Clockwise from upper left - Marron (Chestnut), Okinawa Brown Sugar with Soy Powder, Dark Chocolate, Coke and Lime Squash, Sakura Flavored Green Tea, and Bitter Almond (in the center)

I’m particularly drawn to the unusual, but this doesn’t really apply when it comes to food, or in particular, chocolate.  Several months ago, I happened to listen to NPR’s Morning Edition about the outrageous flavors of kit kats in Japan. That segment gave “unusual”, especially as it pertains to food, a whole new meaning for me. They talked about wasabi-flavored Kit Kats and soy sauce-flavored Kit Kats, flavors you wouldn’t normally associate with chocolate! I was intrigued!

Here in the States, we have the regular Kit Kats, chunky Kit Kats, and I think I’ve even seen white chocolate Kit Kats on occasion.  Of course we have variations on these in various sizes but I believe that’s about it as far as Kit Kats go over here.

So I knew what I had to do when we got to Japan: I was on a mission, to try to find the weirdest chocolate Kit Kats out there – and eat them!.   I didn’t have to look far. Every “combini” or convenience store has them.  In fact, what I had learnt from NPR was that in order to differentiate one convenience store from another, each tries to sell a more unusual Kit Kat to attract customers.  Within a 1 mile radius of our hotel I was able to find the following flavors – “Sakura-flavored Green Tea”, “Coke and Lime Squash”, “Bitter Almond”, “Dark Chocolate”, “Marron” (chestnut) and “Okinawa Brown Sugar with Soy Powder” Kit Kats!  The verdict – as one would expect, the dark chocolate and bitter almond Kit Kats were outstanding! The “marron”, green tea and Okinawa brown sugar (similar to molasses) were pretty good, and the Coke and Lime Squash Kit Kat was downright appalling.

In the end I’m glad I tried them all, but for me, it just reinforced the idea that if it doesn’t sound appealing, it probably isn’t – especially when it comes to my sacred dessert!