These Iwata Goma Taiko are also part of the Kumamoto Suprise series that began with the Higodaiko. These Goma Taiko come as a pair of white sesame (shiro goma) and black sesame (kuro goma) with matching packaging: black to contrast the white sesame and white to contrast the black sesame.
The Shiro Goma Taiko is around 10 cm in diameter and 5 mm in thickness. It’s a mix of toasted white sesame seeds, crushed almonds and roasted soybeans and bound together with brown sugar from Okinawa.
There’s a strong aroma of toasted white sesame on opening the packaging, though the sweetness from the brown sugar is the first to hit the palate before the toasted sesame notes cut through the sweetness with its mild nuttiness and the crushed almonds and roasted soybeans bring firm crunch and nuttiness to complement the softer texture and milder flavour of the white sesame. The sweetness recedes by the finish, leaving a nutty flavour lingering long on the palate.
The Kuro Goma Taiko is also around 10 cm in diameter and 5mm in thickness. It’s a mix of toasted black sesame seeds, crushed almonds, roasted soybeans and bound together with brown sugar from Okinawa.
A much weaker aroma comes from this black sesame taiko, but it delivered remarkably on texture and flavour. While the brown sugar is still the first flavour to hit the palate, the black sesame creates a much crisper crunch and a rich, nutty sweetness that’s distinct from the almonds and soybeans and brown sugar. Indeed, these latter flavours are far less pronounced here, with the flavour of black sesame lingering long in the aftertaste. We’re fans of black sesame.
These packages of Iwata Goma Taiko each contained 1 piece. They were produced in Japan and purchased in Tōkyō, Japan in 2108.