The Japan Crate Premium box is all about the holiday season and activities for December!
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Japan Crate Premium
The Subscription Box: Premium Box by Japan Crate
The Cost: $30 per month + free shipping
The Products: 15 snacks including a drink, 1 guaranteed DIY kit, and a revolving bonus item
Ships to: Internationally with a few exceptions found here
Japan Crate Premium Box December 2017 Review
This month's booklet is much smaller than last month's, but still has a lot of the same information. There are great detail and photos for every snack in this month's box. Plus, there is a section about different festivals and events that happen in Japan in the month of December.
Let's see what snacks December has to offer!
Butter Cream Roll Cake - Estimated Value $0.75
Can I get an entire box of these, please?! I can't get over how delicious this little cake roll was! This lovely treat is very similar to a Little Debbie Swiss Roll, but it felt much more handmade if that makes sense. The outer cake was sweet like vanilla and the inner swirls were filled with a thick butter cream. This honestly tasted like icing on a birthday cake. Sadly, I wasn't able to find this for purchase online so my price is an estimate, but trust me I would have bought a whole box if I could!
Cassis And Orange Orangina - Retail Value $3.50
This fun little bottle reminded me of the summer! A great treat to receive during the cold months to brighten your day. The flavors were very sweet and bubbly. This was essentially an orange soda with lots of sugar and fizz. A simple drink that I actually really loved drinking since I don't normally buy soda.
Christmas Black Thunder - Buy a bag of 15 for $8.25
This mini chocolate bar was so delicious! Plus, the packaging was super unique. The filling is super crunchy and sweet with a thick chocolate cookie similar to an Oreo. Outside is a layer of creamy chocolate that melts in your mouth. I loved how much chocolate was packed into this one mini bar, and the crunch added a whole other level of awesome!
Christmas Caramel Corn - Retail Value $2.75 (currently sold out)
I have had Tohato caramel corn before and always love it! Plus, the bag is so big you will be snacking on this for days. Each little corn puff is light and fluffy with a great crunch. Then you get hit with these sweet caramel flavors in every bite. With this latest bag, I discovered how much my son loves this treat as well! A snack so good that is fun for the whole family to eat.
Christmas Corn Potage Umaibo - Buy a pack of 20 for $6.90
I was always on the lookout for an Umaibo flavor that I liked, and I recently discovered that I love the corn potage! This flavor must be very popular this time of year because I have received a few of them in other boxes. The flavors are sweet from the corn with a light chicken flavor similar to a chicken soup. While this is my favorite flavor, my husband is obsessed with Umaibo so I decided to save this one for him!
Christmas Fueramune - Buy a pack of 20 strawberry flavors for $24.46
This hard candy is always so fun to receive and discover the new flavors. This month is a ramune flavor which tastes very similar to a soda. It is sweet with a light bitterness. Even though this is a hard candy, it breaks apart easily when you bite it almost like a shell. I loved that this one came in a festive packaging!
Christmas Fugashi - Buy a box of 30 for $21.99
I wasn't sure what Fugashi was, but luckily the monthly booklet has a great description of it! "Fugashi is a sugary wheat puff that is a staple of Japanese sweets." I have to say, this is really sweet and has a thick sugar like coating to it. The puff itself is sort of hard to bite into mainly because of its shape, but once you get a bite it just melts in your mouth. This was a really unique and very sweet snack to try!
Christmas Shimichoco Corn - Retail Value $1.36
These are probably one of my favorite snacks! I have received a few different flavors in various snack boxes, but I always love the chocolate. These corn puffs are so light and airy, they truly melt in your mouth. The outer coating is a rich chocolate powder that is so creamy and delicious. I could eat this entire bag on my own, but my family loves this snack just as much as I do so I like to share this with them! The bag is big enough that a few people can snack on this for a while, always a plus!
Christmas Umaibo - Retail Value $0.40
As if I couldn't love Umaibo enough they go and make one covered in chocolate! This corn puff is light and fluffy with a vanilla-like sweetness to it. There is a thin chocolate outer layer that is perfectly sweet. This is the perfect snack to enjoy with a hot cup of coffee!
Minions Furi Furi Shake - Retail Value $3.50
This was a fun DIY kit that was super simple to make! I loved the decorative cup with the Minions on it as well. All I had to do to make this shake was add my own milk from home, an ice cube, the powder mix that is provided, and then shake it up! I only had almond milk at home which was fine because I think it helped to make this drink a bit creamier. The flavors were very sweet with an artificial banana taste to it. It didn't really taste like a shake most likely because you aren't blending it with ice, just adding an ice cube to make it cold. While it wasn't the greatest shake I have ever tasted, I thought the concept and packaging was super cute. I could see this being a fun gift or stocking stuffer to give to a little one!
Sour Cream and Onion Scones - Retail Value $1.15
This snack was so good, and a nice change from all of the sweet snacks this month. The "scones" were more like a Cheeto, lots of crunch and crumble. Each scone was coated in a bold sour cream and onion powder that was so rich and creamy! I could have eaten this entire bag within minutes, that is how good this was! This really was the perfect salty snack and it came in a giant bag that is always great with a snack this yummy.
Tasty Ice Cream Mini Bake Kit Kat - Buy a bag for $5.99
This is a unique Kit Kat because the suggested way to eat them is to bake them for 4 to 5 minutes until golden brown. I wasn't brave enough to try them this way, but I did put them in the fridge to make them a bit cold like ice cream! Either way you eat them, they are pretty incredible! The milk chocolate mixed with the white chocolate made each bite so creamy. The bits of chocolate throughout added a nice little crunch and rich chocolate flavor that I really loved. I will take a whole bag of these over an original Kit Kat any day, yeah I said it!
Verdict: This month's Japan Crate was packed full of sweet snacks! I normally love sweets and chocolate of all kinds, but I found myself excited to try the salty snack after taste testing so many sugary snacks. That is what the Holidays are for though, eating lovely sweet treats so I didn't mind too much. I thought the curation this month was nice in bringing new flavors that are favorites in Japan in the month of December for the holidays. I noticed that there were a few snacks missing this month, I normally receive 15 snacks but only received 12. I reached out to the Japan Crate Customer Care who explained that there were a few snacks removed during customs department check. Totally understandable and they were very helpful with a quick response!
To Wrap Up:
Can I still get this box if I sign up today? No, you will receive the January box! From Japan Crate:
Crates are shipped on a rolling schedule with three schedule shipment dates every month.
Coupon - Use coupon code MSA3 to save $3 off your first Japan Crate Premium, Doki Doki Crate, Umai Crate, or Kira Kira Crate!
Value Breakdown: This box costs $30 a month (free shipping), and I received a total of 12 snacks in the December box. That breaks down to a value of $2.50 per item. Overall, I think the value is a bit low based on pricing I was able to find online for many of these snacks. I would love to see a few more snacks next month to bring that overall value back up slightly.
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