Tirol Chocolate – Melon Pan

For those who are unfamiliar with what melon pan is, it’s a very popular classic baked good in Japan. It’s called melon pan because the outside of the bun ends up looking somewhat like a melon, and pan because its basically bread. There are a variety of sweet buns across East Asia that take on a similar form, but the most common one and the one I’m familiar with is called a pineapple bun. There are variations and differences between the two, like how melon pan is drier, lighter and the pineapple bun is flakier, denser and moister. Having grown up on pineapple buns I tend to be more familiar with them, but when I have a melon pan I get the same vibe.

As I mentioned, melon pan is named after the shape the bread takes on – it has nothing to do with the flavour of the bun itself. The outside tends to be more of a cookie crumb texture and a has a sprinkling of sugar. This chocolate tries to emulate that with that grainy finish and it does a decent job of it.

The texture inside has small bits of cookie pieces, some sugar and sort of reminds me of the tops of melon pans, but obviously not fluffy since its chocolate. The piece does come together to remind me of biting into an actual bun, largely due to the doughy sensation and the feeling you get when you bit into a sweet bun with lots of sugar on top. It sort of reminds me of what would happen if you just took a piece of white bread and dunked it into a container of sugar. Soft, yet crunchy at the same time, and sweet through and through.

The flavour is very straightforward – think of a sweet bun and that’s it. It has the straight sugar for sweetness, and the biscuit or cookie bits inside give it a bit of a doughy taste that does remind me of eating a cake or doughy donut. It’s actually quite similar to other Tirol flavours I’ve had before that lean into the baked goods, pastries or sweetbreads. It has the distinct buttery, doughy flavour you expect from those things. Plus I’m sure the pieces of bread on the inside contribute to that.

While by no means is this revolutionary in any way, it sets out to do something with a clear objective and I’d say it accomplished it. I enjoyed the experience enough that I would consider doing it again. While it isn’t my favourite Tirol flavour, I’d say this one delivers on the experience and is worth a try for anyone curious.