A Chocolat Poche is a shokora posshu is a chocolate pouch. I don't know about you, but for me the name "chocolate pouch" conjures up images of a small potbelly that is the result of too much chocolate, like a beer belly for candy cravers. Or maybe like a fanny pack ("bum bag" for my UK and Australian friends*) filled with emergency chocolate rations which can be conveniently consumed at any hour of the day.

Chocolat Poche wouldn't be the first thing in my chocolate pouch, but it could have a respectable corner in there somewhere. I like tea-flavored sweets (Earl Grey cake? Yes, please!) and the herbal, citrusy tea flavor goes well with the airy cookie outside and white chocolate inside. Unlike the last Ceylon tea treat I tried, Chocolat Poche doesn't make me feel like I'm eating a tree. The lemony tang of the tea and white chocolate gives the whole thing an almost cheesecake taste. The texture of the cookie is somewhat like the edge of a cream puff, crisp and flaky, different from any other Japanese cookie-chocolate combo I've tried.

But the white chocolate is a little too sweet for me and I prefer the crunch of Takenoko no Sato, which is why this wouldn't be at the top of my pouch pile, but if you're looking for a candy with an interesting flavor that won't turn to choco-mush once the summer heat descends, Chocolat Poche Ceylon Tea it is.

*Working for the JET Programme has vastly increased my knowledge of slang from other English-speaking parts of the world. Who knew they call coolers "eskies" in Australia? And "chilly bins" in New Zealand?