Tirol Chocolate – Okinawa Box
Today’s product is the perfect embodiment of that commitment to regionalism. I present to you, the Okinawa box. While the internet has made it a bit easier to procure regional varieties like this, I picked this up during my trip to Japan. As I scoured various convenience stores and grocery stores, I happened upon this bad boy and it was the last one so I nabbed it as fast as my grubby paws could. The box is hefty, which makes sense since it has a 15 piece count.
Anyone who is familiar with Japanese snacks can tell you that they are big on regional varieties and special editions across the pond. Kit Kat is usually the chocolate that comes to mind, when people talk about brands that go full in on the regional varieties. Perhaps its bias because I pay more attention to it, but I feel Tirol does this a bit more than even Kit Kat.
The box looks nicely adorned and decorated on the outside, but you’ll notice that there are crease and cut out lines along the box. That’s because this box can be turned into a neat little display through skilled paper craft. Having said that, a combination of box damage from travel as well as gorilla hands have led to a less than ideal display on my part. I still think it turned out relatively close to what the expectation is. Right?! Well anyways, the main focus here is the chocolates anyways…
First up is the purple yam tart. This one is based on…well purple yam tarts. While I have had the actual dessert, I can’t say I’m a fan of purple yams in general. The piece tastes fairly close to what you would expect, but if you don’t like purple yams (like me), than you aren’t likely to enjoy this piece. It has that cookie centre to simulate the crust of the tart, which is a nice touch to just purple yam flavour.
It’s not the first time I’ve had purple yam or sweet potato flavoured Tirol. Unfortunately, it’s a take it or leave it for me (mostly the latter). I just can’t seem to get into the flavour overall, and it doesn’t help that it conjures up images of play-doh for me.
The second piece is mango. As far as I know, there isn’t anything beyond that. This piece smells and looks like mango I guess? The center has an ample serving of mango jelly.
I say jelly and not jam, because there is a nice chew to it similar to the mochi pieces, but the jelly is flavoured with mango, giving it a strong mango taste overall. It has a distinct mango taste to it, which I actually enjoy, and the nice gummy chew is nice. Apart from that, not much to say about this piece. Did I mention it tastes like mango?
This third piece is based on the chinsuko cookie, which is a popular treat that Okinawa is known for. To oversimplify, this cookie is comprised mostly of lard and flour, and is similar to a shortbread. The texture is roughly the same, but shortbread typically uses butter instead.
This piece is solid, and has little pieces of cookie throughout, simulating that crunch and texture. If you like shortbread style cookies, you will most likely enjoy this. It has a nice crunch to it, but is very crumbly so be careful when biting into it, lest you enjoy a mess of crumbs everywhere.
All in all, this variety is an interesting selection. My favourite is definitely the mango one, followed by the chinsuko cookie. The purple yam tart is not my thing, but I can see how someone would enjoy it. This product is both seasonal and regional, so I’m not sure how difficult/pricey this would be to obtain. If you can find it for around 6 to 8 dollars I’d say it’s a fair price for 15 pieces. If you have to pay more than 10 – 12 dollars though, I might tell you to pass, since the selection isn’t spectacular, as much as I love the mango.
