Today we’ll be taking a look at Shikibox’s $30 Candy & Snack box! Shikibox is a new candy and snack subscription service that was started the 28th of October this year, and promises the absolutely hugest assortment of candies and snacks per box compared to its competitors. We got our box, so let’s take a look!
At the end of this review is a promotion code for a small bag of free snacks and candies with your Shikibox order.
The Candy & Snack box from Shikibox
Whoa. The size of the Shikibox is absolutely insane! We got the Candy & Snack Shikibox that costs $30 per month with free shipping (Though you can cancel at any time or choose to only buy one!). For pretty much the same price as its competitors, you really are getting more than twice as much snacks and candies. If you’ve been comparing monthly snack box subscriptions, then stop and just go for Shikibox! From my own experience, I find this box to be the most bang for its buck. I was very surprised by how fast it arrived despite being sent using SAL Economy shipping. The box was sent around the 15-16th of December from Japan and arrived at the doorstep in Sweden the 22nd of December! I was on vacation however, unable to review, so this review is a little delayed. Other than the snacks and candies in the box, you’ll also find a list of all the snacks and candies with relevant allergy information (egg, wheat etc) for the each of them.
16x Umaibo
Umaibo are crispy puffed corn snack sticks that come in various different flavors, and Shikibox sends you so many of these you’ll think they’re insane! I got 16 of these, and they come in pairs – two of each flavor, so 8 flavors in total! The ones I received were teriyaki, takoyaki, tonkatsu, vegetable salad, onion salad, pizza, sugar rusk and cheese flavored umaibo. The flavor is a surprise since the packages don’t really reveal the flavors, but you can always look the umaibo flavors up if you’re not up for a surprise. Umaibo flavorings are surprisingly accurate and always come with an undertone of puffed corn. The Teriyaki one greatly reminds of Sukiyaki (hot pot meat), which is very close to Teriyaki (grilled meat), and the pizza one was somewhat cheesy and even had a smoky taste of salami.
“Baby Star” fried noodle snack
Really savory and crispy! Tastes just like ramen but with a dash of soy sauce. One of my favorites of this box and a potato crisp/chips killer. If there was a dagashi store close to me I’d have bought their entire stock of this snack. Dagashi are inexpensive snacks, thus being very popular among Japanese children and teenagers! For Japanese adults however, they are a fond childhood memory.
2x Kameda Age Ichiban crackers
This rice cracker is somewhat salty. Tastes mainly of puffed rice but has a very distinct undertone of soy sauce. I wish I had more!
2x Pota Pota Yaki crackers
This cracker confused my taste buds! When you first bite into the cracker you’re met with a somewhat salty soy-saucy taste that quickly fades out to reveal a sweet taste. You thought that this was the end, but nope, the salty taste comes back and fades away again for the sweeter taste. During this trip of saltiness and sweetness there’s the same puffed rice taste as the Kameda Age Ichiban cracker. No I’m not crazy, and nope, my tongue isn’t broken!
4x Lotte “Sasha” chocolates
Chocolate and Maccha green tea! Maccha (Sometimes also spelled Matcha) is Japanese for finely milled green tea. The deliciousness of darker chocolate infused with the somewhat bitter, fragrant taste of green tea. Makes a great combination and has already been a favorite of mine for quite some time.
Meiji lemon tablets and chocolates
The lemon candies have a smooth dragée on the outside and some kind of powder candy on the inside. Tastes just like lemon candies are supposed to taste like – A distinctive, somewhat sour, lemon taste.
The chocolates are pretty much Smarties! Smooth dragée on the outside, milk chocolate on the inside.
Coris Fue Ramune whistle candies, cola flavor
These candies are pretty fun! They come with a toy and the candies can be used as a whistle by blowing through the small hole. The taste was somewhat boring, since it did taste of cola but didn’t have that sharp sour taste you sort of expect out of a cola candy.
Meiji Watapachi grape-flavored popping candy
Ow, my mouth! This candy consists of grape-flavored cotton candy with sour grape candy powder and small grape-flavored pop rocks inside. The cotton candy and pop rocks are sweet, with the grape candy powder adding a tangy sour grape taste. It’s a pretty great combination and definitely something I’d like to have again!
Konpeito sugar candies
Konpeito are traditional candies that were brought to Japan back in 1569 by a Portuguese Christian missionary. The Japanese were quick to learn the sugar refining techniques and were able to produce konpeito on their own, but as the sugar refining process required a lot of sugar, it remained expensive and therefore very exclusive for a long time. It wasn’t until the Meiji period (1868-1912) when konpeitō became the “standard” candy in Japan.
Traditional konpeito are often colored in various different colors, but they only come in one taste – Sugar and nothing else. Modern, flavored variations do exist however, with flavorings such as strawberry. The taste isn’t anything extraordinary really, it’s just a fun thing to try because of them being traditional! The konpeito I received were of the modern kind, with mild flavorings of fruits. The green ones tasted of watermelon, orange ones tasted of oranges and pink ones tasted of strawberry.
Orion “chocolate” cigarettes
I expected chocolate cigarettes, but the candies inside of the package were actual candy candies, not chocolate candies. The taste is very unique, with slight hints of mint and chocolate and lots of different flavors that I can’t describe. You really have to taste this by yourself to understand. As I really can’t describe the flavor, I’d give it a 8/10 – It was surprisingly refreshing!
Tohato Caramel Corn
Imagine cheese puffs/balls, but with caramel instead of cheese flavoring. That’s exactly what these taste like! Sweet, but not too sweet, and a very mild puffed corn flavor. Crispy, but yet they melt in the mouth. These snacks are not just snacks, they’re also commonly used as cereal in Japan! They come in different flavors, such as pineapple, tea-flavored chocolate, almond and strawberry, I got the original caramel flavor.
2x Fruit-flavored chewing gums
These cute, tiny packages each contain 6 small fruit-flavored chewing gum balls! They taste of their respective fruits, with a gentle sourness. The taste disappears after 2-3 minutes of chewing, which is pretty normal for fruit-flavored chewing gums. Chew 3-4 gums if you want to blow huge bubbles!
Tamago Boro egg biscuit balls
I’ve had these a lot of times since the Asian supermarket I frequent has them! These small biscuit balls have a sweet, fragrant flavor of… I have no idea. When you chew the balls they immediately turn into powder that melts in your mouth, releasing the flavor. The flavor is very special, another one of those things that you have to try by yourself! I’ve eaten a loooot of things, but Tamago Boro still remains on my list of things that have a completely unique, undescribable flavor.
Takenoko no Ysato & Kinoko no yama chocolate biscuit snacks
These cute snacks are shaped like bamboo shoots (Takenoko no Ysato) and mushrooms (Kinoko no Yama). They taste the same however, the difference lies in within the biscuit parts of the snacks! The mushrooms have a crispy biscuit, whereas the bamboo shoots have got a much spongier but still crispy biscuit. The chocolate on them definitely belongs to the darker kind of chocolate, so no cheap chocolate. I loved them!
Masuya Onigiri crackers
These onigiri-shaped rice crackers are so big in relative to their package! I expected lots of smaller ones, instead two really big crackers came out of the package to my surprise. Crispy crackers with a salty soy sauce flavor and mild roasted seaweed undertones, delicious!
Kyabetsu Taro snacks
These are round and crispy puffed snacks with a sprinkle of spices, roasted seaweed and… A dash of Okonomiyaki sauce? For those who haven’t tried Okonomiyaki or had Okonomiyaki sauce, it greatly reminds of Worcestershire sauce – Peppery, and sort of tastes like a combination between barbecue sauce and soy sauce with a dash of vinegar. The puffs are salty, savory and have a gentle, sour taste. Despite the name being Kyabetsu Taro, with kyabetsu being Japanese for cabbage, this does not contain cabbage, nor taste of it at all. It’s an awesome, unique flavor and I completely agree with what the frog on the package says. “It’s delicious!!”
2x Meiji Kajyu fruit gummies
I’ve always loved gummy candies, and these are no exception! These fruit gums are natural, with real fruit juice and non-artificial food coloring (That’s what it says on the packaging I think, my Japanese isn’t that great). They’re very chewy and taste of their respective fruits realistically! Fruity with balanced sweetness and sourness.
7x Tirol chocolates
Chocolate lover? Shikibox has got you covered! Tirol (Pronounced Chiroru in Japan) makes inexpensive assorted chocolates in Japan, with a wide variety of flavors – 118 apparently! I got 7 chocolates.
White & Cookie – Oh my god this one is great. It’s like eating an Oreo, but half white chocolate, half Oreo cookie.
BIS Milk Choco – Milk chocolate with a crunchy biscuit inside. I got two of these, one blue and one orange. Different package, same contents!
Really milky milk chocolate – Is milk chocolate not enough for you? This praline consists of milk chocolate on the outside and a white, concentrated milk filling on the inside. Sort of like the Kinder chocolate bars! The milk core is so milky it almost reminds me of Brie cheese.
Chocolate & Almond – Milk chocolate praline with a sugar-glazed almond inside.
Peanut butter – This one is so great. It’s a praline consisting of peanut butter white chocolate, with a center of… Something gummy-ish that’s slightly sweet. I need an entire bag of these! ;-;
Tirol original chocolate – Milk chocolate praline with a sticky and almost chewy coffee-flavored nougat filling. Delicious and chewy!
2x Kabayaki-san taro & 2x Yakiniku-san taro jerky snacks
These snacks consist of a slice of fish jerky with flavoring. The Kabayaki one tastes of Kabayaki, and the same goes for the Yakiniku one! Kabayaki is unagi eel that has been dipped into sweet soy sauce before being grilled, and Yakiniku is the Japanese word for grilled meat! After chewing them for like 10-15 seconds, the kabayaki and yakiniku flavors disappear and the fish jerky flavor is revealed. The fish jerky is apparently supposed to be cod jerky, but I found it to resemble squid jerky more than cod. I personally love squid jerky and have had it a lot of times before, but it might just not be your thing. I have to say that it’s a lot less weird than you would imagine though, and that it’s worth trying!
Other than that, it’s sort of hard to bite off and to chew, but after chewing for a little it softens up.
3x Bourbon Lumonde crêpe cookies
These are rolled “crêpe” wafers covered with… something? I have no idea what it is, but the frosting sort of reminds me of chocolate and caramel. The subtle sweetness of the frosting goes really well together with the crispy and airy wafer roll on the inside! They’re really crispy and thin so the frosting sort of keeps the crumbles from going everywhere. It’s really oishii (Japanese for delicious)!
3x Morinaga Koeda chocolate sticks
Koeda means twigs in Japanese, and that’s exactly what these chocolate sticks resemble! Each small package contains 4 small sticks, consisting of small rice puffs and milk chocolate. And that’s exactly what they taste like. A smooth milk chocolate taste with a distinct flavor of rice puffs.
Suppai lemon chewing gums
Suppai lemon chewing gums are basically Russian roulette, but… Completely safe. Though your mouth, tongue and sanity might suffer for a bit, as one of these three innocent-looking chewing gums is extremely sour. Guess which one I got on my first try? Yuup, just my luck. My mouth died for a bit, the gum ball was absolutely stuffed with sour powder x.x The taste disappears quickly, so this is more of a novelty thing, not something that you would buy to actually have something to chew on.
Once again, if you’re considering buying or subscribing to a Japanese candy and snack box service, I would definitely recommend Shikibox’s Candy & Snack box! It has the biggest quantity (Around 3x bigger) and variety (40 different snacks) while retaining high-quality candies and snacks and the same $30 price as its competitors. By my own experience, this snack box has the best value out of all the snack boxes I’ve tried and seen. I’m honestly quite speechless, $30 including shipping for this pile of snacks is an absolute bargain, and if you feel like having some Japanese snacks, this is what I would say you should go for. Shikibox also offers other boxes, like their Battle Box that costs $15 – A smaller box with different snacks, a Trial Box that costs $13 – A smaller assortment that samples every one of their boxes (Candy & Snack + Battle Box + Tea Box) and a fancy Tea Box that costs $50, with a large variation of green teas and Japanese snacks that go well with tea.
Right now we also have a promotion code for a small bag of free snacks and candies with your Shikibox order! The promotion code is “Haruhichan” – Note that you have to send them the promo code and your order details through the “Contact Us” form after your purchase for the small bag of freebies to be added to your order. They will, however, be adding a promo code box at checkout once they get back from their Winter break to simplify the process!
Well, that sums up the Candy & Snack box from Shikibox! What candy from this post do you now want to try? And if you’ve tried Japanese snacks or candy before, which ones have you tried? Let us know in the comments below!
