Tirol chocolates (pronounced chiroru in Japanese) are small squares of chocolate available from convenience stores, supermarkets and even pharmacies around Japan. Although they’re small, they’re also very cheap – and highly varied. Since their introduction in 1979, more than 114 different varieties have been produced. While the basic Tirol consists of chocolate with a heart of coffee nougat, some of the more unusual varieties over the years have included wine, rice, egg tart, matcha, kinako mochi, corn, sweet potato, pumpkin, black sesame and litchi.
![](https://cdn.cheapoguides.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/05/tirol-chocolate-770x578.jpg)
During 13 years in Japan I’d barely given these small treats a second thought, but when it came to putting together a collection for this article, I admit to becoming slightly obsessed. In order to collect the variety that you see in the photo at the head of this post, I visited 4 supermarkets, 16 convenience stores, 2 liquor stores and 1 donki. At one particular 7-Eleven, when the clerk put a piece of tape on my precious Tirol I just about freaked out. No tape!! I was planning a photo shoot though so blemishes were not acceptable. I also discovered that there are ‘premium’ Tirol. The ‘Pecko chan’ chocolate in the photo above actually cost 30yen. When I found a variety pack containing 30 for 270yen at donki, I thought I’d hit the jackpot. However, the variety packs contain the slightly smaller variety – the convenience store type has about twice the volume.
![](https://cdn.cheapoguides.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/05/tirol-puzzle-770x591.jpg)
If you mention Tirol to the average adult Japanese, they will tell you that at 20yen, they’re expensive. This is because Tirol originally became famous for being the 10yen chocolate – a pretty good price point if you’ve only got a few coins in your pocket from grandpa.
In terms of the taste, you really have to try them yourself to see which one you like. I wasn’t that impressed with the basic Tirol, but any of the milk chocolate varieties or the ones containing nuts or crunchy caramel were pretty good.
![](https://cdn.cheapoguides.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/05/tirol-variety-pack-770x578.jpg)
If you’re outside Japan and you want to get your hands on some Tirol, variety boxes with 27 pieces x 8 bags are available for 2,592yen through Amazon Japan here*.
* – We need to fund our Tirol habit so that’s an affiliate link – but we’d recommend them anyway.