Bokksu – June 2017 Review

Nothing says “summer” like the bright colors and sweet juiciness of fresh fruit!  This month’s Bokksu theme is “Citrus Summer” and the focus is on tangy flavors like yuzu and lemon.

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All of Bokksu’s snacks come packaged in this beautiful, sturdy orange box.  To protect it during shipping, the orange box is snugly fitted into a cardboard box.  There is a crisp white ribbon included to help you easily lift out the orange box.  A+ packaging, indeed!

For June, Bokksu is featuring the many varieties of kankitsu, or citrus fruit, that are grown in Japan.  Citrus fruits are popular in the winter for healing and preventing colds and the flu, but they’re also traditionally eaten in the summer to combat natsubate, or summer fatigue.  With the zing in flavor and the boost of Vitamin C, I can definitely see it adding some spring to my step!

Bokksu recently changed up the formatting of their information card to a long tri-fold.  The photography and design of their cards is always so colorful and gorgeous.  I love how this month’s citrus theme fits perfectly with their signature color!

There is a description of each snack, as well as key allergen information.  I love that it gives the Japanese names, too – I’m trying to teach myself Japanese, and I’m thrilled that I can recognize some of the characters already.

Lemon Cheese Cake Pie by Nakajima Taishodo

This lemon cheesecake has hints of apricot jam and is wrapped in a flaky pie crust.  I couldn’t really taste the apricot, but the lemon filling was delicious and ever-so-slightly tart.  The sweetness from the lemon paired so well with the buttery crust – I think I might like it even more than real lemon cheese cake!  Bokksu recommends refrigerating it, which sounds like a fantastic idea for these hot summer months!

Earl Grey + Orange Peel Rusk by Tokyo Rusk

Rusk crackers are twice-baked baguette slices that are extra crunchy and come in a variety of flavors.  I’ve tried the sakura rusks from this brand before, and they were amazing.  This earl grey flavor did not disappoint, either!  At first all I could taste was the earl grey, and I was worried that the (delicious) crystallized sugar was overwhelming the orange.  But then I bit into an actual chunk of orange peel, and the fresh taste came through and balanced the relaxing earl grey flavor.  Seriously, if the perfect cup of sweet tea could be made into a cookie, this would be it.

Lemon Doughnut Cake by Marunaka Seika

I don’t think words can express how much I love doughnuts, so I was thrilled to see some in this month’s box!  This doughnut is flavored with lemon, with real chunks of sweet lemon peel mixed right into the batter.  It’s buttery and sugary, and surprisingly moist.  There isn’t any glaze or frosting, which emphasizes the natural lemon-y sweetness (and lets me pretend it’s a little bit healthier!).

Oban Yuzu Zarame Senbei by Komeno Sato

These giant senbei (rice crackers) contain pieces of yuzu from the Tochigi Prefecture, and are dusted with yuzu-flavored sugar crystals.  At about twice the size of other senbei, they’re quite filling.  Senbei are usually salty, but these are very sweet thanks to the crystallized sugar on top.  I would have liked a better balance of salty and sweet, but these definitely represent yuzu well!

Lemon Daifuku by Yoneya

Daifuku are a traditional snack consisting of sticky mochi filled with bean paste.  This lemon-flavored version uses white bean paste and bits of actual lemon peel within the sunniest yellow mochi.  I’m normally not a fan of mochi (the stickiness combined with the sweetness of the bean paste can be quite cloying), but I’ll make an exception for the tart lemon flavor and the fun color of this one.

Jagariko Yuzu Pepper by Calbee

Calbee’s potato sticks have been around since 1995 and are a very popular snack both in Japan and abroad.  They’re crunchy and salty, like a potato chip, with a hint of sourness from the yuzu.  The pepper appears to come from wasabi and jalapeno, but oh boy it creeps up on you.  I was distracted by the sour flavor, and all of a sudden my throat got a kick of warm peppery heat.  There’s a lot of sticks in here, too – no disappointing half-air packaging here!  At first I thought this might be too much for a quick snack, but they’re so addicting I ended up eating the whole thing!

Pocky Trinity Orange Peel by Glico

This is a ~fancy~ Pocky stick that has been coated in dark chocolate and sprinkled with bits of orange peel.  The chocolate is really smooth, and the orange adds a nice bright sweetness to the chocolate-y bitterness.  I’m usually not big on Pocky, but this version is definitely higher quality than the normal chocolate sticks you find at the grocery store.

Yuzu Green Tea by Kagoshima Seicha

This green tea contains light citrus notes of yuzu peel from Soo City in Kagoshima Prefecture.  Now that the weather is getting warm, I’m drinking hot tea less and less, but this green tea is quite refreshing and perfect for cooler summer evenings.  It has a slight tart flavor that is balanced by a watery sweetness – both from the yuzu.  I’m glad they chose a green tea so the light citrus taste didn’t get overwhelmed.

Overall, I was delighted by this month’s Bokksu.  Usually when I think of traditional Japanese flavors, I think of matcha or red bean – flavors that can be quite heavy.  I’m glad that they chose to feature citrus for the summer months: it’s lighter, and different from what we usually see.  Even traditional snacks that they have included before, like senbei and mochi/daifuku, had a unique spin on them that made them stand apart.  I really enjoyed the selection this month, and I think the theme and curation fit really well!

 

PR sample.  All opinions are my own.  No compensation was received for this review.  This post contains affiliate links.