First taste, I was sold, but on repeated tries, this is really one whose novelty wears quickly thin.