Astor Skinny Roll (Peanut Butter)

I wonder if naming your product "skinny" improves sales because it leads consumers to believe that you will lose weight by eating it. In the case of these snacks, which are only 19 calories per roll, there's not much chance that you'll get skinny unless you exercise the most judicious of portion control.

Note the one-eyed mascot on the cover. His physique is not only quite rounded, but he also seems to have gained a Miley-Cyrus-like tongue control issue. I guess it must be some sort of issue that musicians suffer from. Too much music or singing must cause some sort of tongue muscle flabbiness tha results in unpleasant lolling on occasion.

This snack comes from Indonesia and is made by a company called Astor and distributed by Mayora Inc. In addition to these snacks, they also distribute the ever present Kopiko coffee candies. They also have some very spiffy-looking wafer snakcs called "Zuperr Keju" and "Beng-Beng". With such awesome names, how can they go wrong?

When I received these "Skinny Roll" snacks as part of a package of goodies from KS Snacks, I expected something similar to "Pepero". That's the Korean pretzel roll snack that is like an inside out Pocky stick which left me less than impressed. It turns out that I was very wrong about what I was getting and in the best possible way.

For starters, the sticks are not pretzels. They are wafer rolls similar to Pirouhette cookies. They are delicate and crispy. Though they don't add much to the flavor except for the mildest of sugar-cookie-style flavor, the filling happily does all of the heavy lifting in that regard. Though it looks a lot like a hollow tube, it's actually lined with a sweet, peanut-cream-like filling that carries just the right level of sweetness without being cloying and enough peanut power to leave you happy without being heavy or overbearing.

This is, by far, one of the best "finds" I've had since returning to America. It's damn tasty with an excellent texture. KS Snacks is offering them on their web site and I strongly recommend that anyone who is a peanut fan give them a try.

Taro Net Seaweed Snack

The snack I'm reviewing today comes courtesy of KS Snacks who kindly sent me a box of goodies from Indonesia. If you'd like to know more about their service, you can check out their web site or my review of their service from a few weeks ago. 

Let's talk about seaweed. I spent many years of my time in Japan turning my nose up at anything that included seaweed. In fact, when I first arrived and had onigiri (rice balls) from the local 7-11 as lunch or a snack, I never used the included seaweed paper to cover it because the whole idea of eating that stuff with my smattering of tuna salad hidden in an enormous amount of rice just grossed me out.

My idea of "seaweed" was based on seeing a pile of kelp on a beach. It was wriggly, smelly, and not a little scary looking. I felt like it's scraggly tentacles were going to wrap around my ankles and drag me through the sand into the bowels of a cruel netherworld. Surely the reason that such plants found themselves suicidally stranded on the beach was that they dreamed of escape. They broke through to our world only to find that they were the horrors to our kind.

OK, not everyone thinks of seaweed as a horror. In fact, some people think of it as "lunch", but I was not one of them. It took many years for me to find it less than repulsive. I started to leave the wakame in my soup or not pick the seaweed flakes off of my rice. I wanted to give it a chance. Though it always tasted like roasted grass to me, I got used to it. I can't say that I ever learned to love it, but I definitely stopped hating it. You can only imagine how that left me poised to experience this snack.

I was very surprised that I didn't hate these immediately. They actually don't smell seriously strongly of seaweed nor taste overpoweringly of it either. They mainly smell like the grain component that they are made up of. I can't read the ingredients list, but I think they are processed potato. I've had this style of very light salted snack before and that's what they are usually made of. The base is light, crispy and salty and the seaweed is only a hint. As seaweed snacks go, this is very palatable, even for someone who is as seaweed averse as me.

That being said, there was a problem with this which I've experienced with similar snacks. That is, there is an odd chemical aftertaste which either comes from the processing of the potato or absorption of the materials used to make the bag. It seems a bit like "plastic" to me, but that could just be my particular perception of things.

The maker of this, TPS Foods, has a web site which is in a state of incompleteness. They have "lorem ipsum dolor" messages all over the front page and their product link is dead. That being said, they picture a bag of this same snack which seems to be called "Cowboy Steak". That name alone would make me want to buy a bag of that flavor. Note that you can get any of the flavors of this snack from KS Snacks for $1.29 (and their prices are now represented on their site in dollars so you don't have to do a currency conversion). While I'd certainly like to try other flavors to see if they do not have the aftertaste I associated with these, I don't believe I'd try this one again.

Good Day Carrebian Nut Instant Coffee Beverage

Recently, I acquired some samples of General Foods International Coffee including the Suisse Mocha variety (one does this by asking for them - it's no great feat). About 20 years ago, I was an enormous fan of the sugar-free Suisse Mocha. It seems that a sugarless version is no longer being produced, but I did want to try the regular version to see if it held up over the years. It did not.

The flavor of that instant coffee seemed thin and despite my carefully measuring the water, it seemed very diluted. My guess is that the coffee didn't really change, but I did I've since spent years drinking real coffee. It's not like I'm guzzling down espresso or black coffee, but rather I tend to mix half a cup of good, strong-ish coffee with a half a cup of almond milk. Still, my diluted coffee is stronger than Suisse Mocha. It disappointed, but it's not like I was thinking about going back to drinking it regularly anyway. Still, I like to have a solid instant coffee option (as well as a hot cocoa one) because sometimes I'm either too tired to make the real thing and I'm not too infrequently in a place where that is not an option.

After the Suisee Mocha disappointment (which would be a good name for a suspense movie), I was very much looking forward to trying this instant coffee which I received from KS Snacks in Indonesia. As some may recall from the "service" review I wrote of them, they sent me a big box of intriguing goodies and this was one of them. There are four flavors of "Good Day" instant coffee and, luckily, this would have been the one I was most curious to try given that I'm a huge fan of hazelnut.

Preparing the coffee is simple. Add 150 ml. of hot water and stir. It's pretty simple stuff. I usually add a touch of milk to instant coffee on those rare occasions when I have it, but I wanted to try this straight up the first time. It didn't need the added milk.

The ingredients list is quite short and simple. It's instant coffee, sugar, non-dairy creamer, and hazelnut flavor. That should give you some idea of the sweetness level of this. It is intensely sweet, but not in a bad way. In fact, my first sip made me think of "liquid Nutella". Though there is no chocolate in it, the roasted flavor of coffee can sometimes take on chocolate flavors and the pairing with hazelnut as well as the high level of sweetness brought that yummy treat to mind.

I don't want to be misleading. This isn't really liquid Nutella. It just brought the notion to mind. There is an intense hazelnut flavoring at the end of a sip which hits you with a strong dose of flavor. If you've ever bought or tried brewed hazelnut coffee, this is it with a milder coffee flavor, more milkiness and more hazelnut.

I liked this a lot, but it is like liquid candy. It's very sweet and intense and more of a substitute for a treat than a beverage. Still, if you like hazelnut a lot, quite sweet drinks, and coffee at least a bit, you should enjoy this. You can get it here for 14,900 rupiah or $1.28 for five packets.  I wouldn't drink this everyday, but I would drink it as a dessert.

KS Snacks (Service Review)

Geography has a profound impact on who we are. Many people don't realize it, but the weather not only shapes how you respond to temperature, but also affects personality. There's a reason that my husband is mellow, relaxed and tends not to worry and I'm more up-tight, organized, and fret. If you grow up in California, at least in the areas with fairly temperate weather year-round, you're not facing times of physical hardship and a concurrent economic impact.

One thing I've realized all too well is that geography has played a part in my blogging. Originally, I could do this because I lived in Japan. Now, I can do it because I live in an area with a relative plethora of Asian markets. I realize that not all readers are as geographically fortunate as me. My experiences are shaped by my access to such places. My readers may not be so lucky.

When I'm offered the chance to review a mail order service, I'm pleased to do so because I know that such places may be the only way for some of my readers to get their hands on the types of things I can take access to for granted. In this case, I'm the one in the "temperate" snack purchasing situation and they're the ones in the cold, harsh winters.

KS Snacks, an Indonesian seller of Asian snack foods, contacted me and offered to send me a package to review their food as well as their service. Of course, I happily accepted. If you look at their web site, you'll note that their prices are in Indonesian rupiah and there are some pretty big numbers. That's okay because you can easily convert to your home currency using Google's currency translation (just type "Indonesian rupiah to (your home currency)" in a search box). For reference, $1 U.S. dollar = 11,702 rupiah as of the writing of this post.

The selection includes a good variety of Indonesian treats as well as Japanese ones. For example, there is a KitKat mini variety pack with twelve different mini bars for just a shade under $6. For reference, I can tell you that the retail price of a bag of 14 Japanese KitKat minis in Japan was the equivalent of $6.50 U.S. Also, the Fujiya Matcha "Look" bar is $2.19. Though such bars cost around 100 yen (about a dollar) in Japan, I never pay less than $2.00 for them at Asian markets here and often pay exactly the same price as KS Snacks charges - $2.19.

For Japanese items, the prices at KS Snacks are comparable to what I'm paying here in the U.S. However, if you're curious about Indonesian snacks, then you're in a position to find some interesting food at bargain prices. One of the more intriguing items is a red wine pretzel snack, Pejoy, for $2.13. There are also two Pocky flavors, mango mousse and blueberry yogurt, at the same price.

In terms of communicating with KS Snacks, I have to say that they were polite, professional, and very helpful. There was no problem at all communicating in English though I'm pretty sure it was the second language of my contact at the company. They sent my package by registered mail and have order tracking for both domestic and international parcels. This is an added service that I have never seen from any other seller who I've reviewed.

Now, for the unboxing...

The parcel comes very well wrapped and protected in a sturdy box. This may not seem like a big deal, but I've received two empty parcels since I moved to a new city. The post office here mishandles mail more than any I've ever experienced before. I'm gratified that this was unassailable or I could have received a package full of crumbs or another empty box.

Ah, bubble wrap. You are my good friend and provide hours of amusement to those who are easily amused... not that I would fall into such a category.

A fine assortment which I'll be reviewing in the coming weeks. 

I was sent a good cross-section of items to sample and I'll be posting my first review of an item next week. It will be interesting to compare the Indonesian golden Oreos to American ones since my husband and I recently got some for free and I now have some first-hand experience with them.

With Christmas coming up, it might make for an interesting gift to assemble an exotic snacks package from KS Snacks. It would be easy to put together a nice mix of some of the more expensive Japanese items and the cheaper Indonesian and other Asian items. I know that I was delighted by my package of surprise goodies from them.