Visiting the Kit Kat Chocolatory, and Trying Butter Kit Kats!

If you've read any of my blogs or articles, you'll know all about how much I love Japanese Kit Kats! Unlike their American counterparts, they come in awesome flavors like beni'imo (purple sweet potato), hazelnut, pumpkin, and even wasabi and Japanese sake. You can even collect specialty flavors and packaging available exclusively in certain regions of Japan, like momiji manju in Hiroshima or azuki toast in Nagoya (both are specialty sweets in these regions). Kit Kats are highly popular during the test-taking time of the year in February and March because they sound like "kitto katsu" (you'll surely win) in Japanese. Did you know Kit Kats are so popular in Japan they even inspired their own specialty chocolate shop?! It's called the Kit Kat Chocolatory, and naturally it was a must-see for me.

The Kit Kat Chocolatory in Tokyo

I visited the Chocolatory in Tokyo Station just before Valetine's Day, obviously the busiest time of the year for them judging by the lines and specialty packaging. Besides having special flavors sold exclusively at Chocolatory locations, it's also unique in its visual displays! It looks very classy and everything is modeled after Kit Kat bars, in bright red.

There are even gorgeous Kit Kat chandeliers!

Classy details at the Chocolatory like these Kit Kat chandeliers!

If you take a closer look, each individual piece is a modeled after a Kit Kat package! It manages to look classy without seeming tacky or childish at all.

Actual Kit Kat bars!

I also love this rainbow Kit Kat bar display!

An enticing display of colorful Kit Kats. We wish they came in these many colors back home.

A sign at the Chocolatory lists all of their specialty items being sold at the store, which are small booths found in the area of department stores that sell sweets and other specialty packaged food. You can also see the top 3 selling items.

On sale at the Chocolatory.

There's even a signboard explaining the concept of the Chocolatory in English. It was created by chef Yasumasa Takagi, who trained in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg before bringing his love for chocolate to Japan.

Chocolatory creater, Yasumasa Takagi

As you can see, they also have an app to get that chocolate fast!

A small display case documents the development of Kit Kats over the years since 1935, before the recognizable logo and much plainer packaging. The signature red, however, has always been a staple of Kit Kats!

The origin of Kit Kats in 1935.

Nowadays we can enjoy Kit Kats in all sorts of flavors thanks to Japan and geniuses like Takagi!

Kit Kats through the ages.

If you haven't figured it out by now, the concept of the Chocolatory is upscale, fine chocolate, and this includes fine packaging as well as higher prices for higher quality. They like to remind you just how "special" this fine chocolate is, right on the box.

Looks 'special' to me!

I personally liked these pentagon-shaped, cherry-blossom inspired boxes to encourage all your test-taking friends! It even comes with a cherry blossom key chain and features five pistachio-raspberry Kit Kats.

Cherry blossom inspired Kit Kats to amp you up through the grueling season of testing.

Other flavors include kinako (similar to peanut taste) and matcha (green tea), and each Chocolatory store has special packaging unique to its location such as this pretty purple box.

Kinako and matcha Kit Kats.

Another Chocolatory-exclusive flavor is this: butter Kit Kats! You heard correct. Butter. Not butter-chocolate, or butter-strawberry, or butter-cinnamon-dolce. Just straight-up butter. Look at that attractive yellow slab.

Butter Kit Kats in all their glory.

Next to it is a more tame maple-strawberry flavor.

Strawberry maple Kit Kats.

Then there's the "I love fruits" collection, which comes in a pretty box and features strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, lemon, and passion fruit.

Fruity Kit Kats.

The fruit Kit Kats are single bars that are much longer than regular Kit Kats (Japanese Kit Kats are also slightly smaller than their American counterparts).

Don't eat the samples!

Another specialty is this "connoisseur" champagne raspberry flavor, which sounds pretty darn classy.

Champagne raspberry Kit Kats.

Then there's the "sublime" series which contains 66% high quality cocoa and are thus more bitter than regular Kit Kats.

Sublime Kit Kats

Lastly is the best-selling item featuring a single long Kit Kat bar decorated with crushed almonds and cranberries. They were also available in packages at supermarkets for a limited time.

Cranberry almond Kit Kats.

I don't care for cranberry, but it does make for an exquisite presentation! It definitely looks like something you would pay good money for at a fancy boutique.

Beautiful presentation!

Now for the taste test! Just how do Chocolatory Kit Kats compare to regular ones?!

I decided to try two flavors: maple strawberry, because I love strawberry, and butter, to be daring, and where else are you going to try butter-flavored Kit Kats?

I decided to get it over with and try the butter ones first. As you can see, there's a lovely image of a dish of butter to whet your appetite.

Mm mmm, butter...

The back reveals what it looks like inside, which seems like a regular vanilla Kit Kat.

Looks normal enough.

The packaging is making a good effort at convincing you that this is going to be a lavishly "special" experience for your taste buds.

It does appear to be a harmless Kit Kat bar. It's pretty small compared to the actual package!

At least it's not actually shaped like a real slab of butter!

The verdict??

It's not half bad. In fact, it doesn't really taste like butter to me - rather it's very much like these butter cookie Kit Kats! It fortunately was not gross or disgusting at all. Thankfully they decided to keep the butter flavor subtle, but still, if they decided to do a butter Kit Kat rather than a more normal flavor I'm a little surprised they didn't go for it a little more...It wasn't really distinctively butter-y to me. Anyway, on to the maple strawberry.

A lovely maple-soaked strawberry.

Now that looks like something I have no qualms about eating! Looks like a regular strawberry Kit Kat to me.

The packaging is pretty and pink.

This one seems even smaller than the butter one!

Wow that was...probably to be expected I guess.

It's nice and very crisp!

Biting into the crispness of strawberry maple Kit Kat.

The flavor is nice and well balanced, and the maple pairs well with the strawberry. All in all, it's more of a splurge for these fancier flavors, so I wouldn't fork out extra money just for all that special packaging, but they definitely are nice for gifts! If someone were to give me chocolates, I'd want ones from the Kit Kat Chocolatory! Unfortunately the Chocolatory stores are only in Japan, but there are currently nine different locations: Tokyo, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, and Ginza in Tokyo, and Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, and Osaka. If you're really excited after reading my post, you can order some online! Make sure to stop by the shop when you're in the Kanto or Kansai area! A trip to the Chocolatory is worth it!