Toppo – Ghana Rich Chocolate
Lotte, like many other brands in Japan, is no stranger to do cross-brand collaborations, like Toppo and Koala’s March. I mean, it makes perfect sense to combine two well-established brands into a special limited edition flavour. Except this one isn’t a limited edition, as far as I know. I’m guessing this particular flavour is popular enough that they decided to keep it around long term. It just makes sense when you consider that Ghana is Lotte’s main bar chocolate product, and Lotte is their chocolate filled pretzel brand. One might even say it’s expected and not worth calling out. But marketing is marketing, so why not.
Ghana chocolate, unlike the Crunky brand which focuses on texture, is usually solid chocolate in the form of a bar, and is known for being very creamy and rich. I’m expecting that with this particular flavour, as it’s played up in the marketing and packaging, with that melty piece of chocolate. What a tease. They got me though, being the sucker for chocolate that I am. Well, that and I probably would have bought this regardless since I’ve come to adore Toppo. One sided love is always such a dangerous thing.
This is one of the “big” varieties I’ve mentioned before – each pouch has seven hefty, substantial sticks. That may not sound like much, until you actually hold one of these in your hand and see just how thick they really are. If I were to guesstimate, I’d say that one of these sticks is equivalent to about 2 to 2.5 sticks of Pocky in terms of substance.
The flavour of the chocolate filling is somewhat typical semi-sweet chocolate. I’d probably clock it in around 55% chocolate. It’s not too sweet, but not bitter. The perfect balance for a nice, snackable chocolate. The chocolate itself tastes very similar to what you’d get if you bought a bar of the darker Ghana chocolate bars on it’s own. They are typically of the milk variety but tend to have very strong cacao flavour. Even the packaging has a little banner saying “extra cacao”. I would be inclined to agree, with the rich flavour it has. It’s definitely got a nice, quality chocolate flavour to it, with a relatively creamy finish to it. Given that it’s in the middle of a pretzel though, odds are you will be chewing this instead of leaving it in your mouth to melt. Which brings me to the texture.
The texture is that typical, hefty pretzel like biscuit. Unlike a typical pretzel these have a heft and thickness to them that reminds me more of the traditional thick pretzel, as opposed to the thin, easily snapped gas station pretzel knots. It’s the perfect compliment to the chocolate filling, as it keeps it together and keeps your fingers from getting all messy.
It might sound like an exaggeration but I did feel a bit full after eating one pouch. Unlike eating a lighter snack like Pocky, I didn’t feel the desire to eat more afterwards. Not to say these aren’t good, because they are awesome. It’s just that when you reach a certain capacity, or have something very satisfying, you don’t feel the craving for more in that moment. Much like my typical experience with Toppo, they really do hit the spot. This flavour more so than the others, and maybe it’s because the chocolate feels richer than the other flavours I’ve had like berry.
I imagine these will be easier to find then the limited editions, since this appears to be a standard flavour. Definitely would recommend these, but maybe save them for when you need a satisfying snack or can share a pouch, since they are a bit more filling than you’re usually stick snack.
