Chocolate is well loved and heartily consumed in Japan, and Meiji is probably the top-selling chocolate brand. According to Mari on the Japanese lifestyle blog Watashi to Tokyo, Meiji manufactures six of the top ten best-selling chocolate bars in Japan (data from Nikkei). The number one spot went to Meiji Milk Chocolate, and Meiji’s Black Chocolate and Hi Milk Chocolate came in fourth and eighth, respectively. These are the three flavors included in the Meiji Best 3 variety pack I picked up at a local Asian market.
Now, while I love Japanese chocolate bars, I also don’t think it is of very high quality. It has a distinct flavor, and it seems to have a lot of fillers. Japanese chocolate is just not, well, very chocolatey. The flavor generally is much more subtle. I found this to be the case with the Meiji Best 3. All three of the bars were on the hard, snappy side (as opposed to, say, Hershey’s Chocolate Bars, which I believe is the U.S. equivalent to the Meiji bars and which are a rather soft chocolate). One thing that struck me was how different the three bars tasted. Here’s the individual breakdown:
Hi Milk Chocolate: This is the milkiest of the bunch (hence the name Hi Milk, I suppose!). It is a little bit creamier than the other bars but has a bit of a powdered milk flavoring. There is a slight fruit undertone, but it isn’t overwhelming or annoying (I am not a huge fan of fruity chocolates).
Milk Chocolate: The number one chocolate slab in Japan, according to Nikkei. Personally, I prefer the Hi Milk Chocolate. I think it has a little more chocolate flavor than the Milk Chocolate. The Milk Chocolate has a very slight tang to it. It’s an unassuming bar.
Black Chocolate: Let’s just say this is dark chocolate for wimps (and I count myself among the wimps. I really prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate). The undercurrent of cocoa makes the bar a little earthier than the Hi Milk or the Milk, but the flavor is still not particularly strong or overwhelming. The Black certainly doesn’t taste like a serious dark chocolate bar.
All in all, I think these bars are just okay. I don’t think I would buy these again, but I would probably buy a large, regular-sized bar of these just to compare them with the mini slabs I purchased.
Buy Meiji candy online:
OMG! I got so excited when I saw your post! Actually, I think I even began salivating! LOL! I just love, love, love Japanese chocolate. The Japanese are geniuses when it comes to sweets! Love it! Oh, and love your site/blog! It always brings me back to either A) my childhood with all the great candy back then and B)my life teaching overseas. I miss Japan! LOL!
January 26th, 2007 at 5:48 pmI was really surprised when I tried Meiji last year in Japan. The packaging (and their location next to the yogurt-flavored taffy) made me think they would be really cheap and gross, but I was quite pleasantly surprised to find that there was none of that cheap chocolate aftertaste that plagues most low-range UK and American chocolate.
…In fact, so pleased that the enormous bag I had bought for a party that night at our house never quite made it out on to the table for public consumption…
But the HI Milk and dark chocolate Meiji bits don’t really do it for me.
February 4th, 2007 at 8:11 amThe Black Chocolate Bar is so awesomely delicious. I really miss my monthly trips to Japan for many of the food and beverage specialties, and especially the Meiji chocolates. Yumalicious! MP
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:34 amwat are the contents of meiji milk chocolate? is it vegetarian?
January 4th, 2009 at 9:34 amI am looking for Meiji (the original Fran Exile). Where can I buy them in the USA? Is it possible to buy them on the East Coast of USA ?
July 27th, 2011 at 3:22 pmThank you for getting back to me as soon as possible!