On my last trip to my favorite Asian grocery store, T&T, I was surprised to find what looked like a lot of takeout coffee cups on the shelf in the candy section. Had a crowd of coffee drinkers decided to abandon their beverages in the candy aisle en masse? But upon closer inspection, it was merely the latest candy offering from Glico, Walky Walky – a pellet-shaped candy packaged in a container that resembles a fast-food coffee cup.

The coffee-cup-shaped container is a cute gimmick, even if it did lead me to believe that they might be coffee-flavored. (Coffee and strawberries? Surely not.) Since they’re made by Glico, otherwise known as “the Pocky people,” my first thought upon looking at the package was to wonder if these were just a bunch of Pocky sticks that had been sliced up into little Tart ‘N’ Tiny-sized pellets, and this first impression turned out to be pretty much correct.

The name “Walky Walky” even sounds a bit like “Pocky” – whether this is intentional or not I don’t know (it’s not like Engrish snack names are known for being logical). I suppose the idea behind the name is that these are easier to eat “on the go” than regular Pocky, though it’s not like Pocky are an awkward shape to eat while walking or anything.

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A recent Saturday afternoon found me cruising the aisles at a large downtown Chinese market that I’d somehow never been to in all my years of living in this town. Naturally, I made a beeline for the candy section. All the usual suspects were there – Kasugai and Lotte gummies, White Rabbits, and a few other things I’d never seen before.

“Ooh, a new flavor of Pocky,” I said to myself. No, not out loud, in my head – what, do you think I wanted all the other shoppers to think I was crazy? “The box is kind of pretty. Wait, what the… Brazilian Pudding? What in the blue blazes is Brazilian Pudding?” The only things I could name that came from Brazil were Brazil nuts, jaguars and Brazilian waxing (and we are so not going to go there on a family website). None of those things had anything to do with pudding or Japanese chocolate-coated pretzel sticks.

My curiosity had to be satisfied, so I picked up a box. After all, there was a toucan on the front, and I’ve never been steered wrong by a product with a toucan on the box. (OK, the only food product I know of with a toucan for a mascot is Froot Loops, but I’ve never had a bad bowl of Sam’s finest.)

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It’s finally October, fellow Candy Addicts, and we all know what that means! Halloween, the best holiday ever, will soon be upon us. Halloween not only marks the opening of “candy season” here in the U.S. but it also allows the shelves of our favorite stores to be filled up with treats to tie us over in the meantime.

I went out in search of some of these early Halloween candies and rounded up a few to share with you here. Isn’t it nice of me to do all the foot work for you? I certainly plan on putting this knowledge to good use: making sure I greet Halloween properly with a sugar-induced coma!

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Pocky, just like all the other candies in the market, is showing off it’s latest and greatest new flavor: “Tsubu Tsubu Strawberry”. The “Tsubu Tsubu” in the name is a Japanese onomatopoeia referencing the chunks of strawberry flesh in the flavored coating. There was a different “Tsubu Tsubu” Pocky last winter as well as a Kitkat. Each box contains 4 packets of 6 sticks, and opens on the side, which is a new design for Pocky’s boxes.

The coating is beautiful with bright pink and red flecks of strawberry flesh. I’d call this Pocky “normal” type because there’s not a lot of strawberry coating on the stick. What is on there, though, is very flavorful: of sweet and intense strawberry. I found the sticks dry because there’s not a lot of coating to balance out the biscuit. This is better than last year’s “tsubu tsubu” Pocky because last year’s strawberry pieces were so big it hurt your mouth when you ate it. It really scratched the roof of your mouth.

I find I miss the heavier Pocky coating of the mousse and Decorer lines. Yes, I am spoiled. Despite that, this is a really delicious flavor, so try it out before it disappears!

• Pocky Website

Buy Strawberry Pocky online:

• at Asian Food Grocer
• at Jbox.com

Keywords: japan, japanese

One thing that makes the long winter months a little more bearable is knowing that Pocky will release new flavors in its “Mousse” line. This year is no different, as they offer the standard chocolate, white, and green tea flavors with the newcomers being “bitter” chocolate and berry. Inside each box you’ll find 3 packets of 4 sticks each. The mousse coating is thick and “whipped” (according to the box) yet I find it’s not very mousse-like in texture at all. I think part of the reason is they’re trying to go for a larger coating-to-biscuit ratio with this series, smaller than Decorer, yet larger than the “regular” Pocky. The biscuit stick breaks easily, so you have to be careful eating it unless you don’t mind using two hands.

White: The texture is very smooth and a bit greasy. I’m not getting a white chocolate flavor at all, but more of sweetness with a dairy-like tang to it. The sweetness makes it tasty nevertheless. The box claims it’s made with German cream cheese and French milk, so that would explain the dairy taste. The biscuit is crunchy and has a subtle cracker-like flavor. Compared to the coating, it comes across a maybe a teeny bit salty. It provides a good contrast to the taste and texture of the “mousse” coating. Overall, this flavor is only so-so.

Berry: The color is a lovely medium pink/lavender color and has a light, very berry flavor. It’s a mix of raspberry and blueberry mostly. It reminds me of a light, refreshing sherbet. The coating is creamy and again, a little greasy in texture. The berry flavor really brings out a vanilla flavor in the biscuit stick. I really love this flavor, so fresh and sweet! Definitely pick this one up.

I find myself unable to refrain from immediately chewing the biscuit in the “Mousse” flavors, which results in bits getting stuck in your teeth. My favorite was to eat this kind of Pocky is to lick the coating away and then munch the stick. MMmmm, yummy!

• Pocky Website
• Pocky Mousse Commercial on YouTube

Buy Pocky online:

• at Jbox
• at Asian Food Grocer
• at Amazon.com

candy, sweets, Pocky, mousse, Japan, Japanese, berry, chocolate