kit-kats of japan

Japanese KitKat candy bars come in all sorts of weird, bizarre flavors. When we visited Japan, we noticed that there’s definitely a ‘candy culture’ around interesting and unusual sweet (and sometimes sweet-bordering-on-savory) treats. So, when thinking about a fun souvenir to bring home, what better thing to share with our friends and clients than a sampling of Japanese KitKats in assorted odd flavors?

In Tokyo, there are entire stores devoted to selling a full range of KitKats to fans of the chocolate wafer candy bars. So, we made a bee-line for the flagship (?) boutique store for Japanese KitKats—the KitKat Chocolatory, which is in the Ginza neighborhood—right around the corner from a lot of the high-end department stores, and just a short walk (or maybe a medium-sized walk) from the old fish market.

The store on the first floor was small, but upstairs, there’s a café, in case you want a beverage to go with your weird Japanese KitKat. Since KitKats are Nestlé products, don’t be surprised if Nescafé is offered to you as a drink option. Personally, I don’t trust Nescafé, because the word “nescafé” translated to English from a slurred-together Spanish, literally means, “It’s not coffee.” (No es café.) Our recommendation—stay downstairs and load up on candy bars.

So what kind of flavors of KitKat can you find in Japan? Well, there are some standard milk and dark chocolate KitKats, some of which are made with higher-grade chocolate, some with cacao percentages identified, for those of you who aren’t yet in a 12-step program for chocoholism. But we bought some other crazy flavors, too, including maple pomegranate, strawberry pistaschio and butter. Yeah. Butter-flavored KitKat bars! I’m just hoping that it’s not a a wafer cookie coated in actual butter. I haven’t actually sampled that one, yet. I’ll let you know.

Or, better yet, you could find out for yourself! And you don’t even have to travel all the way to Japan! If you’re anywhere near Brooklyn, on Saturday, June 22, 2024, we’re hosting a special Japanese KitKat Tasting Party at Hinterlands Bar, in Brooklyn, from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m., including some that are only labeled in Japanese!

 

In addition to tasting KitKats, we’ll be buying a round of drinks, and we’ll have information about our exclusive off-the-beaten-path Japan tour in October of this year.

And, of course, if you’re thinking about a fabulous adventure in Japan, don’t hesitate to let us know. We’d love to help with something like that!