Yuraku Black Thunder VOLT

In the spirit of sticking with a good thing, Yuraku have a longer, more chocolate bar-ish chocolate bar called VOLT (almond) that basically is their star Black Thunder product in a different shape and with almonds thrown in. You can find the VOLT tucked in with the cheap chocolate snacks, even though it tends to be 100 yen, and it is pretty nice. With liberal amounts of crushed almonds and biscuit pieces, the chocolate still manages to be quite smooth despite the crunch. While I’m not sure if they meant to call them VOLT as in electricity, or if they meant thunder BOLT and romaji failed them, I can confidently say that they’re quite enjoyable, anyway!

Yuraku Big Thunder Coconut

I feel like this latest offering from Yuraku, the Big Thunder Coconut, may have been around before, gone away, and then come back again? I’m not entirely sure but, whether this is really new or a return, it’s still a welcome one! A coconut-infused cookie base is coated in delicious chocolate and, a very cheap 50 yen (plus tax), it’s well worth a try!

Yuraku Black Thunder Fanta

It took me awhile to bring myself to try it, but Black Thunder embarked on a collaboration with Fanta this summer, adding a new flavour to their ever popular range. Despite my fear that the Famta flavour would be jarring and/or overpowering, these were actually really nice, a mild orange flavour accenting the regular Black Thunder mix.

Yuraku Black Thunder Gold

Image from Yuraku

Yuraku have another Black Thunder flavour out, Black Thunder Gold, and I highly recommend this one. Accompanying the rice crisps and dark cocoa biscuit is the strong flavour of coconut and it works beautifully, reminding me of the taste of Golden Rough from my childhood.

Yuraku Black Thunder Kinako

Image from Wasumasyo

Yuraku make Black Thunder chocolate bars… and, with the exception of a few related collaborations, that seems to be about it. Since the product has been extraordinarily successful for them, though, I guess that’s fair enough. This is a variation of the usual Black Thunder. It features the usual combination of rice crisps and dark cocoa biscuit covered in chocolate, but the chocolate is lighter in colour and flavoured with kinako, roasted soybean flour that is quite popular in sweets here, especially winter ones. The result is a bit of an unusual flavour and less sweet than usual, but still nice enough and worth a try.