Toppo – Royal Milk Tea
Toppo doesn’t release too many flavours, which depending on how you view things is good or bad. Personally I think it’s a good thing to not release too many things, and just focus on what works and what doesn’t instead of the “throw all the darts at the wall and see what sticks” approach.
Like usual, each box has two pouches, and each pouch seems to have about 12 sticks. I haven’t seen those fatter sticks around much, but these standard sized sticks are good enough and still way thicker than what you would expect from other stick chocolates like Pocky.
The flavour of the royal milk tea has a rich, almost creamy smooth quality to it while also having a very floral, almost citrus fruit quality to it. It reminds me a lot of a black tea variant that is similar to Earl Grey but somewhat smoother, likely from the ratio of milk to tea. It has a fairly smooth finish to it on account of the milk helping to cut away any astringent flavours. It has a fairly balanced sweetness that really helps bring out the floral notes and makes it a very distinct, but very pleasant experience. At no point do I question whether this is a milk tea flavour, and it does so quite well, I might add.
The texture is similar to a hard pretzel on the outside, but a nice biscuit on the inside. The chocolate on the inside is very soft, and just solid enough to melt in your mouth, not in your pants. Or was it in your hands? Either way it’s got the perfect level of softness to contrast against the crispy snap of the biscuit. I mention this a lot, but I find it much easier to eat in hot weather than competitors like Pocky or Pepero. It’s quite the advantage, and the ratio seems to be better as well. It’s one of the reasons I keep coming back, and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
As with most Toppo flavours, the texture is a clear winner, and it all comes down to if I want this flavour or another. This one is good enough that I would get it again, and the experience was overall very pleasantly and left me feeling satiated. It’s my belief that this flavour should be an evergreen one, and part of the non-seasonal line up. Then again, I don’t make these decisions.
