Drew Tries Stuff: TokyoTreat (Halloween Edition)
I don’t always succeed, but during October, I like for these blogs to have a slightly spooky theme. Sometimes it’s addressed by talking about the holiday itself, or just putting some extra creep into the short-works. One of my favorites is the Drew Tries Stuff entry, which offers a chance to indulge in odd new experiences and usually makes for fun content. It’s one I’d hoped to do yearly, in some incarnation or another.
Little did I know what 2020 had in store. Amidst the ridiculous list of other things that have gone awry this year, one small but relevant consequence is that I no longer felt it was the safest idea to go trawling through every shop in town for the weirdest candy offerings I could come across. But then, just when I’d about decided to skip this feature, I saw an internet ad for something that not only let me hit the theme, it offered new options I could only have dreamed of.
TokyoTreat (who are not sponsoring this) works like most of the other LootCrate style businesses: a monthly service where they send you a collection of things you will hopefully enjoy. Rather than being themed to generic geekery, however, TokyoTreat offers a selection of candies and snacks from Japan. Pretty simple concept, and they seem to execute it well. My box arrived on time, I had the option to track the shipping, and nothing was damaged in transit. So they had the basic logistics down, but I still had to see if they delivered where it counts: the actual snacks.
Unlike with prior Drew Tries Stuff, this one had a lot of entries, since there’s over a dozen snacks per box. I’ll focus on the ones that stood out most to me, but understand it will still only be a small sampling of what I received in total.
Soy Sauce Chips
Starting off fairly basic, these struck me as an interesting flavor concept, but I wasn’t expecting it to stand out too much. Soy sauce has always hit me a bit salty, so I assumed the flavor would line up close to regular potato chips. I wasn’t entirely wrong, either, these definitely wouldn’t throw you for a loop if you scooped one out of a bowl.
That said, there is a very distinct flavor to them, one that captures the spirit of soy sauce shockingly well. And the combination as a whole worked. It’s a specific taste, and one I’m not sure I’d eat with other foods, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. Before I’d even finished the small can in the box, I was searching the internet to see if I could buy more through other sources.
Rating: 4 out of 5 jack-o-lanterns with eyes gleaming a little too bright, and teeth that are much too sharp.
Pudding Marshmallow
Yeah, I’m guessing your eyes did the same thing as mine upon reading that, doubling back to make sure you hadn’t missed a word. But no, you read that correctly, the candy in question is a small marshmallow ball with a pudding-like filling inside. Looks-wise, it was very reminiscent of a plain looking simple bun, only scaled down.
Taste-wise… something of a roller coaster, to be honest. A part of me really enjoyed this sweet more than expected, the marshmallow was a lot lighter than I thought it would be, and some of the filling’s flavor was enjoyable. Unfortunately, the pudding-interior opened with a strong hit of banana. It faded not long after, leaving a nice vanilla aftertaste in it’s place, but as someone who finds no enjoyment in banana flavoring, it was a hard first impression to overcome. If you’re a banana fanana, then this would probably be right up your alley.
Rating: 3 out of 5 zombies high-fiving too hard, then having to go search for their hands.
Kit Kat Apple Pie
Full confession: the inclusion of unique Kit Kats was one of the factors that pushed me into this purchase. They are among my favorite candies of all-time, especially the properly proportioned Big Kat, and I’ve always been bummed that there were so many varieties that never turned up state-side. Thus, this is a component I was really excited to open.
Second confession: I strongly disklike most pie, apple pie being especially high on the list.
So, yeah, went into this one pretty full of mixed emotions. As for the verdict… not bad. Weird, sure, and with definite hints of apple pie throughout, but still palatable for me. If I were someone who actually enjoyed apple pie, this probably would have been a real treat. Still good enough that I ate more than one, though, which feels like a overall strong endorsement considering the circumstances.
Rating: 2 out of 5 shrunken heads screaming forever into the endless void.
Caramel/Choco Corn
This is technically two entries, but both were too good to leave off the review, and since they’re so similar in nature I opted to just combine them into a single entry. Cause y’all, these were fucking delicious.
Despite the name, the candy most closely resembles dry cereal more than pop or candy corn. The Choco variety could be compared to Cocoa Puffs, if the latter were made of far better ingredients and had a dusting of crunchy outer flavor that added to the experience. It’s like what you always wanted Cocoa Puffs to actually taste like, rather than what we all eventually settled for.
As for the Caramel type, these are better compared to the crispy edge of a waffle, one that’s already coated with a smattering of syrup to make it properly sweet. No outer dusting, but the taste was good enough to not need it. I crushed through this bag, and the chocolate, fast enough that I’m a little glad I can’t easily get more. My diet might not be able to handle it.
Rating: 5 out of 5 vampires tripping balls on a rock star’s blood.
There was a lot more to this than I have space to talk about, and all-in-all I really enjoyed the experiment, enough that I might get another TokyoTreat next month. If you’ve found any fun or new candies, be sure to let the rest of us know in the comments! This Halloween especially, we’re all looking for that extra bit of fun.