Image from Glico.
It seems that, for summer, Glico has finally come around to my way of thinking. Part of their marketing for the "rare cheesecake" Pocky includes the idea that it tastes great chilled. As attentive readers with good memories may recall, the only way I really like Pocky is cold.
"Rare cheesecake" in Japan means the type with is creamy and closer to cream cheese than "cake". It's a version of New York cheesecake without the intense heft. At any of the dainty little cake shops in Japan, you can choose between "rare" and baked. One is usually white or off-white and the other is closer to yellow or tan. I'm guessing that these will have a pretty nice flavor which is slightly tangy and not the usual "cheese" flavor in Japan. That is, it won't taste like cheddar or Gouda or some other pungent cheese mixed with sugar.
Besides this summer offering, and this is being advertised as a limited edition summer flavor, Glico is positioning the coconut Pocky and a "tropical" flavor which is mango and pineapple. The coconut flavor has been around for ages, but I guess pairing it with the tropical flavor helps conjure up images of beaches and cool blue oceans. I'm not bothering to include an image, but the coconut box has an image of a blue ocean to counterbalance the hot-looking sunset on the mango and pineapple box.
If I run across it, I may indeed pop for the cheesecake version because I'm a sucker for "rare cheesecake" flavors, but I'll probably pass on the tropical flavors. If my readers try these out, let me know how they are and if they took you out of your daily grind and filled your head with images of relaxing beaches while on summer vacation or just made you think about chocolate-coated pretzel sticks.
11 comments:
I want you to know how much I have enjoyed and appreciated both of your blogs these past few months. I was 24 when I arrived in Japan in 1988, but was only there three years... I'm going back for the first time on July 10th! Your other blog has brought back so many memories and this one, well, my shopping list just grows and grows! Thank you.
I'm so glad that you're enjoying the blogs, Rebekah! I envy you the shopping trip to Japan! I can still get things here, fortunately, but no longer have access to the full range!
Have a great trip, and try not to sweat too much!
I am an absolute sucker for Pocky. I used to be SO obsessed with Pocky (and the boxes because they're so pretty). I'll definitely be on the look-out of the tropical flavor - and I'll let you know how it tastes like :)
A bit off topic, but curious, why do you like Pocky chilled?
Hi, asiangirlcat!
I like Pocky chilled because I don't like the coating to be too soft and it always seems to lose it's snap unless it's in the refrigerator. It's weird, I know, but that's the wayit works for me. ;-)
Thanks for reading and commenting!
I tried the rare cheesecake one, and didn't really like it possibly due to the slight lemony taste in it. I felt that the overall flavor was rather artificial.
Thanks for sharing, gossip_bangkok. I was a bit interested in this because of the lemon, but I was worried that, if it was artificial, it might taste like furniture polish!
LOVE the rare cheesecake. It's July 23rd I have a half empty ( pessimist when half the food is gone) packet of them. Tropical Pocky has a raterh obtuse, overpowering sweet mango-ish flavour. I really don't care for Pocky. Biscuit ( from UK) and too little chocolate don't agree with my senses. But the RC Pocky had to be bought. I throw the stick biscuit part away.
I did find one box of the Rare Cheesecake Pocky, and loved it. Loved the slight lemon flavor behind the cheesecake coating, and didn't get the fake flavor one sometimes can get. Also tried the Glico Gorgonzola Cheeza snack crackers, and boy, they were tasty. I ate my way through Osaka! You would have thought the heat would have slowed my friends and me down, but no. Had a blast. Even brought home some green tea Collon cookies for friends.
Hi Orchid! It's me again :) Like I promised, I'd let you know if I ever came across the tropical flavor. I finally did :)
Here's my blog post about it: http://nomnomgoodies.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/tropical-pocky-mango-pineapple/
Being a mango-lover, I...love it! :)
My sister bought me some special pocky from a little Asian grocery store in New York. One was a 3-pack of the tropical flavor, but somehow, when I opened up the box, there were two packs of tropical and one of rare cheese cake. Do you have any idea how this happened? Was it intentional or a mistake? Either way, it was entertaining. Thanks!
poesie: Based on what is written on the boxes, I think you got a mistake. There should be two packs in the cheesecake one and three in the tropical! Mine were as expected so I think you just got some boxes with problems. I'm sorry!
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