Morinaga Koeda Chestnut

Chestnuts are classic fall food in Japan. I bought these last fall and have had them since, and finally decided to review them. The expiration date was this month, too. I have had mixed experience with Koeda, but I really liked the matcha and I'm always willing to give things a try.

As I said, chestnuts are traditional fall food in Japan. They find their way into ice cream parfait, buns, and candy. Chestnuts aren't too common in the United States (except for at Christmas), but they have a nice, mild flavor.


The stick smelled toasty, and a bit like butterscotch. The flavor was most certainly chestnut, and the light crisps added a nice texture. The chocolate wasn't anything special as far as texture, but the taste was pretty complex.

Although rather sweet, there was a nice hint of bitterness. It wasn't my favorite flavor of Koeda, but it was still a tasty treat. The unique, twig-like shape makes for a fun snack, and I look forward to other limited edition flavors.

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Morinaga Website (Japanese)

Morinaga Shirakanba no Koeda

I've been studying Japanese for a while, but it's always nice to learn something from candy. Looking at these, I had no idea what a 白樺 (shirakanba) was, and now I know it's a Japanese white birch. So, these could be called Morinaga White Birch Twigs.

In any case, these are a special version of Koeda chocolate for winter. The box claimed they were made cashew nuts and another mystery word:　ラングドシャ (rangudosha). After some digging, I found out that it was French - Langues de Chat, which means cat tongues. Basically, they are crunchy, buttery cookies that are sort of shaped like a cat's tongue.

I don't think I've ever had to do so much research to understand a snack! It's too bad, too, because these just weren't that good. All that hype for some buttery white chocolate. The box had 12 packs with 4 sticks each, and I have only had 1 pack since I bought them a couple weeks ago.

The sticks were very rich, and the main flavors I picked out were butter and vanilla. I couldn't detect any cashew bits in these, and a little saltiness would have been nice. They were okay, but very rich; not something I'd want to eat a lot of. They were such a let down, because I really loved the matcha Koeda. At least I learned something.

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Morinaga Website (Japanese)

Morinaga Koeda Deep Matcha

Yet another box of sweets from my recent trip to Japan! These were purchased at a grocery store in Osaka about a block from my hostel. On a side note, I'd definitely recommend staying at that hostel (J-Hoppers) if you are traveling on a budget! My husband and I both found the beds comfortable, the rooms quiet and clean, and the location very convenient. But back to the chocolate...

Basically, these are chocolate covered matcha sticks. Koeda means twig, and I suppose that's a more picturesque description. The matcha part has a crispy texture, possibly from rice. There was also a chestnut flavor, but I gave those away to a friend, so sadly, I have no idea what they taste like. In any case, I find the packaging to be pretty and even classy. Who doesn't love classy chocolate? You can see from the picture of the box (which wasn't photographed very well, I apologize) that the outer layer is chocolate and inside is matcha white chocolate and (presumably) crisp rice.


The box contains several bags (6-8, I can't remember), each containing two twigs. The whole box has over 20 grams of fat, so it's definitely a "pace yourself" kind of sweet. Pacing myself was not easy, however, because these are delicious! The matcha taste is just right, and the smooth chocolate melts with the crispiness so well. They were not too sweet, but not bitter, either. I was so sad when they were gone and will be asking my Japanese friend to bring more when she visits this winter.

In the past, I have used these as an edible garnish for matcha ice cream because I find them so delicate and pretty. They also tasted good cold. I could eat these forever. Again, I may be biased. It seems a lot of my matcha reviews are As...

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Morinaga Website (Japanese)