Kit Kat – Strawberry Daifuku

I have a vague recollection of mentioning strawberry daifuku before – it’s a somewhat seasonal dessert that is popular particularly in the spring season. It’s basically a mochi filled with red bean paste, and with a strawberry in the center of that. I feel like a big part of the treat is the texture, something that isn’t captured well in anything other than the actual treat itself. But that has never stopped companies from trying, that’s for sure.

I would be very surprised if this flavour isn’t part of their rotation of seasonal flavours that is released in Japan each year. Not necessarily because this flavour is that popular on it’s own, but because the treat that it’s based on is extremely popular and pretty much every company releases their take on the flavour. It almost feels like it’s better to release a less than stellar version than to not release a version at all, because apparently people buy it regardless. What I will say on the smell alone, is that this smells very, very sweet. If it was possible to get diabetes from smelling something, this would be in the running.

Texture is pretty on point for a Kit Kat. The winning formula is their ratio of chocolate to wafer, and this is no different. They have it down to a science, with the chocolate being thick enough to still have a nice snap to it, but not thick enough that it overpowers or coats your mouth in chocolate before getting to the crispy wafer. Standard stuff here; Kit Kats have awesome texture and that holds here.

The white chocolate outer shell is sweet, but not as sweet as you’d think. Or rather, not as sweet as you’d expect from a white chocolate shell. At least, not at first. It’s especially surprising when you smell the piece, and are hit with a sickly sweet smell. There’s a few flavours at play here, and it’s all kind of all over the place. It’s got a mild sweetness to start, and then it as you begin chewing you taste something that is trying to be red bean paste. Every now and then you end up biting into a piece of freeze dried strawberry that’s a bit tart and sour, and helps balance out the earthy sweetness of the red bean. I say it’s all over the place because purely from the standpoint of eating and chewing this normally, you can taste the strawberry, red bean and chocolate altogether. But not in a harmonious way; it’s more like if the three flavours were zombies and they were all trying to catch up to you to eat your brains. It’s a lot to take in at once, and it’s unrelenting, much like a zombie. It doesn’t help that the red bean leaves a very noticeable aftertaste in your mouth. Just in case you forgot there was an attempt at red bean.

All in all, I don’t think this would be for very many people. I feel like I’ve reviewed enough strawberry daifuku chocolate treats to realize it doesn’t really work in this format. It might really only work in the real thing, when you get the chewy texture of the mochi. I think it’s safe to say that for me at least, this is one of those things that’s better in theory than it is in actual execution. If however you enjoy strawberry and red bean a lot, this “may” be for you. But I’d wager it’s still a stretch.