Snakku April 2020 Tasting Box Review
I was super excited about my Snakku April 2020 Tasting Box because I love hanami-themed snacks. I ended up ordering both the smaller box and the bigger box. The April box was inspired by the cherry blossom culture and the limited products that are released yearly between late March to April to commemorate the beauty of spring and the blooming sakura trees. Unfortunately, international lockdowns greatly affected shipping times on goods from overseas, so I had to wait a really long time to receive the Tasting box and still waiting on my Signature box as I write this. The delays are so bad that Snakku had to cancel their upcoming May box and skip over straight to July, potentially even longer – you can find the most up to date information on this page.
HOW IT WORKS:
Every month Snakku subscribers receive a selection of hand-picked artisan-made snacks from Japan. The boxes come in two sizes – Signature Box and Tasting Box. Signature Box contains an assortment of 20-25 snacks and costs $38.95, it also ships worldwide. Tasting Box contains 5-7 seasonal snacks, costs $16.95 and ships only to the US. Click here to check it out.
Halfmoon Sakura
SPECIALTY SNACKS:
These specialty snacks were sourced from local shops and are hard to find outside Japan.
1 // Halfmoon Sakura – This snack is made by a small local shop in Kamakura. Each cookie is shaped like a crescent moon and filled with delectable cherry blossom infused cream. My cookie arrived broken in two, but that didn’t really affect the flavor in any way and I really enjoyed it with a cup of green tea.
SakuRusk
2 // SakuRusk – These rusks are made in small batches by a popular shop Tokyo Rusk, and they constantly sell out. Snakku is very proud that they were able to secure a few boxes for their subscriber so we could experience one of the true Tokyo bestsellers. The rusks themselves are made from freshly baked buttered baguettes and topped with salted, sakura-infused sugar crystals. This unusual topping tastes absolutely incredible and I would love to have these rusks again someday!
Sakura Pie
3 // Sakura Pie – Despite its name, this delicate snack looks nothing like a pie. These pink mini-desserts are made from flakey croissant dough and shaped like sakura petals. Each cookie is sprinkled with sugar crystals and dried sakura leaf powder that gives them a slight hint of bitterness. Although they look pretty, I wasn’t wowed by the actual flavor, it felt like something was missing.
Black Sesame Caramel
POPULAR SNACKS:
These snacks are popular in Japan and abroad, and are much easier to find at Asian markets and online.
4 // Black Sesame Caramel – I’ve never had anything like this before and at first glance, I assumed these would taste like licorice. Nope! They are definitely sweet caramels with a very strong black sesame aftertaste and the flavor is surprisingly cohesive. I’m obsessed and will be looking to buy more in the future.
Koala no March
5 // Koala no March – These tiny koala cookies are one of my favorite Japanese snacks, and they are super popular in Japan, too. They are crispy on the outside and come with different creamy fillings. These, for instance, were filled with a yummy milk chocolate cream that uses milk from Hokkaido. This region is famous for its dairy industry and Hokkaido milk even tastes different than what they sell in the stores here.
Sesame Rolls
6 // Sesame Rolls – These hollow rolled sesame crepes are lightly sweetened and would be perfect to dip into fresh whipped cream or ice cream. I thought they were okay, nice to try once but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to purchase more. They were a little bit bland for my taste.
Ume Nori Senbei
7 // Ume Nori Senbei – I love seaweed flavored senbei crackers so these were perfect! Satisfying crunch meets sweet and salty glaze that was complemented by umami from the nori – this is a very rich and balanced flavor. The nori sheets were special too – each sheet was flavored with salted sakura powder.
Overall, this was a pretty good box with some interesting new snacks to try. I’m a major sweet tooth so of course, my favorite things in the box were sweets – Halfmoon Sakura, SakuRusk, and Black Sesame Caramel. I hope Snakku resumes normal operations soon because I really miss my snacks and can hardly wait for the next box, which is currently scheduled to introduce us to Osaka delicacies. Osaka is famous for its snacks and street food so I have high expectations!
Click here to get $5 off your first Snakku box.
Have you tried Japanese snacks before? What are your favorite international snacks?
