Crazy Japanese Kit Kats

While visiting Okinawa I read an article on wasabi. The article said that Kit Kat made a wasabi flavor which I then became obsessed with finding. I looked everywhere for these alleged wasabi flavored Kit Kats. While we were visiting Okinawa World, I found Beni Mo kit Kats and bought a box. Then at a Family Mart gas station I bought what I thought was a wasabi Big Kat Kit Kat bar but it turned out to be green tea. I had bought 3 of them so I shared one with my nephew and brought the other two home with me. My nephew got the green chocolate all over his face which looked usually gross.



Then in Tokyo I found a much larger selection of Kit Kats, I found Soy Sauce, Sweet Potato, Corn, Deep Roasted Soy Bean, and Green Tea with Cherry Blossom. I spotted the elusive Wasabi Kit Kat just as a shop in Tokyo station was closing its gate. But I was able to finally track down the confection at the Naritia Airport along with a few of the previously mentioned varieties.

I had also seen raspberry flavor Kit Kats, and citrus Kit Kats but I chose the most unusual to bring home. I never thought I would return from Japan loaded with Kit Kats. I have only seen the classic Kit Kat, the Big Kat, and white chocolate, and dark chocolate variety available in the US. Now I wonder why they would only offer such crazy flavors in Japan? After all, corn is an American staple and we love sweet potato pie. I would love to see some more interesting flavors available in the US.

With way too many Kit Kats to enjoy with just my husband, I invited a few friends over for a Kit Kat tasting. I apologize that I did not photograph this event as I got carried away by candy. But this pic comes from a friends cell phone.



We started with the Green Tea Big Kat, then moved on the the Green Tea with Cherry Blossom. This was a favorite of the ladies with its sweet floral notes. In the past, I have even added Sakura (cherry blossoms) to goat cheese. Sakura is a flavor more commonly used in Japan, like the Sakura Moochi (an ice cream rice ball) I enjoyed in Tokyo.

Then we tried the Corn Kit Kat, which had a different kind of sweetness and was very enjoyable. The sweet potato and Beni Mo were both very good. But it was the Deep Roasted Soy Bean and the Soy Sauce flavors that were surprisingly delicious. The Soy Sauce tasted like a maple candy and the Soybean was very nutty. The Wasabi was surprisingly mellow, at first it tasted like white chocolate then at the end there was a bit of a kick. Most of them had a white chocolate base so that flavor was always underlying.



One thing that was very surprising was the packaging. The smaller Corn and Green Tea with Cherry Blossoms were packaged to be mailed. The packaging reminded me of Valentine's day candies which space on the back to write "To" and "From". The other boxes were much bigger and did not have space for an address but inside every package were individually wrapped candies. The big box had 12 individually wrapped Kit Kats each containing two half sized sticks and the smaller box had 4 to 6 individually wrapped Kit Kats each containing two mid sized sticks.

Wonder what kind of classic American flavors Kit Kat could produce? Philly Cheesesteak, Soft Pretzel, Maryland Crab, Sour Apple, watermelon? I would just like some more of the Deep Roasted Soybean flavor. I did have a bit of a belly ache after all that candy.


Sidebar Observations

The Japanese really seem to love their packaging. We bought some "wheat germ" crackers and inside the box were wrapped packs of crackers that were more than an individual serving. I bought some McVities Salt and Chocolate biscuits and they too contained little packets of wrapped cookies. I guess they don't want them to go stale? My sister in law sent me home with some Okinawa Fashion Cookies and that big box contained 8 individually wrapped cookies.

And every store wants to give you a bag that they then tape closed. Some of the bags were very pretty and of course I saved the paper. Oh, and did I ever mention that they had hand sanitizer everywhere?! Don't even get me started on that shit.