Sakuraco July Box Review

Posted on July 14, 2021    Posted by Athena Scalzi      15 Comments

By now, you’ve probably come to expect my monthly snack box review posts, and with this post I shall have met said expectation, because this post is my review of the July Sakuraco Box!

If you haven’t read any of my previous Sakuraco posts, Sakuraco is a company that is dedicated to bringing you authentic Japanese tea time snacks and home goods. Each monthly box has a unique theme that the snacks tend to follow, and each box has twenty snacks total, including a home good such as a cup or bowl.

Unlike my previous Japanese snack box post, which was TokyoTreat instead of Sakuraco, I pay for my Sakuraco boxes. Of course, paying or not paying does not affect the honesty of my posts, but I figured I’d let you all know anyway that these posts in particular are not in exchange for anything, rather I just really like these boxes.

In previous months, the themes have been things like Sakura, Matcha, or Citrus, but this month’s theme was very interesting. July’s theme was Hokkaido Summer. The booklet that came in the box talked about how Hokkaido is known for having the best dairy products in Japan, as well as having a special kind of melon there called the Yubari Melon. So, basically every snack in the box was melon or cream themed, or a mix of both.

I always like to share the snacks with others, so I tried this box with my friend, and I’ll be including some of their thoughts, as well.

The first thing we tried was the Melon Mochi:

This actually came as a big package of twelve individually wrapped mochis, which is a lot! Upon initially trying it, my first thought was that it felt and tasted exactly like gum. It almost felt as if I shouldn’t swallow it since the texture was so similar to gum. The melon flavor was honestly so perfect, and the white chocolate filling was absolutely bangin’. All in all very delicious. I’m definitely going to blow through the whole dozen of them in no time. My friend and I both gave these a 9/10.

Up next, we tried something a little crunchier, the Yubari Melon Cream Sandwich Cookies:

These shortbread-like cookies weren’t as sweet as I was expecting, but they had a subtle melon flavor that was very pleasant. I thought the size of these cookies was perfect, they were just the right amount for a quick little treat. They didn’t have like, a ton of filling, but they were still pretty good and quite enjoyable. My friend and I gave this one an 8/10.

We followed that one with another crunchy-sandwich-esque snack, the Melon Soft Sand:

Here we have two extremely thin monaka wafers with melon cream in between. If you’ve read the previous posts, you know that monaka wafers can be extremely hit or miss. I’m pleased to say that this one was a total hit. This snack had legit the most ideal crunch imaginable. Very pleasant mouth feel, I would say. One problem though is that there was no trace of melon flavor to be found. I pried the sandwich open and tried the melon cream on its own to really concentrate on the flavor of the cream, but I tasted nothing. It was just cream. Regardless, this snack was still pretty tasty and I would definitely eat more of them, so my friend and I gave it a 7/10.

Moving away from the crunchy stuff, up next was the Yubari Melon Jelly:

Okay, y’all definitely know I have wildly mixed feelings on jellied snacks like this, and I’m sad to say this one didn’t really pass the vibe check. It felt like a mouthful of pureed cantaloupe, and honestly tasted pretty similarly. It was a little on the slimy side, so I called it quits after a couple bites. Definitely not my favorite jellied snack I’ve tried, but the melon flavor was pretty alright. It earned itself a 4/10 from my friend and I.

No melon in sight for the next one we tried, the Hokkaido Milk Cheesecake:

This dense little pound cake was dotted with weirdly hard cubes of cheese throughout. The pleasant softness of the pound cake was unfortunately interrupted by these little cubes, and I did not care for their presence in an otherwise great snack. The cubes kept getting stuck in my molars. On the plus side, the pound cake was moist and yummy. This is the first snack my friend and I disagreed on the rating for, since they kind of liked the cheese cubes. I gave it a 5/10 and they gave it a 7/10.

Sticking with the cream flavor, up next was this Milk Mochi:

As soon as I tried this, I recognized the taste and texture as something incredibly familiar, but couldn’t place it until my friend said “cowtail”. When I was younger, I used to eat “Cow Tales”, a soft caramel tube with a vanilla cream filling throughout. I really enjoyed those candies when I was a kid and enjoyed this milk mochi even more so! They’re chewy, sweet, and a pretty decent size. My only complaint is that they come wrapped in some kind of edible plastic-y film, which I tried to take most of off but couldn’t quite get it all. I gave this a solid 9/10, but my friend was less of a fan of it and gave it a 6/10.

I’m pretty positive every single box thus far has come with a Dorayaki:

These little pancake sandwiches are so good, I honestly never get tired of seeing them in the boxes. Each one is slightly different from the previous boxes’, so it keeps it interesting. This one in particular was a little bigger than usual, but also a little blander, as well. It was soft and pleasant enough, of course, but just a little too mild in flavor, which earned it a 7.5/10 from me and a 6/10 from my friend.

Totally going away from the box’s theme, we have the Yawaraka Rum Raisin:

I can honestly say I have never tried anything rum raisin flavored, so this was an interesting snack to try. It had a unique flavor I’ve never really tasted before, again probably only because I’ve never tried anything rum raisin flavored, but it was good! This cookie was especially soft, and the raisins added some nice texture, as well. The cookie was the perfect size, as well, and overall it got a 7/10 from the both of us.

Another non-melon/cream related snack, we have the Hokkaido Grilled Corn Senbei:

As can be expected with senbei, these little rice crackers were extremely light and airy, but still had crunch to them. This roasted corn flavor also had soy sauce flavor in it, so these were total umami bombs. The flavors were honestly really complex and it had a lot going on. It was pretty good overall, and a nice change of pace from all the sweet stuff we had thus far. I gave it a 5.5/10, and my friend went with an 8/10.

Continuing with the break from the sweets, we have Hearty Aged Mochi:

I had never seen or even heard of mochi that wasn’t soft, but lo and behold crunchy mochi! These were reminiscent of cheese puffs, in that way that they are crunchy but also kind of melt in your mouth. The booklet says these are made with three types of salt, and you can definitely taste it! They’re extra salty lil’ things, but not so much so that they aren’t good. They’re a solid 6/10 to me and my friend.

Next, we have the Butter Mochi Senbei:

Just like the previous senbei, these were super light and airy crackers. Unlike the savory ones mentioned before, these were insanely rich and sweet, because they were covered in some kind of sugary powder that was totally decadent. Behind all that sweetness there was a bit of a toasty flavor element, as well. They tasted just like honey butter, and were a solid 8/10 to us both.

To finish off the snacks, we have the Kibi Dango:

I was initially confused by this one, because it looks exactly like the milk mochi, but shorter in length. I honestly thought they were the same thing at first, but this one is actually less sweet and flavorful than the milk mochi. It was still perfectly fine, but not nearly as tasty as the milk mochi. I forgot to ask my friend what they gave this one on a scale of one to ten, but I give it a 6/10.

And here we have the home good, the Hangetsu Side Plate:

This plate looks exactly like the previous month’s serving tray, but that’s because they’re both designed to represent the “four seasons”. Personally, I really like the black and gold look, and the art is super nice, too. I love the uniqueness of the shape of the plate, I’ve definitely never seen anything quite like it before, and I’m happy to add this piece to my ever-growing collection of dishware. It’s a little on the small side, but it’d make for a good appetizer or snack plate (you can actually see it pictured in the second snack’s photo).

And of course, here is the tea that came in the box if you’re curious:

This is Peach Matcha Tea, and honestly I really considered trying this one because I like peach, and I know I at least like peach tea when it’s iced and sweetened, so I thought maybe I’d like this one. But I’ll probably just try it on my own and not write about it, because I think it’s unfair to try and review something I know I don’t like, like tea or coffee.

Anyways, that’s it for the July box! This was definitely my favorite box so far, which I think I might’ve said about the last box, but honestly this one was a total banger. I’m super excited to get the final summer box when August rolls around, and then I’ll decide whether or not to renew my subscription since I got the three month plan back in June after my three month plan from March was up (I’m definitely gonna renew, I don’t know why I even acted like it was up for debate in my mind).

Do you like melon? Did you get a July box, too? What’d you think of it? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS