Does a long line mean a sweeter deal? We compare two sweets from a Hokkaido food fair【Taste test】

We try to find out whether waiting in a longer line equates to a more delicious sweet through a blind office taste test.

The other day, our Japanese-language writer Yuichiro Wasai paid a visit to the Hokkaido Grand Fair happening at the Keio Department Store in Shinjuku, an event featuring all kinds of regional food products from Hokkaido that can usually only be purchased there. One of the booths had an unbelievable line in front of it, so he thought that some kind of product demonstration might be happening.

However, it turned out to be a line for an individual sweet called Snow Cheese from Sapporo. “It must be good if this many people are lining up, right?” was his first thought. “But what if it’s actually not good and they’re all lining up just to be disappointed?” His curiosity got the best of him and he joined the long line himself.

▼ The Hokkaido Grand Fair is taking place between March 20 and April 6 in Shinjuku.

Unfortunately, photography wasn’t allowed in the event space so he can’t share exactly how many people were lining up around this one booth. Compared to all of the others, though, it definitely gave off the air of being a mega-celebrity of the sweets world.

Apparently it was the very first time that the maker of Snow Cheese had joined the Hokkaido Grand Fair, so perhaps its popularity was partly due to its novelty (oftentimes, when new food products or restaurants are announced on the news in Japan, people spend hours lining up on opening day to try it). Either way, Yuichiro still thought that the line was ridiculously long. After just shy of 30 minutes of waiting, he got his hands on a box of them and headed back to the SoraNews24 office.

It wasn’t just any box, either, but a box of the premium Snow Milk Cheese treats that were enshrined front and center in the booth’s display. It came in several different sizes, and he’d selected the box of 15 for 2,430 yen (US$15.23).

Unwrapping one of them, it looked like a miniature ice cream cone. According to its official website, the flavor was supposedly a fragrant and crispy dough shell wrapped around a cheese flavor-concentrated chocolate ganache.

It definitely looked good, but he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t getting swept up in the wave of popularity. He took a bite…

…and thankfully, it lived up to its visuals! At least, that’s what he thought. In order to make sure he wasn’t being swayed by the hype at the booth, he decided to bring in some impartial judges who had no clue how long he had waited in line to purchase them. Those eight judges were some of his fellow SoraNews24 writers, as pictured below.

To make things more interesting, Yuichiro decided to turn the sampling into a blind taste comparison test by also throwing in a box of Shiroi Koibito, one of the most recognizable sweets souvenirs from Hokkaido. This confection consists of two square-shaped langue de chat cookies sandwiching a center of white chocolate. He wanted to see which sweet his team thought was more delicious–and in turn, prove whether a long line equated to deliciousness.

There had been hardly anyone lining up in front of the Shiroi Koibito booth, so he was able to purchase a box of 12 for 1,036 yen very easily. He laid a sampling of both types of unwrapped sweets out on a plate and prepared to commence the taste-testing without telling his teammates what each of them were.

▼ Snow Milk Cheese on the left, Shiroi Koibito on the right

The results are detailed as follows.

Mr. Sato’s winner: Snow Milk Cheese is tastier

“If I had to pick between them, I’d definitely say that this one [Snow Milk Cheese] is better. The crispiness of the other one’s [Shiroi Koibito’s] langue de chat cookies is completely different.”

Seiji Nakazawa’s winner: I’d give Snow Milk Cheese as a souvenir

“They’re not that much different in terms of taste, but I’d give this one [Snow Milk Cheese] as a souvenir to others and buy this one [Shiroi Koibito] for myself. The degree of satisfaction with the first one [Snow Milk Cheese] is high, but I somehow can’t stop eating the other one [Shiroi Koibito].”

Go Hatori’s winner: Snow Milk Cheese is tastier

“Both of them are delicious, but for me the [Shiroi Koibito’s] langue de chat cookies are a bit strong. All of the individual components in the other one [Snow Milk Cheese] came together so well that it was delicious as a result.”

Takashi Harada’s winner: Snow Milk Cheese is tastier

“Both of them were great, but if pressed to say, I’d go with this one [Snow Milk Cheese]. I have a feeling that people who like sweet things would go with this one, while people who don’t really like sweet things would go with the other [Shiroi Koibito].”

Yoshio’s winner: Shiroi Koibito is tastier

“I think that this one [Shiroi Koibito] is tastier. What is it…I feel like the taste is familiar to me. Isn’t it famous? The name is on the tip of my tongue…”

P.K. Sanjun’s winner: Shiroi Koibito is tastier

“I’d go with this one [Shiroi Koibito]. It has a sense of unity. That sense arrives after a little time in the other one [Snow Milk Cheese], but with the first, it comes all at once.”

Ahiruneko’s winner: Snow Milk Cheese is tastier

“This is hard (LOL). I think I’ll go with this one [Snow Milk Cheese]. I like its shape. The ingredients are concentrated in the center, so it feels like you’re eating cream.”

Jun-kun’s winner: Shiroi Koibito is tastier

“Both are delicious, but the cream (?) flavor inside this one [Shiroi Koibito] is somewhat strong and is more delicious.”

The results are in: Snow Milk Cheese wins 5-to-3! And yet, it was hardly a landslide. Considering that there was no wait for the Shiroi Koibito, they were cheaper, and three out of eight people still chose them as being tastier, Yuichiro thought that they should earn some bonus points. Seiji’s comment about buying Snow Milk Cheese for others and Shiroi Koibito for himself also sat well with him.

While Yuichiro may not go out of his way again to wait in a long line at a similar food fair in the future, he admits that it was a fun experiment to conduct among his coworkers, who also have mixed success differentiating affordable versions of things from expensive ones.

All images © SoraNews24
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