The Black Thunder for Toast makes us rethink the way we eat chocolate bars.

Black Thunder is a household name in Japan, where the palm-sized chocolate bar is beloved for its rich combination of puffed rice and dark cocoa-flavoured cookie pieces, and its low recommended retail price of 30 yen (US$0.27).

Since it was first created in 1994, the humble Black Thunder has grown to include a variety of other flavours, become synonymous with Valentine’s Day, and has even been given its own McDonald’s McFlurry. Pushing boundaries and playfully experimenting with new ideas is all part of the brand’s image, and now they’re wowing fans with an exciting addition to the range: Sliced Black Thunder for toast.

Unlike Black Thunder bars, which are sold at convenience stores and supermarkets across the country, the sliced version is much harder to find, as it’s only available in limited numbers online and at two stores directly managed by its makers, the Yuraku Confectionery Company.

The “Toast Only” Black Thunder made its debut with very little fanfare in November last year, but it’s since become a hot item after word of the unusual product spread on social media. As big fans of the chocolate, we took a trip out to the directly managed Yuraku Chocolate Shop in Tokyo’s Kodaira to find the product for ourselves, and sure enough, it was so popular there was a sign at the entrance advising customers that sales were limited to five per family.

▼ “Black Thunder for toast” is priced at 130 yen (US$1.18) per slice, including tax

We couldn’t find any news release for the product online, yet a quick look at the online store shows the product really is available, so we were relieved that the actual store in Tokyo hadn’t run out of stock when we visited. Being a rare product, the limited stock won’t last for long once more and more fans find out about it, so we purchased four to take home with us.

Browsing through the store introduced us to a few other rare gems, which we also couldn’t resist picking up, so by the time we got home we had an impressive Black Thunder haul.

First up, we have an assortment of 12 local Black Thunder Minis known as the “Black Thunder Travel Variety“. This was the pack for June, priced at 700 yen, which includes the Hokkaido-exclusive White Black Thunder, the Okinawa-exclusive Brown Sugar, and the Kyoto-exclusive Uji Matcha.

Next up is the large “Deluxe Milk Chocolate” (800 yen including tax), which comes with a booklet that introduces you to the chocolate manufacturing process, complete with illustrations.

▼ We also picked up a Black Thunder Mask for 1,500 yen including tax.

▼ The mask is a filter-insertion type, with filters needing to be inserted through the side pockets.

And of course, the star of our haul was the Black Thunder for Toast, which also comes with a sachet of raspberry caramel sauce.

Opening up the pack revealed a dark slice of chocolate, with the same bumpy bits of biscuit and rice puffs you’d find in an actual Black Thunder bar. It was bizarre to see the chocolate bar flattened out in slice form, and we couldn’t wait to find out what it would taste like when toasted, so we placed it on a slice of bread and popped it in our Japanese-style toaster.

According to the instructions, it should take around 90-120 seconds to bake, however there’s a chance it may burn if overcooked, so we kept a close eye on it while it was being heated to ensure we didn’t burn our precious slice of chocolate.

After two minutes, the Black Thunder toast was complete! Judging by appearances, it looked like the slice had solidified and become hard, but we decided to reserve judgement until the all-important tasting.

The surface was definitely crispy, and we couldn’t help but think it looked a bit like molten magma.

Splitting the toast in two revealed that the chocolate hadn’t hardened at all — in fact, it was delightfully gooey inside!

The crispy surface and soft centre was a testament to the care and attention that went into the creation of the product. Biting into the slice made us grin with delight, as it was crunchy, gooey, chocolatey, and absolutely delicious!

It tasted exactly like the Black Thunder chocolate bar, but the heating process allowed the milk chocolate to shine through more than usual, while the fluffy bread beneath it added extra softness. It was like the most delicious chocolate sauce you’ve ever eaten, and we’d go so far as to say this was 10 times, no, 20 times more delicious than regular toast!

Smothering the chocolate toast with the attached raspberry caramel sauce added a punch of delectable sweet-and-sour flavour to the mix, and is a great option for those who like tart, fruit-flavoured chocolate. We, however, preferred our Black Thunder toast unadulterated, and we’ll definitely be stocking up on more of these before they sell out, and we might even see if we can find some other chocolate slices to add to our collection too!

Store information
Yuraku Confectionery Company Tokyo Factory Store / 有楽製菓株式会社 東京工場直営店
Address: Tokyo-to, Kodaira-shi, Ogawa-cho 1-94
東京都小平市小川町1－94
Open: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed: New Year holidays, Obon period
Website

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