January 6th: Lotte Sasha Chocolate Original

Want to try these Japanese Goodies for yourself? Visit J-List HERE!

Kcal 26 Fat 1.6g Carbs 2.6g (per 1 piece)

Today we have the second little number from my latest box of J-List goodies - these Lotte Sasha Chocolates Original. On the J-List website they come described as 'a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate, woven with white chocolate' and are supposed to cater for those 'who desire more of a sophisticated taste'. Personally I normally view snacks from the Far East as being more 'wacky' and 'innovative' (especially when it comes to flavours!) and not necessarily aimed at an older target market. To keep this review true for it's intended occasion I shared these with the rest of family over the Christmas period ... this was as sophisticated as I could get :)

I probably should have counted how many chocolates there were in the box before we dug in, though I would hazard a guess that there were about 15-20 wrapped pieces. Apologies for repeating myself from my last Japanese review but the packaging was absolutely superb - everything from the outer box to the inner chocolates were immaculate hence the 9.5 rating. Contained within inner plastic packet sleeves each piece was superbly crafted and the woven two tone chocolates looked both intricate and desirable. More to the point they looked exactly like what was promised on the front of the box which frankly I was little surprised to see be a reality.

Having admired both the packaging and the chocolates for a considerable amount of time we finally got around to eating a few and I am glad to report it was a similarly pleasurable experience. Depending on what side you placed on the tongue first the taste was a progressive experience and delivered two unique tones of different chocolate. As with the majority of mass produced 'dark' chocolate the taste was relatively mass consumer friendly in terms of strength however it was noticeably less sugar than the white chocolate and provided a fine amount of unsweetened cocoa flavours. On the contrary the white chocolate was super sweet but this was kept in check by the aforementioned 'dark'. Bringing strong milk and vanilla influences to the party the presence of the white chocolate was certainly welcome and it was a unanimous verdict made by all that both the different chocolates worked in tandem pretty well. As you may have guessed by the nutritional information each piece was pretty miniature (4.6g) but having said that just a few at a time were a satisfying experience.

Overall these a top class that I would recommend on the basis of several reasons. Firstly the product as a whole is presented fantastically with both the box and inner chocolates not only looking classy but also very unique in craft and design. More importantly backing the looks up the actual taste of the product was magnificent - I don't think the chocolates will be winning any awards as separate entities but collaboratively they provided a taste that was nicely constructed with the two tones of chocolates contrasting superbly. Comments by the rest of family went along the lines of that they were be a perfect set of chocolates to bring to a dinner party because the packaging and presentation creates a talkability factor and the taste is better than average - you can't really ask for more than that. By my reckoning these are well worth a look at if you like the more unique snacks from the Far East.

8.2 out of 10

Want to try these Japanese Goodies for yourself? Visit J-List HERE!