Meiji Royal Milk Tea Meltykiss

My love affair with Meltykiss goes back years. I can't remember exactly when I first tried them, but I've tried so many varieties that I've come to consider them a sure thing. New flavors therefore must be sampled.

This winter, Meiji brought out Royal Milk Tea Meltykiss, which doesn't seem to be a re-release. I purchased my box from napaJapan for $4.99, which is 50 to 70 cents more than other flavors, suggesting this could be rare (or popular) even among limited edition flavors.


The cubes were wrapped in a lovely bold metallic blue, and had the signature Meltykiss dusting of cocoa powder. They smelled bitter and a bit floral (much like milk tea). Initially, the cocoa powder seemed extra bitter, but it's been a while since I've had Meltykiss, so my memory could be failing me.

The chocolate reminded me of Earl Grey tea, and though it tasted like bottled royal milk tea mixed with hot cocoa, it was missing that rich heavy cream note. Of course, the chocoalte had that signature Meltykiss meltaway texture. Despite the lack of heavy cream, this was a very tasty flavor, and if it was available locally, I'd certainly buy them again.

B+

Meiji Website (Japanese)

Meiji Almond Meltyblend

I'm not sure why I keep seeing Meltykiss and Meltyblend. Here's a picture of the same chocolate, taken by a Flickr contact of mine, but the box says Meltykiss whereas mine says Meltyblend. Maybe they changed the name for sale outside of Japan?

Anyhow, I've written several reviews of Meltykiss and could go on and on about the smooth, velvety texture of the chocolate. But instead, since this is a new flavor, I'll focus on the flavor.


Upon opening, the chocolate smelled very nutty. I was expecting more of an amaretto type almond, for some reason, with cherry notes. While I could smell a little bit of that, it mostly smelled like the nuts themselves.

The taste was pretty similar to milk chocolate, but somehow, Meiji has managed to preserve the taste of almonds without adding any texture whatsoever. Just like the smell, there were mild hints of amaretto, but mostly, it reminded me of eating chocolate with chopped nuts inside, but without any crunch. I must say, I loved these and found it hard to stop eating them.

A

Meiji Website (Japanese)

Meiji Fruity Strawberry Meltyblend

There is a whole lot of strawberry going on in this blog right now! I've got another strawberry candy reiview to add soon, too. But about this one...

Meiji's Meltyblend (also known as Meltykiss) is one of my favorite chocolates. Ever since a friend sent me some matcha Meltykiss a couple years ago, it's something I look forward to every year. I've reviewed a couple other kinds (Dark Rum and Matcha), so this is kind of a mini-review. Meltyblend is all about texture, and that really hasn't changed.

The most recent strawberry flavor is really delicious. It's melty, buttery chocolate with a nice strawberry taste. It reminded me of strawberry frosting, and was very tart and genuine. Also, I found 1-2 cubes to be quite satisfying. Yet another hit from Meiji.

A-

Meiji Website (Japanese)

Meiji Dark Rum Meltykiss

Dark Rum Meltykiss was one of the first treats I bought in Japan (along with Pure Blueberry gummies) from the Lawson near our hotel. As I've said many times, I'm a sucker for limited edition and new candies, so I couldn't pass these up. I'm also a huge fan of Meltykiss.

These are special for winter, and I think there were two other flavors available: strawberry and maybe a regular milk chocolate. I can't remember. Anyhow, Dark Rum sounded the most interesting, so my husband and I chose that one. Inside the box, the chocolates came individually wrapped in lovely metallic purple wrappers.

As usual with Meltykiss, there is a thin coating of cocoa powder on the outside of the chocolate (not nearly as uniform as the picture on the box). The first taste was a nice rum flavor, not overly strong but the taste of alcohol was definitely there. After that, as the chocolate melted, it was pretty much the usual smooth Meltykiss milk chocolate. Very tasty, but the rum flavor was mostly gone.

In any case, my husband and I both liked them, as did the friends who tried these. However, if you don't like candy that tastes like alcohol, you won't care for these.

B+

Meiji Website (Japanese)

Meiji Matcha Meltykiss

As I mentioned in my review of the Meiji Rich Matcha bar, Meiji is the authority on matcha chocolate. Matcha Meltykiss (or Meltyblend, as I think it's now called) is the buttery, sweet epitome of matcha chocolate. It's another candy that seems to only be out in winter, but it's worth the wait.

Each box contains plenty of individually wrapped chocolate cubes. To be more specific, they are matcha white chocolate cubes coated in chocolate with a powdery cocoa finish. Even though they are small, you'll want to savor them, believe me. The inner matcha white chocolate is delightfully smooth, silky, buttery, and rich.

There are other flavors of Meltykiss/blend but the matcha really shines. It's just strong enough to have a true green tea flavor, but not so strong as to scare the hesitant. This is one of my favorite candies of all time, and it makes a great souvenir for family and friends. It's just so hard to give them away....

A+

Meiji Website (Japanese)