Wasabi Kit Kat

Gabriel bought these Shizuoka-Kanto Limited Edition Tamaruya-hoten Wasabi Kit Kat to share with the office. From across the room, the green packaging suggested that they were perhaps Green Tea flavored but upon closer inspection, it was one of the more twisted varieties from Japan.

Novelty flavored Kit Kat is not something unique to Japan and each country has its own range to offer. Different fruity versions are the norm but Japan takes the cake for the widest variety and most unusual flavors. The feasibility of some, like the cheese cake, red bean or ginger ale flavors could be somewhat justified. But the country also produced oddities, like the pickles, beans, beet, corn, potato, pepper, vinegar or soy sauce Kit Kats. When compared to those, the decision to make a Wasabi flavored Kit Kat seems rather sane.

The Box.

Reverse.

Since the nearest factory was just over at Malaysia, Kit Kats were one of the oldest chocolate snacks available to Singaporeans. As a kid, part of the fun came from the foil and wax paper packaging which could be torn and snapped away easily. The new wrapper which we now see more often, takes away from the nostalgia and amusement. The packaging was made with the intention of it to be used as a gift though as the bars individually wrapped to be shared easily.

The chocolate sticks.

Inside.

Unfortunately, the taste of Wasabi in the Kit Kat was really mild. Like most of the special varieties of Kit Kat, white chocolate was used instead of milk chocolate. In the case of this Wasabi Kit Kat, the white chocolate overpowered the spice resulting in a sickly sweet flavor. The bars would have worked out much better if milk or dark chocolate was used as the Wasabi flavor could have served to make it a lighter snack.

Even as a fan of Wasabi flavored items, I cannot recommend this snack. If you decide to ignore my advice though, the Wasabi Kit Kat has been available at 7-11s in Tokyo and throughout the rest of the Kanto region since November last year. Each 840 yen box contains 12 individually wrapped twin sticks of the Wasabi Kit Kat. They will probably remain for sale until all have been sold or until the batch expires in 2011.