Friday, June 14, 2013

Product Review: Nestlé: 和苺 (wa-ichigo) Kit-Kat

The Japanese word 苺 (ichigo) means "strawberry".[1] The package says 和苺, but 和 (wa) means "peace"/"harmony", "sum", or "Japanese".[2] A similar-looking character, 味 (aji), however, means "flavor" or "taste.[3] So I'm unsure what to think. Are they trying to say this a harmonious strawberry Kit Kat? A Japanese strawberry Kit Kat? Or did someone mess up and it's supposed to say strawberry-flavored Kit Kat? Interestingly, the first two options could refer to the fact that a specific Japanese variety of strawberry, the Tochiotome (とちおとめ) strawberry, is used. According to enthusiasts [4], the Tochiotome strawberry has a perfect harmony of sweetness and tartness. So maybe this is a Japanese harmonious strawberry-flavored Kit Kat?

My verdict: Whether or not the Tochiotome strawberry indeed perfectly balances sweetness and tartness, the Kit Kat derivative is all sweet. But the strawberry flavor was a little more real than I've experienced in other strawberry-flavored candies. However, the vehicle was all wrong—it did not pair well at all with the Kit Kat wafer in the center. It really needs to be prepared some other way.


Notes:

[1] See http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/苺#Japanese.

[2] See http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/和#Japanese.

[3] See http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/味#Japanese.

[4] See http://www.sushinoms.com/Wa-Ichigo Kit Kat.html.

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