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 theme and flavors.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes!)
About Bokksu
The Subscription Box: Bokksu
The Cost: Classic Bokksu is $39.00 per month + free shipping, Tasting Bokksu is $25.00 per month + free shipping (save with longer commitments!)
LIMITED TIME DEAL: Use code BOGO when ordering a new Classic Bokksu subscription to receive a FREE Tasting box with your shipment!
The Products: Classic Bokksu includes 20-25 Japanese snacks & tea pairing, Tasting Bokksu includes 10-14 snacks & tea pairing—snacks are curated around a monthly theme.
Ships to: Worldwide for free!
Bokksu December 2018 "Winter Festival" Review
Bokksu always starts out with a quick letter of introduction from their founder, Danny Guo:
This month’s theme, Snow Festival, celebrates winter in Japan and bring Japan’s famous snow festivals (yuki matsuri) to you!
The included info booklet is very informative and includes a map referencing the snacks’ origins, plus a lot more information. This month focuses on delicacies from northern prefectures, such as Hokkaido, and includes lovely snow related snacks.
Each snack is described in detail and Bokksu always clearly cautioned ingredients—very helpful!
To the products!
Handmade Mikan Candy – Retail Value $3.00
One of the highlights of each Bokksu box is the handmade, Bokksu exclusive product. December's Bokksu exclusive is a bag of handmade mikan-flavored hardy candy. Mikan is a variety of the mandarin, also called citrus unshiu. It is one of the sweetest citrus varieties, seedless, and distinguished by its thin, leather-like skin and easy peel. The candy had a strong citrus essence and had a very subtle sweetness. The bright color and specks of citrus zest all compliment the warm taste.
White Strawberry – Retail Value $3.00
This is a subscriber favorite Bokksu brought back (I can see why!). At first glance, it's a plain, whole dried strawberry. But. An organic strawberry is free-dried, then INFUSED with white chocolate using chocolate producer Qua's unique process. The strawberries are cooled down to create a balance between soft and crunchy.
These berries are full of strawberries' tart flavor, then balanced with the smooth richness of chocolate. The melting sensation of white chocolate perfectly replaces the juice burst you normally find from biting a strawberry. These are truly magical.
Baked White Chocolate – Buy 12 pieces for $24.00
These chocolates are crumbly bits placed in tiny muffin wrappers. They give such a unique rich, creamy flavor, a mix of crunchy but somehow so smooth. They have the creamy cheesecake flavor, and the crunch of the baked edge reminded me of a graham cracker crust. It had a very buttery kind of flavor.
The savoriness + lovely texture of this snack paired well with a hot cup of green tea (my go-to tea for Bokksu snacks 😉 )
Snow Mimosa – Retail Value $2.00
I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy a cheesy chocolate snack, but wow, was I wrong. The name comes from the lovely cheddar cheese sprinkle, which looks like mimosa flowers laying on white snow (isn't that such beautiful imagery?!)
The biscuit is a rye cookie coated in white chocolate, then sprinkled with Hokkaido cheddar cheese to give a salty note to the sweet treat. I ended up forgiving the extreme sweetness of the white chocolate with the crisp, sharp taste of the cheese!
Fran Double Chocolate – Retail Value $3.00
This is equivalent to a double dipped Pocky; two layers of dark chocolate cover a crispy, pretzel-like wand of biscuit. The first layer is lighter in texture, similar to a mousse, and the second layer is rich dark chocolate. There are three to a package (a box contains 2 packs). At first, you'd wonder why separate into so few? It's because the wands are VERY rich, so it's hard to even finish three. Try stirring these into hot chocolate or coffee (makes a really good mocha)!
Melty Kiss Matcha – Buy 14 pieces for $7.00
I was a little disappointed to see this popular convenience store brand product. While Bokksu says these are winter limited edition, and can only find them in Japan, they really can be found in any Hmart or Lotte. But, that doesn't mean they don't taste nice. The matcha filling is darker than your average snack-matcha-taste, and pairs nicely with the soft chocolate coating.
Milk Mochi Puffs – Buy 4 bags for $8.00
This variety of mochi puffs (we've seen Hokkaido cheddar puffs last month) is a Hokkaido milky white chocolate coating. The 'puffed mochi' part is essentially a rice cloud, and so light. These were so, so, extremely sweet. It was hard for me to eat half the bag, but I passed it on to a friend, who enjoyed the "silky-smooth layer of white chocolate" and described it as "luxury chocolate covered popcorn."
Buttered Potato Rice Crackers – Buy 90 pieces for $30.00
Arare, named after あられ which means 'snow pellets' is a popular Japanese cracker made from rice and flavored with soy sauce. These are sprinkled with buttered potato seasoning and has the rich flavor food of comfort food. Arare is normally a bit salty, because of their soy sauce base, but eating these were like eating salt mines! While I loved the potatoey-crunch of these balls, I was surprised by their saltiness.
Sakebushimaru Salmon Senbei – Buy 20 pieces for $30.00
If fish is not a common part of your diet, you may be put off by the fish-food smell of these crackers (they also look a little similar, with their orange-pink color and flattened pancake shape). But don't leave them! Besides their smell, they taste amazing-- like a crunchy version of salmon over rice with strong pepper flavors.
Tomoriko Corn Sticks – Retail Value $4.00
I was not a fan of the oily residue left after eating these sticks (rolled up corn dough) and was meh of the taste. They do taste exactly like sweet corn, and KO every other corn snack in flavors, but didn't blow me away. They come in a resealable bag, so the after-effect can be avoided by eating a few at a time.
Hoshino Hojicha Latte – Retail Value $1.00
Hojicha is roasted after the leaves are steamed. This process removes the bitterness of the leaves and gives hojicha its signature earthy aroma and lovely red-brown color. Personally, I love drinking hojicha as a cold latte, and these mixes are awesome! Typically, I'm an avoid-iced-drinks-in-winter person, but I made a special exception to make these!
You can use milk or water, but we all know milk makes the mix taste better 😉 For ice drinks, use about 120mL of milk, heat in the microwave, then use a whisk or spoon to mix the powder in.
Pour over ice and enjoy! It is a very sweet drink but has that distinct earthy flavor I love of hojicha.
There was a tiny problem with the shipping- one of the latte packets had a hole, causing the powder to leak; however, it was not a big problem after brushing the powder off!
Verdict: Though I’m not much of a fan of white chocolate flavors, Bokksu’s white winter curation was full of elegant surprises. I loved the beautiful white and gold box—but those chocolate infused strawberries were from another world. Humble in appearance, yet so, so rich and flavorful. The exclusive Bokksu hard candy was such a gentle, citrus flavor I enjoyed eating.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? You must order by the 25th of the month to receive the following month’s box. Order today to receive the February curation. Check out spoilers here!
LIMITED TIME DEAL: Use code BOGO when ordering a new Classic Bokksu subscription to receive a FREE Tasting box with your shipment!
Value Breakdown: This box costs $39.00 + free shipping, which means that each of the 23 items in the box has an average cost of $1.70.
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What did you think of Bokksu's Winter Festival? Do you enjoy the winter flavors?
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