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A popular Okinawan treat gets a crispy crunch. Join us on a taste-test of delicious proportions!

The United States may have the much-anticipated pumpkin-spice latte that people look forward to each fall, but Japan beats all with continuous seasonal and limited-edition flavors, snacks, and sweets all year long, everywhere you turn.

Always a sucker for those limited edition treats, I couldn’t pass up these new honey and butter-flavored purple sweet potato snacks by Calbee when I saw them at the convenience store.

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This new “Osatsu Snack” is a twist on the original sweet potato (or satsuma-imo in Japanese) version, with real purple sweet potato/murasaki-imo – famously grown in Okinawa – added to give it that unique purple color. The bag touts that the murasaki-imo is mixed with both steamed and baked sweet potato, and is finished off with a rich butter and sweet honey flavor.

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Opening the bag immediately releases the distinct aroma of murasaki-imo. The crisps themselves aren’t as vibrant as the purple sweet potatoes they’re made of, but still carry a nice lavender color.

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▼ Run free, my pretties.

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Of course looks are important, but it’s all about the taste. Rest assured, these sweet potato nibblins don’t disappoint. The sweet honey flavor stands out most prominently upon the first bite, the taste of murasaki-imo making its appearance shortly after. The experience is rounded off with a slightly-salty, buttery aftertaste – perfect if you’re the kind of person who enjoys savoury-sweet combinations.

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The crisps are light and airy, and the perfect bite-sized finger food for snacking. In fact, they may be too perfectly sized, making it all too easy to pop one after the other into your mouth until, before you know it, you’ve polished off the whole bag on your own in less than five minutes…

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I guess I should feel guilty, but I don’t really. And I would probably do it again if I had another bag!

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They will be around until mid-November, and for just 127 yen (US$1.23) a bag, so I may have to do just that!

Reference: Calbee homepage 
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