Black Thunder – Custard Apple Pie

I haven’t had apple pie in ages. It’s not that I don’t like it, oh quite the contrary. The issue becomes that the variety of apple pie that I crave comes only in a couple of sizes typically, big and real big. No one else in my family or friend circle is quite as a fanatical lover of apple pie, so I’m relegated to buying single slices as never enjoying the pleasures of an entire pie with others willing to share. What I’m left with is more often than not, snacks or flavours that emulate the age old treat, rather than the dessert itself. But I’m nothing if not understanding and compromising, so if snacks are the only way to relieve that past time, so be it.

Black Thunder has done me the privilege of providing me that avenue, with their new custard apple pie flavour. I’m not expecting this flavour to remind me of age old America or anything, but I am a fan of apple pie as a flavour, and if any confectionery can deliver that, it’s probably chocolate.

There’s about 8 mini square bites in this pouch. They look like tiny square versions of the standard bar. They smell like caramelized apple. The chocolate on the outside seems pretty standard and looks like the standard en-robing process they do on the full sized bars. I’ve had these mini square bites before in a different flavour, and they were pretty delicious so I have high hopes for this one.

The flavour is really refreshing and fruity – it tastes exactly like how you’d imagine an apple granola bar would taste if it was covered in chocolate. I love apples, and I love granola bars so this is a pure win for me. I don’t really taste the custard, so that part is lost on me. The apple does a lot of heavy lifting here though, and I think they did a good job of not putting too much, and not too little.

The texture is also like an apple granola bar as well. The pieces taste like a normal black thunder bar, very light and crunchy, but with the added mouthfeel of the dried apple pieces. I think the apple pieces will be polarizing, as I know some people who swear that any sort of dried, chewy fruit doesn’t belong in cookies or chocolate while others love it. While the dried apples are fairly chewy and don’t exactly compliment the light, ‘single chew’ texture of the bar, I do like what it adds flavour wise. I also enjoyed granola bars in general as a kid, so I’m enjoying these quite a bit as well.

The only downside of this is that they are horrendously addictive (for me at least) and each pouch only has about 8 bites. I need more of these, but they aren’t readily available outside of Japan. I sincerely hope they make this a recurring flavour at the very least. If you can’t get your hands on this, I guess you could go out and find a apple granola bar that’s dipped in chocolate. The main difference would be that this doesn’t have oats that get all stuck in your teeth crevices.

I would definitely be a repeat customer of these. While Black Thunder typically leaves me wanting more (not that these don’t), they also do an ever so slightly better job of leaving me feeling sated, so that’s a plus I guess.