Black Thunder (ブラックサンダー)
I have been a huge fan of this chocolate bar for a long time. Many overseas travelers might have already heard of it, but if you haven’t tried one yet, you definitely should instead of getting another bag of KitKat.
Black Thunder is a chocolate bar with good crunchy textures. According to its website, the secret of deliciousness is a perfect balance of ingredients (two types of bitter cocoa cookies, a light-textured biscuit, and a coating chocolate), which contributes to its unique texture.
There are many types of Black Thunder. My favorite is always the original, and I usually buy a bag of mini chocolate bars, which is commonly available at drug stores and grocery stores. The bag of the original mini bars usually contains around 11 bars.
You may find bags of other flavors, including strawberry, nuts, and more. Since the mini bars are individually packaged, they make an excellent, shareable souvenir for your workplace or friends.
At Daiso (the 100 yen store), you will find many flavors of regular-size Black Thunder.
I got the original, rich butter, milky strawberry, and Kakinotane-mix. Daiso also has other flavors, such as matcha, bitter chocolate, kinako (roasted soybean flour), and more. The available flavors may change. At Daiso, the original and Kakinotane-mix are priced at 3 bars for 100 yen, while the other flavors are 2 bars for 100 yen.
There are also some flavors only available in specific places. My parents got White Thunder in the below photo for me as a souvenir from Hokkaido, and it was great! Unlike the original bar, white chocolate is used for this limited version, and I enjoyed its texture different from the original. It seems Osaka, Kyoto, and Okinawa also have limited flavors. If you plan to visit these places, you might want to look for the special, regional flavors.
How much do they cost?
A bag of mini bars costs about 300 yen, although it depends on where you buy them. At Daiso, 2 or 3 bars are 100 yen, depending on flavors. At convenience stores, a regular size bar costs about 50–70 yen depending on flavors.
Where can you find them?
They are available at many places, including Daiso, Don Quijote (Donki), drugstores (Matsumoto Kiyoshi, Sugi pharmacy, Welcia, etc.), convenience stores (Seven-Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart, etc.), and grocery stores (Seiyu, Maruetsu, Ito-Yokado, etc.).
You will love Black Thunder once you try it. Just be careful when purchasing in the summer, as the chocolate coating will melt easily.