It wasn’t that long ago that the only flavor of Kit Kat you could find was, well, Kit Kat. Boy, have things changed! There are now dozens of variations of the popular candy available around the world, with Japan leading the way. Part of the brand’s popularity in Japan stems from the name. “Kitto Katsu” is a phrase that roughly translates to “surely win” and is used to essentially bid good luck. The similarity in sound brought good luck to Nestlé as the brand became Japan’s most popular candy brand in 2012. Kit Kat has released hundreds of special edition flavors in Japan since 2000, with many of those flavors finding their way into the U.S. market.
To help navigate the many flavors, Tasting Table ranked 23 Kit Kat flavors and found some amazing hits, as well as some spectacular misses. The Duos Strawberry and Dark Chocolate was the worst Kit Kat flavor of the bunch; its overpowering nose of faux-strawberry and disappointing texture underwhelmed us.
Why the Duos Strawberry and Dark Chcolate fell flat
Our distaste for the Kit Kat Duos Strawberry and Dark Chocolate may be a case of the bar straying too far from the original. The top layer is crafted from a strawberry fondant that is aggressively scented, and while the strawberry flavor is more subdued than the nose, it still dominates the dark chocolate. We also found that the texture of the strawberry layer was quite waxy, another strike against the flavor. Simply put, we did not enjoy this flavor of Kit Kat at all.
Our rankings also found out that you can’t go wrong with the original; despite loving flavors like Pistachio, Mint, and Duos Mint and Dark Chocolate, it was the OG Kit Kat that reigned supreme in our rankings. “Sure, the new flavors are cool,” we noted, “and many of them are delicious, but none have topped the simple decadence of creamy milk chocolate and crisp wafers.” That shouldn’t be too surprising considering how highly we ranked Kit Kat among 16 popular candy bars.
So, the next time you break off a piece of a Kit Kat bar, we recommend that you choose basically any flavor besides the Duos Strawberry and Dark Chocolate. Personally, I’m partial to the caramel flavor, but you can never go wrong with the original that started it all.
