I’ve never been to China, but I feel like I’ve eaten enough of their Oreo flavors to be named Ambassador. Hot Chicken Wing and Wasabi, Seaweed, Strawberry, Blueberry, Orange-Mango, Grape-Peach and now – Six Flavors. Is “Cookie Ambassador” a thing? Can I be that?
A collaboration with the Palace Museum in Beijing, Oreo Six Flavors are inspired by traditional foods eaten by Chinese royalty at The Forbidden City. I took to eBay recently to track them down, since they haven’t been released here in the U.S.
The Six Flavors are: Green Tea Cake, Red Bean Cake, Lychee Rose Cake, Vintage Haw, Chaoshan-style BBQ Pork Pastry, and Spicy Pepper Pastry. They sounded both delicious and challenging.
The packaging on this collection is fantastic. The box was telling me an epic story, and each flavor had a unique wrapper with a gorgeous design. There were five cookies per flavor – a perfect size to sample and share. China – KILLING IT on Oreo beauty and practicality.
I’ll get right to the flavors. First up was Green Tea Cake. I wasn’t sure about this one – sometimes green tea tastes like dirt to me. But here, it was really nice. Earthy but low-key, it worked really well with the slightly-less-sweet chocolate cookie that I notice all the Chinese Oreo have in common.
The Red Bean Cake Oreo was also earthy, but not as sweet as other red bean desserts I’ve had. My first reaction was “interesting, but not awesome,” but they grew on me the more bites I took.
Next up – Lychee Rose Cake. Now, Rose is a very tricky flavor. One molecule too much, and it tastes like the smell of a Granny’s bathroom. It was surprisingly well done here, though – definitely present and dominant, but not annoying. The lychee was more of a background fruit taste, but it did a lot to keep the rose in its place. I really enjoyed these.
I didn’t know what Vintage Haw flavor was, but I wanted to taste it blind. It was sweet and flowery – something in the neighborhood of strawberry, grape and a gorgeous tropical bloom. These were my favorite of the six – I could eat a whole bag. Afterwards, Google told me that Hawthorn (Haw) is a Chinese berry. I’m on board the Haw train after these Oreo cookies!
I left the savory flavors for last. Spicy Pepper Pastry Oreo smelled a lot like black pepper, but on first taste, it was very subtle. But when I tried the creme filling alone, it was quite strong – the chocolate cookies cut the spice on it considerably. They weren’t terrible, but I wouldn’t buy them again.
And lastly, Chaoshan-Style BBQ Pork Pastry. This flavor worked a lot better than the Hot Chicken Wing Oreo – less salty, meatier, very BBQ’y (a little sweet, a little tangy). Still not a flavor I need more than one shot at, but not totally disgusting!
These were the most fragile Oreos I’d ever handled. Some had broken in transit, which I expected, but even the intact cookies seemed to crumble when I tried to twist them open.
I really enjoyed this collection of flavors and the presentation. They were well worth the money and the wait for overseas shipping. I hope they get an official release here in America.
Purchased Price: $17.99 + free shipping
Size: 291g box (30 cookies)
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Green Tea Cake)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Red Bean Cake)
Rating: 9 out of 10 (Lychee Rose Cake)
Rating: 10 out of 10 (Vintage Haw)
Rating: 5 out of 10 (Spicy Pepper Pastry)
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Chaoshan-Style BBQ Pork Pastry)
Nutrition Facts: (per 100g) 489 calories, 21.5 grams of fat, 480 milligrams of sodium, 67.5 grams of carbohydrates, and 5.3 grams of protein.