Maxim Patissiena - Cocoa

Maxim Patissiena is a stick type drink from Japan. I like these quite a bit actually - I'm into instant cocoas so it wasn't too big a stretch for me to drink the matcha versions, or in this case, a cocoa parfait style coffee. I'll make a long story short there though - I taste zero coffee in this. My suggestion is don't drink it first thing in the morning and then operate heavy machinery...Just in case.

I've tried previous stick drinks, including cocoa au lait & two varieties of matcha.

As with all Japanese stick-type drinks, it makes a very small beverage. Also, this one doesn't have instructions on how to make it as a cold drink, which makes sense since it's got li'l bits in it.

 Now, OyatsuCafe calls these azuki beans, but to me they just seemed like bits of chocolate flavored 'cereal'. It also didn't taste that much like red bean - like I said, it tasted like chocolate. The entire drink was just a sweet, milky cocoa - I liked the textural bits as they added a bit of interest and an extra hit of chocolate flavor.

I'm glad I tried it and I'll happily finish the remaining sticks, but probably not a repurchase for me just because it's not terribly 'unique'. Had the bits tasted more like red beans & perhaps even had a red bean texture & thickness, I'd probably have liked a lot more. Tasty enough, though!