Monday, July 28, 2014

Coffee and Almond Chocolate Crush Pocky - Philadelphia's Chinatown, PA

Coffee and Almond Chocolate Crush Pocky - Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ
It's been a while since I've reviewed Pocky, I think the last time was back in September when I found that Rare Cheesecake flavor in Chinatown, but I haven't seen any new flavors in my area. I'm not sure if they just aren't being imported like they used to, or if there haven't been that many new flavors released in Asia (which I doubt), but I got my hands on two new boxes to review.

Let's start with this coffee and chocolate Almond Crush Pocky!


The packaging may seem similar to the Almond Crush Pocky I've reviewed in the past (I still gotta convert that post to Blogger), but the design has gotten a lot more sophisticated. Instead of a gaudy gold box with a tea set that made little-to-no-sense, this packaging as a caramel colored gradient with a semi-matte finish and a little-to-no-sense draped fabric and bow themed background. Although the backdrop seems just as random and out of place as before, it creates an elegant and sophisticated feeling for this item. I can't speak for it's target audience in Japan, but I think this flavor combination and packaging would really appeal to people in their late 20's or older here in America. (I'm 26 and it got my attention.)


Again, just like before, the Pocky sticks are sealed in individual packages containing four sticks each. Due to their double-dipped chocolate coating and ground almonds, these biscuits are a lot thicker than normal Pocky flavors, so four to a package works out quite well.

I opened the package and plucked out my first stick of Pocky. Surprisingly, it doesn't smell strongly of chocolate. The first thing I can smell is the nutty aroma from the almonds, and that's followed by a hint of mocha coffee. The scent is not overly sweet, even though this looks like milk chocolate, and I found it to be really appealing.


I took a bite, and the chocolate began melting right away. (It's summer here in New Jersey and it's averaging about 80+ degrees F each day, plus these were under hot photo lights, so it's to be expected.) The chocolate is mild, but sweet, about on par with a Nestle chocolate bar but no where near as sweet as Cadbury, and the almonds are crispy and flavorful. Actually, the almond seem to steal the show. Their strong flavor and texture is front and center while the coffee and chocolate take a back seat. I really enjoyed the chocolate and almond flavors, but the coffee notes were a bit hard to place. It isn't until everything is chewed and swallowed that you're left with that dry bitter aftertaste that I relate to coffee.

After eating an entire 4-stick portion of these, the coffee flavoring builds up a bit, but it isn't all that powerful. (Until you get the lingering coffee-breath aftertaste.) I gave a package to my coffee loving boyfriend and asked him to guess the flavor, and it took him quite a while to guess coffee, so you coffee addicts out there will find this flavor to be pretty disappointing in the coffee-department. Personally, I really liked these. The coffee flavoring is subtle, and this tastes just like dipping biscuits into melted Hershey bars with almonds and a bit of instant coffee. I would easily buy another box of these for my desk at work, they'd be a nice weekday pick-me-up, and the box would look pretty nice on my desk.
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