Pocky – White Peach and Strawberry
Anyone who has read more than one of my reviews of strawberry flavoured anything, which looking back is actually quite a few, will know that I talk about Pocky a lot as my standard for artificial Japanese strawberry flavours. There’s just something so iconic about the standard strawberry Pocky, that I’m fairly certain if you’ve tried it, you can remember the flavour perfectly with your mind’s tongue.
This particular flavour is one of the limited edition “From Japan” flavours that commemorates their 50th anniversary. In particular, this is the combination of the white peach and strawberry flavours. It comes in a nice, fancy box too. I almost don’t want to open it. But I will because these things do expire.
The box opens to reveal four individually packaged pouches, similar to any other Pocky product. Each of the pouches is a fancy plastic packaging, with a nice refreshing design that really breathes life into the idea that this is an exotic, refreshing flavour. Each of the pouches seems to contain about six sticks. Appearance wise the sticks look very similar to what is advertised on the box, which is always a plus. Too often we see snacks here in the north where the items you see on the packaging are clearly the bigger, more handsome version of the one you actually get inside the package. I won’t name names, but some candy bars have caramel that’s way less creamy or gooey than they lead you to believe. it’s that level of disappointment that has left me a bitter and jaded old bear. Anyways.
The smell is very fragrant, and I’m still trying to figure out if I can pin down the smell of peach or strawberry more. It almost seems that they are so evenly matched I can’t pin down which one is more dominant. I hope to one day find someone who compliments me in the same way; neither flavour smells stronger or weaker, but perfect equals, neither being the top or the bottom. Just as I think the strawberry is taking the lead, the peach comes back to remind me that it’s just as important.
As with the case of many Pocky varieties I’ve had, the smell and flavour aren’t that different. I want to say that the pink stick is a strawberry flavoured biscuit, while the chocolate is peach. I can’t be sure though, as the flavours actually go together so well it’s hard to tell where one ends and another begins at times. What I can say is that the pink biscuit does seem to be strawberry flavoured only. The chocolate, I’m not too sure about. It seems to be peach, but I can’t tell if the slight strawberry taste is from the biscuit or it’s my mind playing tricks on me. You would be surprised at how notoriously difficult it is to separate the chocolate from the biscuit without mixing the two. From what I can tell, it does seem that the chocolate is just the white peach flavour, but again, I really can’t be sure.
The stick itself has a very nice clean snap to it. It’s got a slight airy, puffy kind of snap to it. Something you would find on a real light biscuit. The chocolate is quite flavourful, as I mentioned earlier. The initial bite almost reminds me of a carbonated peach and strawberry soda for some reason, as if biting into it releases bubbles. It’s nice and floral, but neither fruit comes across too strong, and each is more than willing to yield right of way to the other. If only drivers here were more like that. Apparently snow brings out a false sense of security in them and they start zipping all over the place.
The texture of the chocolate is pretty balanced, I find. It’s not too much that the stick snaps under it’s own weight, but it’s got enough that it can indeed snap if you apply even a little too much pressure in the wrong direction. I sometimes wonder how much thought and testing they’ve put into mastering the whole experience over the past half century. The chocolate is very pliable and has a nice melty texture as soon as you put it in your mouth. This leads me to believe that transportation of these is a potential nightmare. The slightest bit of heat and you’ll have a chocolaty, peachy mess on your hands.
I like to think that they apply the same level of thought and care into their other flavours, if not more so than a limited edition one like this. It just so happens that they nailed the flavour on this one to the point that I can’t imagine why they haven’t made it part of their standard, non-limited flavours. The big takeaway here is that I am quite fond of this flavour, and would absolutely get it again.
I don’t see this flavour often where I am, and when I do it is quite expensive. I can kind of understand why though, as this flavour is top notch. To me it’s worth the price tag just to try, but your mileage may vary.
