Friday, May 25, 2007
Lotte CrunkyI’ve been looking at Crunky for a few years now. It’s not the name that threw me, it just didn’t seem that appealing. Why buy a Japanese or Korean cheap chocolate bar when we have plenty of them here in the States. But I knew I had to give it a try eventually. Lotte is a huge company, based in both South Korea and Japan, so there are lots of places where you may see these bars in Asia. Crunky Chocolate - Salted Caramel - the description on JBox said that this was a salted caramel bar. I was expecting, as the picture seems to have, some chocolate and some caramel. Instead it’s some sort of a white chocolate bar with a salty and caramelized flavor. It also has the malted crunchies. The wrapper isn’t in English so I’m at a loss to read the rest of the description, but as far as I’m concerned, this is not chocolate. It doesn’t taste like chocolate, it doesn’t look like chocolate. It might be shaped like chocolate, but it’s not. Perhaps it’s off-white chocolate. My feelings of betrayal aside ... it’s nice, and I actually grew rather fond of the not-so-sweet taste. The slightly burnt flavor was also nice as were the crunchies with their malty hit. But the texture of the chocolate itself wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t creamy, it didn’t melt in my mouth. It got soft, it was rather smooth, but it felt more fudgy than chocolatey. Crunky Chocolate - my feelings for the first bar I tried were set aside for this experience. It looks rather traditional, like a Krackle or Nestle Crunch bar, but the chocolate is definitely lighter. It’s certainly well packaged. The easy to open box reveals a large flat bar (well, mine got a little bent in transit from Japan) wrapped in a light matte foil. The chocolate is a little waxy, but very smooth. The flavor is more milky and perhaps a little burnt tasting as several people have mentioned to me. The quality is no better than Hershey’s or Nestle’s standard consumer fare, but perhaps a bit different. I liked the format of the bar, I’ve always found Crunch bars a little too flat, I want the crispies to be really surrounded (I rather prefer the Easter egg versions). Neither of these set my world on fire. Every country has to have a crispy chocolate bar. I like the name, it has a good onomatopoeiaic sense to it. If I were in Japan or South Korea I would probably pick these up as a “safe” choice, but I don’t know if I’d mail order them again. (But they could probably sucker me with some limited edition variety ... because I’m a sucker like that.)
POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:35 am |
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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I’ve never been a fan of Crunky. I love the Engrish name and I’ll buy them for their pretty packaging, but I won’t eat it.
Interesting review, but I wondered if you noticed this…
“The easy to open boks reveals a large flat bar”
Kinda funny how the mind works, eh?
Tristyn - I have a very long explanation about why I’ve suddenly had so much trouble spelling ... but I’ll save that for when I’m not working at my top sekrit job. Thanks for pointing it out ... I fixed it!
Sera - yeah, I knew that you weren’t fond of it and I was pretty sure even before I ordered it you were dead on ... but sometimes I feel like I have to learn these lessons the hard way (and I thought salted chocolate caramel was at least different from the other fare we have access to in the States).
Crunk is a type of hip hop music, originating in Memphis, Tennessee in the early 1990s. The name, a portmanteau of the words “crazy/chronic” and “drunk” referring to the state of being both drunk and high on marijuana/cocaine, at the same time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crunk
http://www.crunkenergydrink.com/
Figna get crunk up in heah.
That looks and sounds as if eating it were a sacrifice. The things you do for the readers…
Nice word usage: onomatopoeiaic. It’s just one of the many reasons I think so highly of you Cybele!
Hahaha, yeah, I think I mentioned my lack of love for Crunky on the Flickr photo you posted. I agree with you though, you gotta try them for the sake of trying them! I did the exact same thing a few days ago for Chocolate NECCO wafers…blech!
the salted caramel bar actually sounds nice!
malt crunchies and not-so-sweet white chocolate, yum. i usually hate white chocolate, but lately i’ve been craving it! the white chocolate from Whole Foods is really really good- i think it was something with vanilla?
i went back and did a search for white chocolate in case you reviewed it and i found it-Green&Black; vanilla white chocolate!
that stuff is GOOD.
LIL John’s Candybar!! Whaaaat!
Looks weird but that’s just me.
Is there a Crunky television commercial?
I’m a fan of this chocolate!!! but i can’t buy it where i live…maybe someone can help me?
Wow, fun to see all these wrappers.
I find the discarded ones and post on my site,
candy and otherwise finds from Japan.
Have collected one Crunky so far, Crunch Chocolate Ice, Banana.
A good find, if I must say so myself!
You guys are out of your minds. Crunky is worlds better than MOST candy you will find in the states. The quality of chocolate tastes much better than most standard candy bars you would find at a convenience store.
Crunky is the best chocolate in the whole entire world, I just need to know how and where I can get it to Australia…after a recent trip to Japan, the 10 packets we brought home was just not enough!!
You CAN get Crunky in Australia. I bought a whole box in one of those Asian supermarkets. Check out Chinatown. There are also a few Japan food shops. You are saved! Also, watch some of the wacky Crunky TVCs on YouTube.
Hey Randall,
I’ve been scouting our Chinatown in Brisbane and have found nothing! Well, that ‘is’ good news!! There is a Japanese food store in Taringa I haven’t checked out yet. There is hope after all!!! Cheers!!!
I am looking for my boss, a Lotte chocolate bar with almonds…he said he used to be able to get it when he visited Korea and can’t find it anymore. He said it is similar to the Hershey Almond bar, but the almonds are much better. Can you help???
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