Tirol Peach - Chestnut - Persimmon

I was a little confused by the name of this Tirol variety pack, as my knowledge of Japanese proverbs is rather limited. The full Japanese is 桃栗三年柿八年 (momo kuri sannen kaki hachinen), which roughly translates to "it takes time for one's actions to bear fruit." More literally, it means "peaches and chestnuts in 3 years, persimmons in 8." Please correct me if my translation is bad.


I loved the cute characters on the bag and chocolate wrappers, although the peach is a little creepy. I'm pretty familiar with peaches and chestnuts, but I have never tried persimmon (even though I do see them at the supermarket occasionally). According to Wikipedia, the taste is similar to plums and dates. However, I'm not sure it matters for this review - I'll get into that in a minute.


First, I tried the creepy peach. It smelled like peach, and had a gooey gummy center. The gummy did have the texture of peach flesh, but the flavor was nearly overpowered by the taste of sugar. It seemed like most of the fruit flavor was in the chocolate. This was too sweet for me, and something about the peach flavor felt a little fake.


Chestnut smelled toasted, and had a strong, nutty flavor with hints of coffee. It wasn't as overwhelmingly sweet as the peach, but the white chocolate could have been a little richer. The glaze in the middle was nice, though, and overall, I was satisfied.


Last up was persimmon, but as you can see in the picture, this one was actually more like chocolate coated senbei. I'm not sure where the persimmon comes in, and am hoping that one of my readers can help me understand. Still, this was my favorite of the three. The milk chocolate (which seemed a little waxy here) went so well with the mild soy sauce flavor of the crunchy cracker center. It was very well balanced, and I would love to have a bag of just this variety (maybe with a few chestnut thrown in). Forget the peach.

On their own, I would say peach is a C+, chestnut is a B+, and persimmon is an A-. Overall, that averages to a B!

Check out another review of this pack at Tasty Japan!

Tirol website

Iwatsuka Seika Black Bean Senbei

I'm trying to expand my tastes, so these black bean senbei seemed like a good opportunity. Savory senbei haven't appealed to me in the past, but I've grown to like sweet ones.

These came from Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Unfortunately, senbei aren't available where I live, so I stock up on them whenever I can.

These smelled like most savory senbei I've tried: salty with a hint of soy sauce. They had a nice crunch, and were on the harder side of senbei. They had a mild soy taste with a good saltiness, and a slight oiliness.

The black beans added a nice raw bean texture, and they reminded me of soy nuts. I really enjoyed the beans. The senbei was satisfying and salty at first, and then the bean flavor came through. My husband and I both enjoyed these, especially him.

A-

Iwatsuka Seika website

Yuki no Yado Salad Senbei

Even though I love Japanese snacks, I have always had a hard time enjoying senbei (rice crackers). The ones I ate always tasted like pure soy sauce and I couldn't get over the saltiness. But about three years ago, one of my friends came back to the US from two years abroad in Hiroshima. She shared some of her favorite senbei, Yuki no Yado, with me.

These are a little different from normal senbei, in that they have a lightly sweet glaze and less soy sauce flavor. I've always been a big fan of salty/sweet combinations (I used to dip my fries in my Frosty), and these were the first sembei I liked.


The crackers had almost no smell (they are made from rice, after all), just a vague saltiness. They were very crunchy, even moreso than American rice cakes. Of course, these were very salty, but the subtle sweetness from the light frosting was really nice. It made for a delicate balance that satisfied many cravings: crunchy, salty, and sweet.

These make a great snack. My only complaint is that they have a weird sort of stale aftertaste (maybe the salad part), but it's nothing a glass of water can't solve. Plus, they taste so good that I don't mind. These made a good gateway senbei for me, as I now have a much better opinion of more traditional senbei than I used to. I'm no expert, though, so please see Japanese Snack Reviews for many informative senbei reviews, including another take on these!

A-

Sanko Website