Bokksu: Japanese Adventure in a Box

I’m sure I’m not the only one who misses travelling during this time. (For those who stumble upon this post in the future, we are currently in a global pandemic right now.) When I travel, my priority is not so much to visit all the tourist attractions but rather to explore the great food the place I’m visiting has to offer. I really miss waking up and discovering new, delicious nom noms everyday. Luckily, there are services which can (somewhat) simulate that experience in the comfort and safety of your own home. We recently discovered Bokksu, which is a subscription snack box from Japan. Those who are regular readers of this blog would know that we have travelled to Japan quite a few times in the past and really enjoy their food. This subscription box allow us to try out some authentic snacks shipped directly from Japan!

Subscription

You can chose their monthly subscription for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or 12 months. We decided to try one month first. Then of course I forgot to cancel my subscription so it automatically renewed and sent me a second month, which really isn’t the worst of things that can happen. Otherwise, you could pause or cancel at anytime before they ship the next month’s order. The price varies from $39.95-49.95 USD depending on your subscription. You can also order a subscription as a gift or purchase a digital gift card as well. If there are any snacks you particularly enjoy, they even have a marketplace where you can buy snacks a-la-carte.

Shipping

Shipping is free with your subscription and it takes around 2-3 weeks, which is not bad given it’s just shipped via regular mail. They also have a paid, expedited, trackable option if you’re impatient to get your first snack box. It comes in a bright orange box and bubble wrap. Our first box came pretty much intact but our second box was a bit beat up. The contents inside were fine though.

The Content

Inside the box, there is an information booklet, and is filled to the brim with curated sweet, savoury snacks as well as tea packets. Apparently there are a total of 20-24 snacks included in each box (we did not actually count) and all are sourced from traditional family-run businesses in Japan.

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We gifted a subscription to loved ones so we decided to do a virtual hangout and explore the snacks together mukbang-style with both of our boxes. It was a very fun to just hang out and eat together during this time when we cannot gather. The first box was the “Seasons of Japan” box, which was their starter kit including snacks from all across Japan representing the four seasons. We started from the North and moved our way down. The second box was “Golden Kanagawa” themed. On the “Culture Guide” it states it’s volume number 21 which I assume means this is their 21st box. Pretty impressive. If you look on their website, you can see all their past themes including what is inside.

We usually start by making some tea. They provide 2 servings and it’s a great way to get the mukbang started as it pairs well with the snacks. I particularly enjoyed the genmaicha from the Seasons of Japan box. The green tea from the recent box was good but not as special.

In terms of snacks, some of my favourites from the “Seasons of Japan” box were the Aomori Apple Caramel Yakkoi Sable cookie, White Strawberry, and DonDon Yaki and the crowd favourite was the Funwari Meijin Mochi Puffs: Kinako which had an airy, light texture with nutty soybean powder on the outside. The least favourite was the Mocchan Dango Mochi which were just balls of sugary sticky rice in artificially bright colours.

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For the “Golden Kanagawa” box, fan favourites were the Yokohama Caramel Ring Cake which reminded us of the nostalgic Aunt Jemima in cake form and Curry-flavoured Potato Snack which was light and crispy. My personal favourite was the Lemon-Flavoured Yokohama Bashamichi Millefeuille. I love citrus flavoured things so this box was totally my jam, along with the Shanon Gold Gummy and Lemon Puré Gummy Petite. The pleasantly surprised snack award would have to go to the Noir Black Cocao Stick which was not too sweet as it was infused with the smokiness of Hojicha. The disappointing snacks for us was definitely the chocolate leaf pie and for me was the cheesecake and cheese cookie which tasted too much like dried blue cheese.

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Overall

I’m generally very happy with my purchase of the last two subscriptions of Bokksu. If not for the snacks, for the joy it brought us in spending time quality time with loved ones exploring tasty and also not-as-tasty snacks together. The value is there although if you can actual locate any of these snacks in your local Asian supermarkets, you’ll likely find that you are paying a premium for the curated box.

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If you are interested in subscription to a Bokksu for yourself or your loved ones, you can use our discount link to get $10 off your first box!