Snakku – February 2018 Review

It’s still March, so I’m not too late, right!? :’D In February’s Snakku box, we’re celebrating Valentine’s Day!

I’m so excited to be reviewing Snakku again!  Off to a rocky start because my packages were delayed (I’m fighting with my former apartment complex – anyone with PA tenant/landlord dispute resolution experience, hit me up!), but definitely well worth the wait.

Snakku has two subscription styles:

The Signature Box is available for $38.95/month including free international shipping (and in 3 and 6 month prepaid plans with a slight discount).

The tasting box is available for $15.75/month also including shipping, but is still only available in the US.

All Signature Boxes come wrapped in a lovely furoshiki, or washi wrapping cloth.  Some months they will change it up to match the season or the theme, and some months are repeats.  February featured a lovely blue pattern.

The theme for this box is Valentine’s Day!  Snakku always has adorable designs on their information cards – I love the watercolor heart print.

The back of the info card gives detailed descriptions of each treat, as well as a brief explanation of the theme.  For Valentine’s Day in Japan, it’s traditional for girls to give out two kinds of chocolate treats: giri-choco, or “obligation chocolate” goes to friends, family, and colleagues; honmei-choco, or “handmade chocolate” goes to that special someone!  If you’re an anime/manga fan, you’re very familiar with this concept.

Chocolate Arare

I only got to try the tiniest nibble of these chocolate-covered rice crackers, because my mother ate them all (and this is a woman who does not like senbei)!  Perfected over ten years in a Kyoto snack shop, these slivers of rice crackers come in two packets.  The “sweet” packet is covered in strawberry, milk chocolate, and white chocolate.  The “bitter” packet is covered in matcha green tea, dark chocolate, and white chocolate.  Both are delicious – sweet and creamy, with a whisper of salty crunch.

Chocolate Senbei

These adorable heart-shaped rice crackers are covered in milk chocolate from Hokkaido (which we all know has the creamiest dairy products).  They’re sort of like an elevated Kit Kat: silky smooth chocolate with a satisfying crunch.  And the shape is totally on theme!

Strawberry Dacquoise

First off, I must apologize for this photo.  For whatever reason, both my camera and my editing software are being difficult and messing with the quality and lighting of this picture, and it simply does not do this cake justice.  The outside layers are a sweet twice-baked baguette, that is delicately crispy on the outside but still fluffy on the inside.  In between there is a layer of fluffy cream flavored with fragrant Aomori apples.  Not too much strawberry here, but still a perfect dainty dessert, like something you would find at a little girl’s tea party.

Strawberry Chococrunch

I’m loving the continuation of the strawberries and chocolate vibe.  These cookies come from Fukuoka, and are made of puffed rice, freeze dried strawberries, and dark chocolate.  The chocolate is definitely the dominating flavor here, but I can still taste some tart strawberry if I try.

Higo no Tsubomi

Okay, I apologize for not opening these, but I wanted to save them for my mom because I knew she would love them (she did).  These are little egg-shaped cakes covered in white chocolate, with a chunk of Japanese sweet potato at the center (the yolk?).  The cake inside, surrounding the sweet potato, is a lovely purple color that comes from natural morning glories that have been infused into the cake!  It’s a sweet little treat that tastes mostly of white cake and sweet potato.

Wasabi Chips

These potato chips were so good!  They’re thin and light, almost like Pringles, but more delicate.  They have the perfect amount of salt, with a kick of wasabi at the end that really clears out your sinuses.  I honestly wish they came in bigger bags so I could eat more!

Okome Snack

These crispy rice snacks are flavored with abalone and sea salt.  Even though they’re rice snacks, they’ve been baked so thinly and so well that they seem more like potato chips!  And the salty taste is perfect, with a bit of oceany briny seafood flavor.

Matcha Yokan

Yokan is one dessert I will probably never tire of.  It’s a thick jelly that is usually made from red bean paste.  This particular version has been flavored with matcha green tea to give it a fresh, earthy sweetness.  Snakku recommended chilling it, so I tried that with one, and I honestly can’t decide which one I liked better.  Both are brilliant as a dessert – refreshing without being too overwhelmingly sweet.

Gateau Raisin

These slices of puff pastry are filled with a rich cream studded with actual raisins.  I wish the pastry had been a little lighter, but the cream was airy and delicate, and well-flavored in a sort of rum-raisin-y way, so I can’t complain too much!

Glico Caramel

These iconic little caramels are full of vitamin B2 and vitamin D, so you can run a marathon like the guy on the front (just kidding!).  They’re heart shaped and sweet, in keeping with the Valentine’s Day theme, and a little bit chewy in a Tootsie Roll sort of way.  Each box also came with a little wooden toy (I got a giraffe).

Overall, I think this Valentine’s Day box was super cute.  Some of the inclusions were a little questionable to me (wasabi chips and seafood crackers?), but I did still enjoy them nonetheless.  I do think you get a good balance in Snakku boxes between artisanal treats (like traditional cookies and cakes) and everyday snacks (like chips).  My favorites were probably the dacquoise (that fluffy cream!) and the wasabi chips.  And of course, I’m always a sucker for yokan!

 

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