Sakuraco April 2021 Unboxing & Review
Can’t believe it’s already been a month since I got my March box, I feel like it was yesterday! The inaugural Sakuraco box was incredible so I had high expectations for the second box as well. In the month of April, Sakuraco invites us to enjoy matcha moments with them. Subscribers are invited to explore an assortment of seasonal delicacies and popular matcha delights that you can only find in Japan.
HOW IT WORKS:
For $37.50/month + shipping ($32.50/month if you prepay for a year) Sakuraco subscribers receive a selection of premium hand-picked artisan-made snacks, sweets, and tea sourced from small shops in Japan, plus fun extra goodies like chopsticks or small ceramics. Click here to check it out.
IN THE BOX:
1 // Tsuruya Confectionary Matcha Pudding – This bouncy pudding was lovingly made with premium tea leaves from Shizuoka, known worldwide for its outstanding green tea. It’s basically a lightly sweetened matcha latte in a solid form – talk about the perfect dessert for matcha lovers!
2 // Tengudou Matcha Mochi – These chewy matcha mochi treats were created under the direct supervision from green tea specialists to ensure proper balance of sweet and earthy flavors. Not going to lie, I admire this commitment to quality, even when it comes to things like snacks, which are often created from the food industry by-products in the West. There’s a fun trick to enjoying this mochi – the more you chew it the sweeter it gets, so Sakuraco recommends enjoying it slowly.
3 // Confectionery Studio Sheri Coco Matcha Azuki Waffle – The package contained two bite-sized mini waffles and they were just the cutest things ever! Soft, moist, sweet, and eggy with a touch of matcha, they tasted like like they could’ve been homemade. These made a great compliment for coffee!
4 // Aziroan Matcha Kintsuba – I don’t think I tried kintsuba before, but it tasted just as good as I imagined it would. Kintsuba is a type of traditional Japanese wagashi sweets made with red bean paste or sweet potatoes, and in this case also dusted with matcha powder. If you like sweet red bean filling in your snacks, you’ll like this one, too!
5 // Kashiwado Matcha Senbei – These senbei are basically light matcha-flavored rice crackers. It’s a satisfying low-calorie snack that can help curve the cravings for something crunchy without adding too many additional calories to your day. I like the idea, but don’t think the flavor was anything special.
6 // Bessho Confectionary Matcha Mochi Monaka – Monaka sweets are all about the filling, the crispy rice wafers are usually unflavored and are meant mostly to contain the filling inside, which is the actual dessert. These monaka were filled with a mix of rice mochi, sweet azuki bean paste, and matcha powder, so with each bite you would experience contrasting textures and flavors: soft and crispy, bitter and sweet.
7 // Nisshindo Confectionary Matcha Yokan Roll Cake – Imagine a soft, cloud-like matcha sponge cake, baked as thin as a pancake, then rolled up with sweet azuki bean jelly and cream filling in the center, plus a touch of real rum to make the flavors pop! This was one of the most elegant-tasting desserts in the April box!
8 // Sekimoto Foods Gold Plum Tea – The name is not just for show because this tea actually contains real edible gold flakes that sparkle in the sun; it’s equal parts a visual, an olfactory, and a flavor feast for the senses. The tea looks like a powdered concentrate that you put in a cup, fill with hot water, and enjoy right away. The flavor is a little sour, but the fragrance is very floral and adds to the experience. I can’t even imagine how much thought went into creating this tea!
9 // Japan Mag Sakura Yunomi – Remember the little dish we received in the March box? Now we got a matching little cup to complete the set! This cup is the perfect size for a quick cup of green tea! Honestly, after living in the US for the past 10 years I forgot what a regular-sized cup looks like, a lot of the cups here are 12oz and up.
10 // Yamada Confectionary Sakura Karinto – This crunchy snack was designed to recreate the flavor of sakura mochi by contrasting the sweet cracker and salty sakura flowers in the dough. These don’t exactly taste like sakura mochi to me but I appreciate the effort and I think it’s a pretty successful snack on its own!
11 // Eguchi Confectionery Yamecha Monaka – Very sweet and very satisfying, one of these monaka desserts instantly satisfied my sweet cravings. It’s best enjoyed with a bitter drink, like black coffee or black tea, or even unsweetened matcha with a dash of milk.
12 // Daiyo Foods Soft Milk & Strawberry Baumkuchen – This soft roll cake is perfect for everyone who loves the classic flavors of strawberries & cream. The texture is soft and airy, and the size of these treats is very generous – big enough to share with a friend. I loved these and I was glad that Sakuraco sent us two!
13 // Kanemata Confectionary Plum Yokan – This was one of the more interesting snacks in the box. By all appearances, you’d think this is a sweet treat, but it’s actually sour and meant to be enjoyed with a sweetened drink. The sourness was so unexpected that I had to do a double take to make sure I’m eating the right thing. It wasn’t my kind of flavor, but it was definitely a flavor I won’t soon forget.
14 // Tsuyamaya Confectionery Sakura Sugar Candy – This seasonal candy is only available for a limited time during the spring season, which makes it extra special. Each soft square looks like a little gem with white and pink parts, just like the sakura petals. The sugar-dusted candy contains two distinct flavors and textures: marshmallow-like white part made with merengue agar jelly, and the pink part made with sakura agar jelly. It’s not overly sweet, the flavor is actually very delicate and pairs really well with milder green tea varieties, like a quickly-steeped milk or jasmine oolong. This was another one of my favorite treats in the April box.
THE VERDICT:
Like last month, the April box was filled to the brim with snacks. I have no idea how Sakuraco managed to stuff everything inside because when I tried to put back all the snacks after photographing them, I couldn’t find room for like half of them! So far I’m very impressed with this service and I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in May. Also, I initially subscribed for 3 months, but at this point I can see myself switching to the annual plan if the quality of the boxes is consistently this high. My favorite snacks this month are the Matcha Pudding (#1), the Sugar Candy (#14), and the Milk & Strawberry Baumkuchen (#12). Honorable mentions go to Matcha Yokan Roll Cake (#7) and Matcha Kintsuba (#4), which both tasted amazing, but unlike the previous three, I would only enjoy these occasionally and in small quantities, since the flavors are very bold and intense.
Do you like Japanese snacks? Have you tried Sakuraco yet, and if yes, what was your favorite snack this month?
