It's been awhile since Tirol has hit a slam dunk with me. When I stopped by 7-11 to pick up some of their cheap (100 yen) 16-oz. cans of Coke Zero and noticed the box of these apple pie chocolates by the register, I was skeptical that they'd impress me this time around. My previous experience with apple chocolate in Japan was with Sequoia's offering and I don't think the Japanese have quite the same concept or taste for apple treats as those whose culture derives from Europe.
I'm very pleased to say that this one was a home run (and I mix my metaphors between basketball and baseball...I'm sure there will be a football one in the near future). This was a heavenly little square of apple delight on multiple levels.
First of all, the apple flavor is good. It's a bit on the strong side and some may find it artificial, but I felt it was not fake at all - just strong, and well tempered by a very noticeable presence of cinnamon. The texture of this is unique and varied in a way that delighted me no end. First, the square is riddled with crunchy little bits of "pie crust" and interspersed with chewy bits of apple nestled in softish white chocolate.
All Tirol premium candies are about 1-inch (2.54 cm.) square. This candy was 55 calories, which puts it in the ballpark of most of the premium chocolates. One thing which caught my eye as a former Apple (computer) geek (I'm fully recovered now... really... yeah) was the little white icon of an apple on the back. I don't think it was an attempt to copy Apple's trademark, but it did remind me of it.
These are available in a wide variety of convenience stores for 32 yen right now and I strongly suggest giving them a try. It is sweet, so I recommend having it with some coffee or tea between bites (I favored it with a very strong skinny latte). That being said, it is small, so you'll have it finished in 4 tiny bites. It's hardly enough to be overwhelmed by cumulative sweetness. Oh, yes, I forgot to say this was a Tirol touchdown (had to get in one more sports metaphor).
4 comments:
Tabete mitai!! :-)
Your daily postings are becoming my daily dose of living (& eating) in Japan vicariously!
I LURVE apple/apple-flavoured snacks too...so this Tirol chocolate is definitely on my wish list now. The last apple-related snack I tried was Apple flavoured Pretz(I have a photo of this but don't know how to show it to you). These were the finely cut Pretz and they were yummy!! I regret not buying more than 4 packs (but then my luggage was already full from kit kats, senbeis and other omiyages:-b )
I can't wait to try this Tirol! It sounds amazing. On the Triol website, it looks like there should be a special edition of this flavor (and 2 others) with Toy Story 3 promotional wrappers.
I'll have to try this now, though I must say that I was soured on this candy after trying the vanilla yogurt one. The real yogurt has been my favorite for years!
Sandy: Hi, and thanks so much for taking the time to comment so kindly! I hope you can get your hands on it! If you have a photo you'd like me to see, you can e-mail it to me at orchidsixtyfour@gmail.com.
ebidebby: I hadn't checked their web site lately. There are currently two wrappers for this in shops - one red and one blue. I'll be interested to see the Toy Story 2 ones - perhaps I can sneak a shot of a display. ;-) Thanks for your comment!
dollarstoyen: Hi, and thanks for taking the time to comment! I hope you have had a chance to try the raspberry framboise KitKat! The funny thing is that my husband didn't care for this at all. I think the apple flavor was too much for him. Apple is one of those things where he likes the fruit, but rarely likes candies flavored with it. I'm like that with banana and strawberry, but not apple.
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