Customer Reviews

Pure Japanese Okinawa Black Sugar Brick- Pack of three, 14.28-ounces each

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, when I purchased this product it was listed as two 3-packs for the price. I only received one 3-pack. Amazon kindly refunded half of my money, but note that I would not have purchased the product at the current offer of one 3-pack for the same price.

Black sugar is reputed to be eaten in Japan as a candy. This black sugar tastes very nice that way, a bit like the penuche that I made as a child that didn't get cooked long enough and was partially crystallized when it cooled. Add molasses taste to that, and I think that is pretty close.

This black sugar is not uniformally dark throughout. When you break the brick, in cross-section it is only dark for about one quarter of the way in from the surface top and bottom, and the same absolute distance on the sides. The inner one-half is the color of light brown sugar. I don't know what to make of that. I don't know if it is normal for black sugar to be light brown inside. Presumably the darkness is from the molasses, but I don't know why the molasses would look like it had soaked in from the outside instead of being uniformally distributed in the sugar brick. The dark brown raw sugar from Africa, that I also bought, is uniformally dark but not as dark as the outside of this black sugar brick. I imagine that if I pulverized the inner and outer sections of this Okinawa black sugar together I might get the same color as the dark brown sugar from Africa. I haven't tried the experiment because the black sugar brick is not easily pulverized, although it is not too hard to bite.

In summary, the taste is quite nice but I'm not at all sure that it is novel enough for the price I paid, let alone twice that much. However, it is a taste of food from a place that I have never been and never will go, so I gave it four stars.

I went on a search for Japanese Black Sugar (from Okinawa) after my local Japanese Markets all stopped carrying it. I was introduced to black sugar while living with a girl from Kyoto for 3 years. She preferred using black sugar because she believed it was rich in minerals (I cannot confirm or verify this), but I came to prefer it in my coffee. bigtime. The taste is quite unlike other sugar.. with a strong molasses taste. the blocks are often darker on the outside, however, the taste is unmistakable, and this is quite definitely Black Sugar.
I am a bit of a coffee connoisseur, and I prefer to drink my coffee with real japanese black sugar or "Kuro Sato".
When I last ordered this product, it qualified for Free Super Saver shipping, which made it a good deal. Now the only shipping option available costs $10, which probably means that I'm going back to the local Japanese market, as they've started to re-stock the granulated variety. If the shipping were a little more affordable I would favor this, as the price is decent, and the product is top notch.

that's my two cents anyways.
thanks!