Lotte Black Ghana

Ages ago, I did a comparison of all of the basic chocolate bars in Japan. The three basic bars from the big confectioner's are Lotte's Ghana, Meiji, and Morinaga. I rated Ghana the highest, though for basic chocolate, I think "Vessel in the Fog" and Dars are the best. Vessel in the Fog, incidentally, has reappeared in shops with the end of summer. It is often hard to get, but worth picking up if you see it. Given my favoring of Ghana's basic chocolate bar, this looked intriguing.

The types of snacks (especially gum) that are sold in this type of packaging are generally more expensive than those sold in paper and foil wrappers or cardboard boxes. I'm not sure if that's because they are supposed to be better value, or if you're paying for the plastic. Either way, they generally do not represent better value than buying such things in other packaging even when you consider the increased volume. For this reason, I tend to avoid these, but I found these on sale at Okashi no Machioka snack shop for a mere 129 yen ($1.67) and decided to give it a go.

Black Ghana is a small (82 gram/2.9 oz.) canister of 38 cube-shaped pellets. The whole lot is 482 calories so one piece is 13 calories. This is reasonable for the portion size. The advertising boasts "extra cacao", so this is supposed to be richer than regular Ghana. That's the selling point that lured me in. What it is is a semi-dark chocolate with a high fat content. It's a little more intense than a milk chocolate, but not as bitter as a true dark chocolate.

I'm not a dark chocolate fan, but this blend was pretty much right where I would enjoy darker chocolate. It comes up just short of being too bitter and could be seen as a version which is approachable for milk chocolate fans. It's still stronger and more intense than regular Ghana, and it still has a familiar Japanese chocolate aftertaste (kind of like how your mouth feels after drinking coffee), but I liked these and I'd buy them again.

Ghana White Chocolate

I've never thought much about white chocolate and how or why it was invented. I only know that my earliest experiences with it were the white chocolate Easter bunnies in my Easter basket. Sure, they looked cool because who doesn't like a white rabbit, but they were always the last thing I wanted to eat.

A little research on Wikipedia reveals that, like processed cheese, white chocolate was created to use up a byproduct from another product's manufacturing process. With cheese, it was using up whey. With white chocolate, it started as a way to use up excess cocoa butter. Given that cocoa butter is now a prized part of chocolate production, I have to wonder what the incentive is these days to produce white chocolate. I guess some people just enjoy it. For the most part, I'm not one of them.


I am a fan, however, of Ghana milk chocolate so I wanted to give this variation a try. The bar is firmer than a milk chocolate bar and has a harder snap. When you put it in your mouth, it also does not melt easily and seems less decadent and silky. The bar smells like vanilla and the sort of white chocolate scent that I associated with the aforementioned white chocolate Easter bunnies that took up residence in my childhood basket.

The first taste is of very mild vanilla followed by a tiny hint of lemon. It's a little malty and has a somewhat sour aftertaste. Surprisingly, it's not super sweet and this was a very pleasant surprise. It has good sweetness balance, but weak flavor overall. In every way, it's a very subtle bar.

The bar is 45 grams (1.5 oz.) and has 279 calories. Cocoa butter is the second ingredient whereas it tends to be the third, fourth or fifth ingredient in regular milk chocolate bars. Mainly cocoa solids are missing from the white chocolate bar. Oddly, this bar has Vitamin E added to it and I wonder if that might be part of what adds a little sour aftertaste.

This is by far one of the best white chocolate bars I've ever had. I wish that was saying more, but the flavor is simply too subtle for this bar to appeal to me, so I won't buy it again. I have a feeling that fans of white chocolate might find that the bar isn't sweet enough for them, but I certainly would encourage white chocolate lovers to sample this. For those who are relatively indifferent to white chocolate, this is unlikely to win them over.

Ghana Cherry Marnier Chocolate

Since today is Valentine's day, I saved an item that was clearly released for the holiday. It contains the Valentine's candy flavor trifecta - red fruit (cherry), chocolate, and alcohol (cherry liqueur). In fact, it proudly announces that there is .4% alcohol in this candy on the box cover.


Inside the box, there are two little conjoined trays with foil covers. They look like they should separate in the middle, but they can't be pulled apart. They packaging is like this so you can bend the sections in the middle while keeping two portions in separate trays. Each little "twig" of candy is about 5 cm (about 2 inches) long and there are 8 in each compartment. They are 22 calories per stick.


These smell vaguely of chocolate, cherry and alcohol. The sticks are soft and melt easily in your mouth. The filling is like a firm ganache, though the coating is not very firm. It has a low melting point, though it doesn't melt in your hands. These taste like cherry cordials though their texture is very different. The flavor strongly reminds me of Cella's chocolate covered cherries. Since I used to love those when I was growing up in the U.S., I liked these a lot.

These aren't too sweet though they have a bit of a sharp flavor from the alcohol. I can see where some people may find them medicinal because cherry cough syrup contains alcohol and these incorporate similar flavors. I think these are very nice and I'd revisit them again without reservation. However, if you are the least bit of a mind to dislike any of the risky component parts (cherry and alcohol), you might want to give them a miss.

Super Size Ghana Special Holiday Bar

The box says, "creamy milk and the richness of cacao, new standard chocolate." (You can click any picture to see a larger version with more detail.)

Around this time of year, confectioners in Japan start super sizing their core candy products. You can get super sized Pocky, Crunky, and Ghana bars among other things. My husband and I had never purchased one of these monster confections until now. He selected the Ghana bar because, as a solid chocolate bar, it has the greatest long term eating potential and can be used for baking in a pinch.

The super size bars are available at this time mainly to offer as Christmas or (more commonly) New Years gifts for kids. However, one of my students who has a birthday in December was given one so sometimes young adults give them to each other. Personally, I think these would make a great group souvenir of a trip to Japan to share with your entire office if you happen to be in Japan during the limited time they are offered. You could also set them aside for a friend or loved one who has particularly severe depression or PMS issues. There's enough chocolate here to see them through an entire month of difficulty (as well as add a pound and a half to their body weight).

Though I haven't reviewed Ghana bars before, they are not new to me. You can buy normal (about the size of a Hershey's chocolate bar) Ghana for a bargain price in many supermarkets. One close to me regularly sells them for 88 yen (97 cents) each, which is about 12 yen (13 cents) cheaper than similar basic milk chocolate bars of the same size. This big bar costs about 800 yen ($8.79) and pretty much is roughly equal in volume to 8 smaller bars so it's not cheap, but it's also not priced at a premium.


The box is 30 cm (11.8 in.) long and 14.5 cm (5.7 in.) wide and has a snowflake design on it to make sure you know its a winter holiday gift. A regular Ghana box is entirely red with the logo in the middle. The chocolate is packed in an unassuming foil pouch. I'm guessing this is to keep it fresh for a long time. My bar's expiration date is September of 2009.


The chocolate bar is divided into 20 individual blocks. Each block is 4.5 (1.8 in.) by 2.3 to 2.5 cm (.90-.98 in.) in size. The side pieces are bigger than the inner blocks. If you had kids and they were supposed to share this bar, they'd be fighting over the bigger pieces at the edges. Each block is 84 calories. If you went insane and gobbled it all down, you'd be putting away 1,680 calories from the entire huge bar.

Ghana chocolate smells mildly of chocolate. These thick blocks are a little tough to bite through compared to the normal thin bars that are available year round, but I have to admit that I have a weak bite. The chocolate flavor is subdued at first, but becomes rich and deep as it melts in your mouth. It doesn't seem too sweet at first, but the sweetness builds up as you roll it around on your tongue. The chocolate itself seems to lack depth. You don't pick out any deeper flavors like coffee, nuts or any fruity notes. It's very fatty chocolate with a good portion of cocoa butter, so it's quite satisfying, but it is the sort of chocolate that is well-suited to the palates of children and those who like sweet chocolate that doesn't have a very strong milky taste.

Comparing a basic chocolate like Ghana to Hershey's in America and Cadbury in the U .K., I'd say that Hershey's has sour, yogurt-like flavor and has a chalkier texture and Cadbury is much milkier. The odd thing about Ghana to me is how the sweetness and basic chocolate flavor come through so strongly without the sort of heavy milky flavor that seems so common in other milk chocolate bars. Ghana has more of a "hot cocoa" which is made in part with water taste than a "hot chocolate" flavor which is made with 100% milk. It's good chocolate, but it's different from what you might expect back home.

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Marble choco (マーベルチョコ) Santa dispenser wishes you a "Happy Merry X-mas", because it's not enough to just be "merry" or "happy". You must be both.

Merry Christmas to all of my readers. I hope you have a beautiful holiday and can relax with friends and loved ones. Thank you for reading. It's very appreciated.