Sakuraco February 2025 snack box image
Disclaimer: This product was gifted to me for review purposes, but all thoughts are my own and unbiased

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. While I don’t personally celebrate the event, what I do celebrate is my passion for delicious food. I’m such a foodie, and I love trying new, different, and yummy flavours.

The Sakuraco February 2025 box is the perfect opportunity to try a carefully selected curation of authentic and unique Japanese snacks. This month’s theme is centred around Valentine’s Day delights. Expect caramel green tea, buttery chocolate-filled biscuits, strawberry-coated peanuts, white bean paste wafers, prawn-flavoured crispy rice crackers, and so much more.

The Sakuraco February 2025 box would make the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day for anyone who loves trying fun and novel flavours, appreciates celebrating different cultures and traditions, or simply enjoys Japanese snacks. Keep reading to find out what’s inside this month’s box and my honest review on the wide range of snacks.

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About Sakuraco

Sakuraco is a monthly Japanese snack box subscription that allows you to try a range of authentic sweet and savoury treats. Alongside food and teas, there are traditional handcrafted home goods, such as chopsticks or traditional wrapping cloths, to immerse yourself in Japanese culture.

Each box comes with a guide that takes you through all of the snacks, their origins, the local makers, and stories from Japan for a truly captivating experience. The boxes have a seasonal or cultural theme. Each box contains 20 items, but this does include some duplicates.

What’s inside the Sakuraco February 2025 Japanese snack box?

The Sakuraco February 2025 box is themed Valentine’s Delights to help explore the charm of Valentine’s Day in Japan. Heartfelt gestures are woven with tradition and thoughtfulness. It’s a time to express gratitude and honour connections with friends, family, and loved ones, the booklet explains. Considerate exchanges are at the heart of this Japanese tradition, from beautifully crafted wagashi to indulgent chocolate treats. Each gift is chosen with care, symbolising warmth, sincerity, and respect for the recipient.

In Japan, Valentine’s Day is about sharing moments and celebrating relationships in a way that is distinctly Japanese: thoughtful, refined, and rich in meaning.

Inside the Sakuraco February 2025 box are 15 different goods:

  1. Caramel hojicha – made by Hagiri (Shizuoka)
  2. Chocolate karinto – made by Yamada Confectionary (Aichi)
  3. Chocolate sable – made by BonBon Confectionary (Hokkaido)
  4. Strawberry monaka – made by Eguchi Confectionary (Fukuoka)
  5. Strawberry-coated peanuts – made by Ogawa Foods (Kagoshima)
  6. Strawberry chocolate crunch – made by Nagaraen (Gifu)
  7. Plum furoshiki (traditional Japanese wrapping cloth. Not edible) – made by Maeda Senko (Kyoto)
  8. Chocolate yokan – made by Sugimotoya Confectionary (Aichi)
  9. Pudding Baumkuchen – made by Ace Bakery (Aichi)
  10. Orange chocolate cookie – made by Kobe Horakuan (Hyogo)
  11. Chocolate kuzumochi – made by Hijiri Food (Wakayama)
  12. Ume shiso senbei – made by Sakura Confectionary (Niigata)
  13. Daruma senbei – made by Nanakoshi Confectionary (Saitama)
  14. Tanba kuromame arare – made by Morihaku Confectionary (Gifu)
  15. Seto salt arare – made by Kuriyama (Niigata)

Below, I’ll share my thoughts on each Japanese snack, their distinctive flavours and textures, and which ones were my faves!

Sakuraco snacks review

I’ve previously tried and reviewed a Sakuraco Japanese snack box, which had the theme autumn moon festival. I loved trying all the snacks, and this Valentine’s Day box is so different in contrast! This weekend, I opened the box and shared the treats with my family, which was a lovely, fun, and interesting experience.

The caramel hojicha is a Japanese roasted green tea infused with notes of caramel. This smelled better than it tasted. It was okay, but I found the flavour a bit mellow and bitter. I’d have preferred the caramel flavour to be prominent so it was a bit sweeter.

The chocolate karinto was yummy. These essentially taste like chocolatey syrup puffs. They’re light, airy, not sickly, and easy to eat. Everyone enjoyed snacking on these.

The chocolate sable is a soft, buttery, and chewy biscuit that has a smooth chocolate centre. This was delicious and perhaps my fave snack in the box. It was decadent, smooth, and melted in my mouth. Yummy!

The strawberry monaka is two crumbly wafers that sandwich a white bean paste centre infused with the sweetness of strawberries. I wasn’t a massive fan of the wafers. To be honest, I’m not a big wafer fan anyway. I always find them a bit of an unnoteworthy item. However, the strawberry white bean paste filling was delightful. Smooth, creamy, and sweet,

The strawberry-coated peanuts were divine. I’d never tried a fruity-coated peanut before, but it was a brilliant pairing. The strawberry coating was sweet, which complemented the salty peanuts perfectly. These were a hit with everyone.

The strawberry chocolate crunch is essentially a Rice Krispies bar with the flavours of strawberry and chocolate. These were sweet, airy, soft, and moreish. The note of strawberry was subtle, but it worked perfectly with the chocolate. Again, everyone liked these.

The chocolate yokan tasted like a chocolatey red bean paste jelly. It had a fairly firm and thick gelatinous texture. These were alright, but nobody loved them. We weren’t convinced that the flavours worked well with the consistency.

The pudding Baumkuchen is a soft sponge cake with a “pudding” and subtle caramel flavour. This was a simple yet enjoyable cake. Easy to eat, light, and a nice bouncy texture.

The orange chocolate cookie is a crumbly chocolate orange biscuit. It was crunchy, not overly sweet, and easy to eat. Everyone particularly enjoyed these.

The chocolate kuzumochi is a chocolatey dessert that sits somewhere in between a mousse and a jelly. It’s similar to Alpro’s chocolate dessert, especially its consistency. This was okay, but outside of the chocolate sauce you poured on top, it actually lacked flavour. I would’ve preferred a sweeter, richer, and more decadent treat.

The ume shiso senbei is a rice-based snack that’s designed to be a sweet and sour snack. It features sweet plum and sour shiso – a herb that’s part of the mint family which is sour and bitter. I wasn’t a fan of these, and I found the flavours quite confusing together. These weren’t a hit with anyone.

The daruma senbei is a savoury rice cracker that’s seasoned with a spicy shichimi pepper flavour. This isn’t that nice IMO. While I love spicy and salty food, there’s a bitterness that runs through this crunchy rice cracker that I can’t get behind.

The tanba kuromame arare is another rice-based snack that’s kneaded with black beans and dusted with salt. Although not my fave, I loved the saltiness, airy texture, and ease of eating this light and crunchy snack.

The seto salt arare is a light and crispy rice cracker with a salty prawn flavour. These are airy, melt in your mouth, addictive, and not overpowering. I enjoyed this snack way more than I expected to.

Sakuraco pricing and delivery

Sakuraco ships internationally. There are various subscription plans available:

  • 12 months: $32.50/£25.52 per month ($390/£306.27 billed annually)
  • 6 months: $33.50/£26.31 per month ($201/£157.85 billed bi-annually)
  • 3 months: $35.50/£27.88 per month ($106.50/£83.63 billed quarterly)
  • 1 month: $37.50/£29.45 per month (billed monthly)

As with any subscription plan, paying annually is the most cost-effective.

Do I recommend this Japanese snack box?

I totally recommend Sakuraco. This snack box is filled with distinctive and interesting flavours that give you a real taste of Japan. There’s a good mix of textures throughout the sweet and savoury snacks that make every treat delightful to try.

The Valentine’s Day theme in the February 2025 box is charming, with thoughtful stories and explanations in the booklet that give you a great insight into how this romantic event is celebrated in Japan. It impressed me just as much as the September 2023 box.

I think the box is good value for money and would make the perfect present for somebody special to you who loves Japan, is a foodie, or simply appreciates a thoughtful and unique gift. Valentine’s Day or otherwise, this Japanese snack box is truly gift-worthy!