Meiji – Brown Sugar Chocolate Almonds

Brown sugar is one of the things that Okinawa is famous for, so obviously they had to find a way to incorporate that into a chocolate almond. I sort of wonder what the craziest thing they have created including brown sugar. Truthfully it’s sugar so even though it has a distinct flavour, I feel like it can pair well with anything. Meats, candies, snacks, the potential is limitless. Well, limited by diabetes, but you get the point.

One of Meiji’s staple candies is chocolate almonds, so it makes perfect sense they would throw in some brown sugar and call it a regional special edition. Having said that, chocolate almonds as they are don’t vary that much. I mean, obviously there is variety based on what chocolate is used, the quality of ingredients and the almonds, and other factors that may impact the flavour and texture. But at it’s core, as long as you have the two corn ingredients right, it’s hard to mess up.

These smell of very distinct brown sugar – for those unaware, it’s like a maple syrup or burnt sugar kind of smell.It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, sure. But the flavour profile is appealing to a big enough audience that this makes its rounds in the ever rotating seasonal flavour roster. It reminds me of when I was younger and trying to force myself to enjoy it because it seemed like something adults would enjoy. It obviously didn’t work at the time, and it took me quite a few years and life experience before I came around to the flavour. And that I did.

This is no exception to the rule of hard to mess up snacks. Once we get past the somewhat underwhelming appearance, the chocolate has a strong, distinct brown sugar flavour to it. similar to how it smells, it would remind you of a deep earthy sweetness that is reminiscent of maple syrup, or molasses. Again, not everyone’s cup of tea, but it has enough of an interesting and unique flavour profile that it will undoubtedly appeal to many, myself included.

The brown sugar gimmick is mostly for the flavour, and on the texture front there’s nothing too special about these – it’s an almond covered in chocolate. Nothing revolutionary but it has the right amount of chocolate to nut ration, so it has a nice chew and subsequent crunch. These are pretty standard sized as well, so again, nothing too special. Yet another case of doing something right will not garner any real attention, but doing it poorly will. This fortunately is in the former bucket, so everything is working as intended like a well-oiled machine.