We find out if salty sakura pink bread is really a good way forward for the chain.  

Japan has a penchant for white bread sandwiches. Commonly featuring fluffy slices of shokupan, made with an enriched dough containing milk, these sandwiches aren’t just confined to savoury fillings as they pair well with sweet ingredients too, opening the door for some eye-popping sweet creations that defy Western traditions.

Right now, 7-Eleven is pushing the envelope even further by turning some of its white bread pink, and filling one particular offering with peaches and cream.

7-Eleven doesn’t just use one type of peach in this sandwich, as it contains both yellow and white varieties for added flavour and colour.

Keen to find out if the new sandwiches tasted as good as they looked, we picked up a pack from our nearest 7-Eleven, and when we unwrapped them, they looked even plumper and softer than they did on the store shelf.

These were some of the most beautiful sandwiches we’d ever laid eyes on – it was almost as if they’d been painted by an artist and crafted by a sculptor.

▼ They should call these artisanal fruit sandwiches.

With the cross-section being such a thing of beauty, we decided to open the sandwich up to see if all the ingredients had been sneakily pushed to the front for display purposes.

Thankfully, this wasn’t the case as the filling extended all the way to the edges of the triangular slice, with a hidden piece of white peach adding an extra element of surprise.

Happy with the look of the sandwich and the size of the filling, it was now time to test out the most important element of all: the flavour. After reassembling the sandwich, we took a large bite and the first thing we noticed was the pillowy soft mouthfeel.

The combination of whipped cream and shokupan was like biting into a cloud, giving the palate a soft entry point for the juiciness of the peaches that quickly followed. The soft fruit burst with a cool sweetness on the tongue, and although we could’ve mistaken the peaches for canned pears, they were so delicious that we didn’t mind what they were. With every bite, though, we began to notice an unusal accent in flavour on the palate, as the bread had a slight saltiness that was similar to pickled cherry blossoms. This is no accident, as 7-Eleven calls this bread “sakura bread”, which isn’t just a reference to its pink colour but its salty-floral sakura flavour as well.

Salt is something we’ve never tasted in a fruit sandwich before, and certainly not to this extent, as it’s very evident on the palate. While it creates a very unique blend of salty and sweet flavours, we’re not entirely sure if sakura bread will become the next big thing in the world of fruit sandwiches, as it takes the focus off the sweet fillings that make them so popular. It does present a unique twist that makes these worth trying, though, and it’s particularly well-suited to the summer months, when the refreshing coolness of the fruit will be a delicious reprieve from the heat, and it makes a nice partner for the new chocolate chip sandwich, which tastes like ice cream.

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