Taste test: Black pepper Oreo cookies are surprisingly good

Photo: Donald Giannatt/Unsplash.com

We broke the news of Forbidden City-inspired Oreos last week and well, with flavours like BBQ Pork Pastry, we couldn't resist giving it a go. All in the name of hard-hitting journalism, of course. 

Photo: Mondelez/Tmall.com

Currently sold exclusively as box sets on Tmall, the flavours include four sweet and two savoury. But is it worth spending 199RMB? We do a taste test.  

Photos: Kimberly Ng

Lychee and rose

Photograph: Kimberly Ng

This flavour smells nice and tastes more of rose than lychee. It reminds us of bandung, a syrupy beverage made from evaporated or condensed milk and rose cordial that’s popular in Southeast Asia. Not surprisingly, this one goes great with milk. 8/10

BBQ pork puff pastry

Photograph: Kimberly Ng

This flavour was the one that captured our attention and we wanted so desperately to be pleasantly surprised by this. However, the savoury, roasted barbecue pork-flavoured filling doesn’t pair well with the chocolate biscuit and makes its aftertaste just burnt and bitter. The filling’s pretty decent on its own, but tastes less like BBQ pork pastry than an imitation Chicken-in-a-Biskit cracker. 5/10

Red bean

Photograph: Kimberly Ng

The strongest on the nose and palate of the lot, it also tastes the least artificial. However, its taste lingers in your mouth. If you don’t mind having red bean flavoured mouth for a couple hours, this one's for you. 8/10

Hawthorn

Photograph: Kimberly Ng

If you’ve been in China a while, you’ll probably be familiar with the taste of 山楂 or hawthorn. After our first bite, the strong taste of the filling overpowers the cookie and leaves a faint sour taste in the back of our mouths. Needless to say, this one disappoints. 4/10

Green tea

Photograph: Kimberly Ng

The filling balances out the cookie very well and reminds us a little of a green tea frappe at Starbucks. When compared to the other flavours, this one is a little subtler and not as overwhelming in terms of smell and taste. It also goes great with milk. We think it should be inducted into the regular collection of Oreo cookies. We'll buy it. 9/10

Black pepper

Photograph: Kimberly Ng

This cookie smells very strongly of black pepper, though thankfully it lacks the kick. As for its taste, it has the savoury goodness without the spice, and it’s light enough on the palate to finish a few in one sitting. This one is a pleasant surprise. 9/10

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