TokyoTreat – June 2018 Review

TokyoTreat

$25 – $35 per month

Free worldwide shipping from Tokyo

TokyoTreat is a monthly Japanese snack subscription box shipped straight from Tokyo. They recently revamped their subscription service, and they now offer two sizes. There’s the Classic for $22.50-$25 and the Premium for $31.50-$35. (The cheaper prices are for prepaid plans.) TokyoTreat curates a box of fun, seasonal snacks with the aim to share their love of Japanese treats.

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The Classic Box includes 12 full sized items: 4 popular Japanese snacks, 4 sharable packs, 2 dagashi, 1 DIY kit, and 1 kinosei (health-benefit) snack. The Premium box includes 17 full sized items: 5 popular snacks, 1 party pack, 4 sharable packs, 3 dagashi, 1 Anime snack, 1 DIY kit, 1 kinosei snack, and 1 Japanese drink. It’s rare to get seasonal Japanese drinks outside of Japan, so that’s always one of my favorite items.

They include a paper booklet and there is also a similar digital zine on their website. The booklet includes all the information on the snacks and how to do the DIY kit. They also include fan photos, cultural info, contests, giveaways, etc. Lately they’ve been including bite-sized Japanese lessons, which I love. This month’s theme is “Summer Carnival.” There’s a lot of summer festivals in Japan, as well as yummy treats to help beat the heat.

I’m reviewing the Premium box, and items marked with an asterisk* are only in the Premium.

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Pepsi J-Cola Midnight*

I was so excited that they included this drink! It’s a brand-new type of Pepsi called “J-Cola,” which is supposed to be tailored to Japanese tastes. This flavor is called “midnight,” and it’s infused with a cassis grape flavor and meant to be enjoyed in the evening. I was worried the grape flavor might be too strong, where it’d just taste like grape soda, but it’s much subtler. It compliments the cola flavor nicely, just adding a splash of fruity flavor.

Happy Turn Soy Sauce Cheese Flavor*

I was also excited to see these limited-edition rice crackers, as I’ve actually bought them before at the supermarket. They’re individually wrapped and oval-shaped. The flavor is a combination of salty soy sauce and savory cheese. The soy sauce is the stronger flavor, but you still get a little hint of the creamy cheese. This party pack has plenty to share!

Doraemon Gummies*

This month’s anime snack is a pack of grape Doraemon gummies. Doraemon is a super popular character from a kid’s anime, and I actually know kids who love these gummies! The gummies are shaped like characters from the series, and are slightly firm with a strong grape taste.

Kakigori Ramune Candy*

Kakigori, or shaved ice, is a staple at Japanese festivals in the summer. The little fizzy tablets are flavored like strawberry and blue Hawaii, both popular syrup flavors for kakigori. They have a bit of a cooling sensation and a sweet taste.

Cream Rusk*

This small rusk is a piece of sweet toast covered in cream. It’s a bit different from typical rusks, which have more tooth to them. This one is very sweet and melts in your mouth. I could definitely eat a few more of these, especially with a coffee.

Ikinari Dango Kit Kat

There are three pieces of this Kit Kat from the Kumamoto prefecture! It’s supposted to taste like ikinari dango, which is a rice mochi filled with red bean paste and sweet potato. I love when they include really traditional flavors like this! The treat itself tastes most like azuki, red bean, to me. It’s a sweet and earthy flavor, which is well balanced. I think I get a hint of sweet potato in the aftertaste.

Meiji Takenoko No Sato Cookies & Cream or Honey Butter

This common snack, Takenoko, comes in two limited edition flavors: cookies & cream and honey butter. You receive one of those two, and I got the cookies and cream flavor. The chocolate cookie biscuits are shaped like bamboo shoots and dipped in a cookies & cream chocolate coating. It tastes a lot like an Oreo, but the texture is a little more crumbly and creamy.

Yogurt Flavored Ginza Rusk

The kinosei (health benefit) snack this month are these yogurt-flavored rusks. Rusks are pieces of crusty bread, often coated/dipped in something. These also have added lactic acid to help with digestion. These were a little too sweet for me, since I like my yogurt pretty tangy, but they still tasted nice.

Melon Cream Soda Chips

This is one of those “only in Japan” flavors! These chips are flavored like the popular melon soda drink. The chips themselves have a nice crunch and saltiness. They’re coated in melon soda flavoring, which fizzes a bit! I don’t mind the taste of the melon cream soda paired with the chips, but the fizzing is a new sensation that I wouldn’t associate with eating potato chips! This is a fun addition, especially to share with your family and friends.

Koikeya Scone Rich Corn Flavor

Koikeya Scones are kind of like Cheetos in shape and texture, but they come in many different flavors. This one is flavored with Hokkaido sweet corn. I really like corn, especially in the summer. It’s a very crunchy snack with a super strong corn taste.

Salty Seaweed Stick Potato Snack

This month’s share pack includes several packages of seaweed flavored potato sticks. Seaweed is a popular flavor for fried potato snacks, as it gives a little hint of umami to the taste. This particular brand isn’t too heavy on the seaweed, so it’s a good introduction to the taste if you typically don’t enjoy the flavor of seaweed.

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Popsicle DIY Kit

This month’s DIY kit is so cute! You make little popsicles, and it’s pretty simple to do. There’s no mixing or microwaving, just pouring and dipping. The soft candies you use to make the popsicles are ramune and strawberry flavored. Typically DIY kits might not taste the best, but this one actually tastes really good!

Cheesesnack

This dagashi snack is a small, creamy cheese biscuit. The package says it has double cheese. Cheese flavored snacks in Japan tend to be a little weaker and sweeter than the ones I’m used to in America, and unfortunately this one didn’t hit the spot for me.

Tonkatsu Sauce Umaibo

The last item is the ever-popular Umaibo dagashi. This puffed corn stick comes in a ton of flavors, and this one is flavored like tonkatsu sauce. Tonkatsu is a fried pork cutlet dish that is always served with this dark, tangy sauce made of vegetables and fruit. This Umaibo tastes exactly like that sauce, with a strong, punchy flavor that I love.

This month’s box had quite a variety of flavors! Sometimes a theme means that you might get a few snacks with the same seasonal flavor, but this month every snack had a different taste.  I liked that they also incorporated some summery flavors, like shaved ice, roasted corn, and cream soda. And as always, I love the seasonal drink, since it’s so hard to get those outside of Japan. My favorite items were the Pepsi J-Cola Midnight, Happy Turn Soy Sauce Cheese Flavor, and the Ikinari Dango Kit Kats. Make sure to check out their for contests, coupons, and sneak peaks of upcoming boxes.

If you want to get your own Classic or Premium box, you can do so here. Prices range from $25 – $35 per month and boxes are shipped from Tokyo through Japan Post. Shipping is free worldwide!

 

PR sample. All opinions are my own, and no compensation was received for this review. Affiliate links are used.