Reviewed by
Mary
Bokksu is the only Japanese snack box that sources directly from snack makers in Japan, so many of our artisanal products cannot be found anywhere else. Start your cultural journey through Japan by subscribing to Bokksu and receiving a curated box of premium Japanese snacks and teas delivered to your door every month.
They have two levels of subscription: the Tasting, which is smaller, and the one I have received, The Classic. Subscriptions are prepaid for one, three, six, or twelve months.For the Classic box they work out at $39 (around £30), $37, $35 , and $33 per month.As usual, they are priced in dollars, so GBP conversion is according to today’s exchange rate. Obviously this will vary, but it gives you some idea of cost.
Spring in is the air, and this month’s box showcases Japan’s most famous season – Sakura Spring.
Sakura is cherry blossom, and the brief time it blooms is a great time of celebration. The colours and flavours are all here, and even the shipping box has a special limited edition design, which looks beautiful.
The menu booklet is a feast for the eyes too. As well as a beautifully descriptive list of contents, including allergy guide, there is information about the geographic origin of each item as well as information about this wonderful season.
Satsumarche Sakura Sakura Green Tea and Sakura Mochi.
The tea is a special seasonal edition only available in spring, and is scented with real sakura leaves to give a hint of the floral fragrance.
Mochi are famous Japanese delicacies made from pounded glutinous rice. They’re soft and delicious, and these are infused with sakura blossom.
Sakura Monaka and Sukkiri Ume Sour Plum Arare Rice Cracker.
Monaka are another type of mochi, this time a kind of mochi case that surrounds a sweet read bean filling. (You can see one has got slightly squashed here, but it doesn’t affect the flavour!) The filling in these has had salted sakura added which gives it an extra floral note.
The savory rice crackers are flavoured with Japanese sour plum, which gives a slightly sweet tartness to the cracker. Sukkiri means refreshing in Japanese, which is a great way to describe the flavour of these crackers.
Sakura Bouchee and Sakura Chinsuko.
Bouchee are a kind of little sandwich cake with a sweet creamy filling. This version has the cake part flavoured with cherry blossom, with a tiny blossom printed on it, and then it’s filled with cherry juice flavoured cream. The perfect combination of the flower and the fruit!
The little blossom-shaped cookies are simple but delicious. They are a kind of shortbread texture, quite crumbly, and they contain sakura leaves for a slightly floral twist.
Ume Nochi Hare Rice Cracker Mix and Sakura Cake.
The rice cracker selection features sour plum in three variations. Plum is another popular springtime flavour, and as it’s both sweet and salty it is a great complement to rice crackers.
The beautiful sakura cake has been made especially for Bokksu. There are whole petals baked into it, and the soft texture and delicate flavour are a lovely reminder of the soft blossom.
Pure Gummy Premium Mikan & Pink Grapefruit and Handmade Sakura Candy.
Pure gummy candy is a favourite in Japan, and the Premium version has a soft jelly centre. There heart-shaped gummies are flavoured with pink grapefruit and mikan, a Japanese citrus, with a delicious sweet and sour coating for extra zing.
These hard candies are made exclusively for Bokksu and often appear in a variety of flavours. This month they are flavoured with sakura, and they really bring the beautiful flavour to life.
Crepe Colouree Strawberry, Alfort Premium Rich Strawberry, and Suppa Mucho Chips Sour Plum Flavour.
These little strawberry tubes are incredibly light but have a deeply intense flavour. They are rolled crepes, very thin and crisp, and inside is coated with strawberry flavoured white chocolate.
More strawberry with these rich chocolate cookies. There is actually more chocolate than cookie in this treat, being thick pieces of strawberry chocolate with a soft chocolate cookie buried inside. They really do feel decadent!
It might seem unusual to flavour crisps with sour plum, but they embody the whole plum tree, with a floral blossom taste, sour pickle flavourm and earthy perilla leaves. These work incredibly well with slightly salty potato chips.
