Bokksu is a premium Japanese snack subscription service. Each box includes an assortment of authentic Japanese snacks as well as a tea pairing chosen to complement and enhance that month's flavors.
The snacks are selected around a cultural theme, and each box contains a Tasting Guide that describes the items and how to best enjoy them.
Bokksu recently upgraded their packaging to this sturdy gift box. It's beautiful and totally reusable!
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Bokksu
The Cost: $39.00 per month + free shipping
The Products: 18-20 premium Japanese snacks including a tea pairing.
Ships to: Worldwide
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March's springtime theme is Snacks Over Flowers in reference to the idiom "Hana Yori Dango," which roughly means "food is better than flowers." The info card was accidentally missing from my box, so Bokksu emailed me a PDF version.
Sakura Rusk
These twice-baked baguette cookies are baked with sakura butter, which gives them just a hint of cherry blossom flavor. The rusks are delicate and crumble in your mouth. I really enjoy the sweet and buttery flavors. Plus, I love the idea of incorporating cherry blossom petal flakes into the cookie.
Sakura Saku Saku Senbei
These thin senbei crackers contain a unique combination of sakura leaves and chili pepper. The resulting flavor is simultaneously sweet and savory. Overall, though, the senbei leans toward savory. I wasn't sure how I felt about this snack at first but I quickly came to love the unusual taste.
White Strawberry
This is another unusual snack. What looks like a simple strawberry is actually a piece of chocolate. According to Bokksu, each strawberry is first freeze-dried and then soaked in white chocolate, which gives it the perfect balance of soft and crunchy texture. It is as if they are hyper-realistic chocolate art made to look like strawberries! I love how the tart strawberry flavor blends so well with the white chocolate.
Pocky Midi Strawberry Fromage
This is for anyone who feels that regular Pocky doesn't have enough chocolate coating. Unlike original Pocky, this limited edition "Midi" sized one has a thicker pretzel stick and a very generous coat of strawberry cheesecake cream. I don't mean to be dramatic but this cream is phenomenal! It's so thick but smooth, sweet but slightly tart... I don't know if I can go back to regular Pocky!
Rufeel Baked Jam Biscuits
Each package contains two strawberry jam butter cookies. The strawberry jam provides the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. The cookie, in turn, balances the strong strawberry notes with a buttery flavor and crumbly texture. These are so good!
Languly Strawberry
These are Japanese langues de chat cookies with an aromatic white chocolate and strawberry cream filling.
I've come to love langues de chat cookies from sampling Japanese snack boxes. This one has the same crumbly butter cookie texture as many others, but the strawberry filling is what sets it apart from the rest. I think I can be full off of its aroma alone!
Ume Sablé
Sablé is a French round shortbread cookie. This Japanese take on the cookie is rich, buttery, and oh-so-delicious. It is shaped like Ume, or plum blossom, and it contains finely chopped plum and shiso (perilla) leaves. I love the flavorful bits of tart plum that emerges from the cookie's buttery sweetness. It's so unique!
Ume Kobucha
Ume Kobucha Tea is a traditional Japanese springtime tea that contains plum from Wakayama Prefecture. It contains a combination of plum, shiso leaves, and kelp. Bokksu mentions that it can be served as tea or soup. Upon first glance, the tea looks like a spice mix. It is supposed to taste "slightly sweet and savory" but honestly, all I got was salty water. In fact, if I must be honest, it reminds me of salt water gargle. The smell isn't too great either-- I know it should be tart from the plum, but it almost smells metallic. This is a big miss for me.
Verdict: The March Bokksu was a delight! Even though I heavily disliked the Ume Kobucha, everything else tasted fantastic and more than made up for the tea. My favorite snack is the Strawberry Fromage Pocky and the Ume Sablé is a close second. It's difficult to calculate a total value (i.e. should I count by packaging or by individual cookies?) but I believe this month's value is equal to or greater than previous months. I also love the new box packaging and hope they continue using it!
What do you think of Bokksu?
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