So this year I made two new years resolution, for the benefit of my long term wellbeing.
The first was; try to avoid sugar.
Er…Wherever possible
And the second was; try to avoid alcohol.
Er…Within reason.
But today I genuinely have a plausible excuse to break those two resolutions.
Because look what some clever people in a room have come up with.
Kit Kat sake.
I won’t lie, the design is pretty eye-catching
with the cherry blossoms and the bottle of sake, which actually looks pretty similar to a real bottle of sake.
Here’s one such example.
Although this bottle appears to have some missing.
Er… I dunno where that went.
But unlike a lot of alcohol flavoured sweets
Kit Kat sake really does have alcohol in it
.8% alcohol to be precise.
In fact there’s a disclaimer here that says if you’re a child or a weak drinker, please refrain from buying this item.
I haven’t yet heard of anyone getting drunk off of these.
I did think about making some kind of challenge style video to see if it was possible.
Until I realised, I would probably die of a Kit Kat overdose
long before the alcohol would have time to kick in.
And not even I’m particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of death by Kit Kat.
Now to you and I, a kit kat is a relatively tasty chocolate biscuit made by nestle the world largest food company.
Unless you’re in America, where Kit Kats are made by Hershey’s,
who have a reputation for making the most delicious chocolate in the world.
If your tastebuds, are broken.
But to the Japanese, Kit Kats are just
so much more than just chocolate biscuits…because look.
On the back here there’s a space where you can write a message.
And the reason you can write a message on the back is because in Japan,
Kit Kats are actually used as a good luck charm, I'm not even making this up!
In fact, Kit Kats in general are an excellent example of how to win at marketing and branding.
A few years ago Nestlé noticed surging sales of Kit Kats every January.
And it turned out that customers were buying them
as good luck presents for students sitting University exams.
And thats because the name Kit Kats sounds a lot like the Japanese expression "KITTO KATSU”.
which means “to surely win”.
And when Nestle heard students were using it as good luck charm,
not only did they put a space on the back of each box where you can write a message and give it as a gift…
But they even worked with the Japan Postal service to create a full sized postable version of a Kit Kat.
And the end result is a huge number of sales every year when hundreds of thousands go to sit their exams.
But perhaps even more impressively Kit Kats have even gone on to become
a premium confectionery brand in Japan – with their very own branded boutiques in Tokyo
and a huge variety of flavours to buy from Green tea to Strawberry Cheesecake and Wasabi.
Literally all of the flavours of the…
...edible rainbow.
I make it up as I go…
But as a British guy who sees Kit Kats as just another chocolate biscuit
- in the country where Kit Kats originate from -
to see it ingrained in Japanese culture in this way is really quite a bizarre and strange thing to take in.
So to any confectionary executives watching back in Europe and America, hurry up
and think of something that sounds good when translated into Japanese
and take the country by the storm.
Anyway, now we know the back story let’s see if these are any good.
Inside both boxes we have these small packs and yet again a nice design
and a little space where you can write on the back
for if you’re really stingy and give this a gift as opposed to an actual sized box.
Honestly if someone gave me this as a gift, I think I’d offended as opposed to grateful.
It’s like buying someone a sip of beer.
So the chocolate itself is white - and the first thing you notice is the smell
Wow!
It really does smell like sake,
which is difficult to describe but it’s kind of like a sweet dry white wine smell.
The closest thing I can think of.
If I was to compare to a bottle of sake…
Yeah, they’ve nailed it.
It honestly smells exactly the same and it tastes…
Wow!
Very good.
Very very good.
So it starts off tasting like white chocolate
but instead of that sometimes sickly aftertaste you get with white chocolate
it’s drowned out by that hint of sake
And it really works.
Let’s have another one.
I have to say I actually prefer this to the taste of regular Kit Kats.
This is strangely addictive.
What would I give it on a scale of 1 - 10?
I need more time to reflect.
I’d give it…
9/10.
Honestly 9/10. It’s that good.
And its a genuine tragedy that it’s a limited edition thing.
If you can get your hands on it, definitely try and get it.
I think you can probably find them online somewhere.
But it is really good. I highly recommend trying it.
Kit Kat Sake.
Only thing is… one pack is 64 calories and I’ve had about 6 packs which is….a lot of calories.
So I’m going to have to have a 90 minute brisk walk now to try and burn them off.
And I don’t feel that well.
I shouldn’t have eaten so many so quickly.
Maybe it is a good thing that they’re limited edition after all.