Snakku Tasting Box February 2018 Review

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Snakku Tasting Box February 2018 Review

When I heard that Amazon Sweet Surprise box is getting discontinued, I started looking for other monthly snack alternatives. I loved the Amazon box because it offered a nice variety of artisan snacks that I normally wouldn’t buy otherwise, and a box of snacks sourced from Japanese mom & pop shops sounded particularly appealing. Snakku offers two box varieties: signature box and tasting box. The big signature box comes packed with 2lbs of snacks, and the smaller tasting box contains 5-7 snacks. I decided to test the waters with the small box, and I was not disappointed! I ordered the January box in December, and my box was unfortunately lost in transit. Snakku offered to refund my purchase or send me the February box with a few extra goodies, and of course I took the second option.

Snakku boxes follow a monthly theme, and the February box is called ‘With Love From Japan’.

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 costs $38.95 and ships worldwide, and the Tasting Box costs $15.75 and ships only to the US. Click here to check it out.

CONTENTS:

1 // Strawberry Dacquoise – Described as a baked dessert cake made with almond and hazelnut meringue and whipped buttercream, this little treat was absolutely delicious. It has a very thin crispy crust and moist and soft interior, and the flavor reminded me of a decadent strawberry macaron.

2 // Chocolate Arare – According to the product card, this snack from a small rice cracker store in Kyoto took 10 years to perfect! The crackers come in two pouches: ‘sweet’ and ‘bitter’. The bitter pouch includes matcha, dark chocolate, and white chocolate covered crackers. The sweet pouch includes strawberry, milk chocolate, and white chocolate covered crackers. I thought I would like the sweet ones more, but I actually loved both the same. The amount of glaze is very generous, and the crackers inside were nice and crispy, so I could get a nice mix of flavors and textures in each bite.

3 // Ichigo Milk Candy – This candy has been popular in Japan since the 70s for its delectable layers of milk and strawberry filling. I tried one of these, and they are heavenly! Very sweet and taste like real strawberries.

4 // Dorayaki – This dessert looks like two tiny, soft pancakes wrapped around a sweet red bean filling. The flavors work really well together, and I enjoyed every bite.

5 // Pretz – I love pretzel sticks, so I was very excited to find these in my box! The sticks were crispy and lightly cheesy, and tasted better than the pretzel sticks sold at my local store.

6 // Chocolate Senbei – These little heart-shaped crackers made the perfect snack for Valentine’s Day. They are light, crispy, and airy, and covered in a generous helping of milk chocolate from Hokkaido. I had a bit of a flavor dissonance with these. Every time I took a bite, it felt like I was eating two different things at once.

7 // Chocolate Crunch Rusk – Japanese know how to make a great rusk snack, and this one was no exception. The rusk was chocolatey, crispy and light, and made a wonderful dessert to enjoy with a cup of tea. It basically tasted like a brownie rusk!

8 // Black Goma Senbei (extra) – These crackers are made with sesame seeds, soy sauce, and miso paste, so they have a very savory flavor profile. They were crispy and light, and I actually felt pretty satisfied after finishing the package.

9 // Hakone Milk Cookie (extra) – These individually wrapped butter cookies briefly introduce you to the landscape, nature, history, and hot springs in Hakone. The cookie was crisp, buttery, and full of creamy flavor. It’s the kind of cookie that calls to be served with a cup of milk. Yum!

BOTTOM LINE:

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I got my money’s worth and then some. I had a lot of fun trying different snacks from Japan that I probably would never have discovered on my own. I loved everything, except maybe the heart-shaped rice crackers. I liked the cracker and the chocolate flavors individually, but they didn’t come together IMO. My top favorites were the Strawberry Dacquoise, Pretz, and Hakone Milk cookie. Those three were super delicious and I wish I had a box of each to snack on.

Click here to get $5 off your first Snakku box.

What do you think about the idea of trying snacks from another country? Have you tried any snacks from Japan? Let me know in the comments below!