This is not our first sampling of Stroopwafels from Holland.  In fact one of our very first snack reviews was for Daelmans Jumbo Dutch Caramel Wafers.  That review was our first experience with a Stroopwafels so we had an idea on what to expect... or so we thought.  When we opened the clear packaging on the Henri Willig Stroopwafels we were surprised by the weight of the individual pieces.  Daelmans version was light, crunchy, and thin.  Henri Willig's version was heavy, firm, and thick.  Although these snacks are both from Holland they are very different from each other.  Which is the better Stroopwafel?  To be honest we really enjoyed them equally.  The experience of the Henri Willig Stroopwafels seemed a little more mom & pop with the basic packaging and the fresh from the baker approach.  Daelmans Jumbo Wafer was high-end but more main stream.  No matter which is preferred we really enjoyed this Dutch snack.

Will World of Snacks include Hollandase Stroopwafels Dutch Syrup Waffles as apart of our normal inventory when our online store launches?  We are not sure. So far the snack items we have received from Holland has been limited.  We will for sure offer one of the Stroopwafels but it may be on a limited run or during a promotional period. 

World of Snacks is trekking the globe in search of unique, original, and delicious snacks that we will eventually offer for sale in our online store.  So far our search has led us to over 20 countries with several more lined up in the near future.  Our worldwide following has been growing rapidly and now even our local following is starting to grow!  Many snack enthusiast and personal friends have joined in on our search for international snacks.  Our snack that we are reviewing today was actually given to us by a friend and we had to snap some impromptu photos and write a review on the spot.

Today we are reviewing Chimes Ginger Chews Mango produced in Indonesia.   Last time we visited Indonesia we created a review of Kopiko Cappuccino Candy and it has been one of our most requested products since.   Our snack spotlight today comes from a company named Roxy Trading.  This company is based out of California and is a small specialty foods importer and distributor.  Roxy Trading got its start in 1983 and grew.  In the 1990 Roxy became a major brand carried after launching new products for Bestfoods and Nestle into Asian retail stores.  Although Roxy Trading is US based the history of “the original Chimes All Natural” Ginger Chews is distinctly Indonesian. 

The Chimes Ginger Chews originate from Java which is home to rich mineral soil that allows an intense ginger flavor to be grown here, and not duplicated anywhere else.  Originally created by a young couple in a town near Mt Bromo and offered in their modest café, this Indonesian snack is still currently produced by the same family!  With the help of Roxy Trading this treat is quickly becoming an international phenomenon. 

Our sample for our review is the Chimes Ginger Chews Mango Flavor.  The packaging is yellow and seems to be the correct color shade for mango.  The art work is fun and makes the snack appear to exotic and maybe even healthy.  Although mostly in English there is enough foreign text to intrigue US based international snack seekers.  Enough about how they look, let’s get on to our review of the Chimes Ginger Chews Mango!

Prior to starting this international snack blog Ginger was never considered to be a desirable candy flavor for myself of many other of our official snack testers.  Since we’ve started exploring other cultures through food we’ve determined that ginger is not an odd snack flavor like we initially though when we first discovered it in our review of Darrell Lea Dark Chocolate Ginger Fudge Bar.  Unlike the Ginger Candy Bar from Australia, we found the ginger chews to be less alarming.  We think it may be because we knew what to expect, but either way this version of ginger was well received.  The mango flavor was sweet and intriguing and the ginger seemed to follow later and linger.  The after taste of the snack had a warm burn, similar to the effect of wasabi when paired with sushi.  The chewiness of the snack was enjoyable and overall the snack did indeed seem very natural as listed on the package.

Will World of Snacks offer Chimes Ginger Chews Mango in our international snack store that is set to open later this year?  We hope so.  We are not for certain if Indonesia is going to be among the initial countries stocked but if it does expect to be able to purchase the variety of Chimes Ginger Chews on our website.  If you are interested in receiving a coupon the launch of our store be sure to leave your email to the right! 

World of Snacks was created to sample international treats from across the globe.  Our first hope was to have snacks from our childhoods spent overseas readily available.  The second purposes was to explore cultures through junk food in an effort to connect with current friends (and new friends) all around the world.  The third purpose, to get a hold of the crazy snacks offered in Japan!  No other country's snacks have us intrigued more so than Japan and we know we are not alone.  Today Yahoo featured an article on the new Pepsi Flavored Cheetos.  This sparked a furry of contacts to our company saying we must have the Pepsi Flavored Cheetos.  Well, they are on the way to our Florida snack headquarters and we hope to have our review of the Pepsi Cheetos posted soon.  Until then, let's take a look at the BBQ Cheetos from Japan.

Although we have sampled many snacks from Japan recently we still have not picked up the language.  So we are assuming these are BBQ Cheetos from Japan but are not 100% certain.  The shinny gold package has a picture of what appears to be a BBQ pork chop or ribs, bell peppers, and corn on the cob.  The only English printed reads Chester Cheetah next to his image and the Frito Lay brand in the corner with a strange slogan that says "Pop Your Time".  Being we are ecstatic to even posses the BBQ Cheetos in the US we are going to rip this bag open and start our international snack review.

Generally we start our write ups with small observations and then build up to the review but this time we will start with a bang.  The BBQ Cheetos from Japan are literally the best tasting chips that we have found anywhere in the world- so far.  They are amazing!  The package lead us to believe we'd be tasting a whole meal, and guess what?  We did!  Frito Lay has packed so many flavors on to one small Cheeto. It's zesty and sweet with a char-grilled flavor.  If eaten slowly and deliberately each flavor can be tasted individually but combined it's truly an experience.  We had three taste testers present tonight and we almost fought over the bag.

Since the beginning of the year World of Snacks has been reviewing candy and chips from all around the world in search of inventory for the launch of our international snack store.  One of the very first snacks we reviewed and the first video created by our 10 year old Director of Taste was the Price Polo Premium from Poland.  For this snack review we find ourselves again sampling a Polish candy bar from the Olza company, manufacturer of the Prince Polo Premium.

Olza at one time was a Polish confectioner located in Cieszyn.  The company was created in 1920 by Marek Pipes under the name Dea.  Olza created the most loved candy bar in Poland, the Prince Polo.  In 1993 the Kraft company purchased Olza and absorbed the brand but kept the name present on their snacks.

Our Polish snack for this review is the Olza Prince Polo Dark Chocolate.  It comes in a shinny gold wrapper with a maroon Prince Polo logo and the word's classic in the upper right hand corner.  Although our last Price Polo was a part of their premium line the packaging on the Dark Chocolate Classic version is still about the same quality and still looks classy.

Enough about the wrapper!  How does the Olza Prince Polo Dark Chocolate taste?  If this was our first Prince Polo I am sure we'd be over the top about this Polish Snack.  The wafer inside is crunchy, slightly sweet, and the dark chocolate is silky smooth and creamy.  However, the Prince Polo Premium almost floored us and is one of our testers all time favorite candy bar from anywhere in the world.  The Dark Chocolate Prince Polo is good and we enjoyed it, but it did not contend with the other version.

Will you be able to buy the Olza Prince Polo Dark Chocolate Candy bar when our international snack store launches later this year?  It's a definite yes! We intend to stock all version of the Prince Polo as a part of our normal inventory.  To be notified of the launch of our store be sure to leave your information to the right.  Keep on snacking World! 

World of Snacks has been searching the globe for the very best snacks found anywhere. We've created this international snack blog to track our search for inventory that we will offer for sale in our foreign online snack store set to open later this year.  So far we've explored confectionery items from 27 countries.  With this snack review we are back in China.  On our latest Chinese snack sample we tasted an American owned snack (Paul Frank Mints) that is manufactured in China.  This review, we are hoping for something more authentic.

For our authentic Chinese snack review we opted for the Shih Fang Hsih Coconut Rolls.  If you are one of our many faithful international snack enthusiast you know this is the part of the review where we take a look at the company that manufactures the snack.  This review will have to be a little different.  There is absolutely no information on the Shih Fang Hsih company other than they are based out of Taiwan.  So that's all we really know.  Following the company details we typical dive into information about the particular snack that is being reviewed.  Well, not much information on the snack either. In fact, I was only able to find one other company in the world offering Shih Fang Hsih Coconut Rolls online, and they were no help.

So we are going in blind on this international taste test.  The packaging does inform us of what the snack is, although they did misspell "rolls" on the tab.  The background is milky and reminds me of noodles.  The design and logo are poorly constructed and overall this snack from China looks rather cheap.  Hopefully Shih Fang Hsih knows how to make a tasty Coconut Baked "Rools."

Today we are starting our day with a snack for breakfast!  Typically snacks are more appropriate for later in the day but there are a few sweet treats that can be enjoyed in the morning as well.  Our international snack blog is heading to Thailand for only the second Thai snack review this year.  Read on as World of Snacks review Euro Strawberry Cakes.

The brand Euro printed on the package of this Thai snack is short for the The European Food Company.  Euro was established on the 13th of November in the year 2527.  This is not a typo, today we learned that Thailand has it's own calendar and the years are based after Buddha's death.  In most of the rest of the world the Thai year 2527 is known as 1984.  Euro is among the leading manufactures of confectionery snack items in Thailand and offers nationally loved products that include Beijing wafers, Jelly Brand, and of course their line of cakes.

The package got us excited and we each ripped into our own individual cake.  The adults paired their Euro Strawberry Cake with morning coffee and our 10 year old Director of Taste opted for a glass of milk.  The texture was smooth and bouncy and the color resembled the now back in production American Twinkies.  The taste of the cake hinted towards a Twinkies as well but was not an exact replica.  The cake seemed to be a pound-cake shortcake hybrid and was very tasty.  The cream filling was sweet, but not as sweet as we would have anticipated.  The photo on the package did let us down though, only one out of the three cakes sampled contained enough filling.  Both of the adults kept waiting to locate the cream center and never encountered much more than a pea size amount of strawberry cream.  To be honest though, the cake was pleasant enough that it didn't really take away from the overall snack.  This Thai treat reminded me personally of a easy to eat to go form of a strawberry shortcake.  All three taste testers truly enjoyed this snack.

Will World of Snacks carry the Euro Strawberry Cake and make it available for purchase online when the international snack store launches later this year?  Our American based international supplier of snacks does indeed intend to offer the Euro Cake in our normal inventory.  If you'd like a coupon and a personal invitation to the launch of our internet snack store please leave your details to the right.  Be sure to check back for our next foreign snack review early next week!