What are Limited Edition Orange & Lychee Oreo Cookies?
In celebration of Chinese New Year (a.k.a., Lunar New Year or Spring Festival), Oreo has released a limited edition orange and lychee flavored cookie in China! These flavors have symbolic meanings for New Year – oranges are good luck and lychees are family togetherness.
This isn’t the first time either flavor has graced an Oreo – Orange Creamsicle Oreo hit the US in 2011, Orange Tang Oreos have been spotted in Dubai, and China has had an Orange & Mango Oreo for almost a decade. China also released a Lychee Rose cookie in 2019. But this is the first time orange and lychee have come together. You got lychee in my orange! No, you got orange in my lychee!
These Oreo have red cookies, which makes total sense since red is the primary color of New Year’s celebrations and symbolizes luck, joy, and happiness. Couldn’t we all go for a lucky-happy Oreo right now? I stalked them on eBay and had them shipped.
How are they?
The cookies had an earthier brick hue than last year’s fire-engine red Supreme Oreo. The aroma in the package was a really strong orange with a hint of lychee. It was inviting. The cookies were decorated with Chinese Hanzi characters like fortune and happiness, and cartoon versions of the zodiac signs – 2021 is the year of the Ox.
At this point, I had somehow managed to never eat an actual lychee, despite tasting and enjoying multiple lychee-flavored foods, so I bought some fresh ones. Turns out they tasted exactly like every lychee-flavored thing I’ve ever had, which was a relief – how often do artificial foods taste identical to the real thing?
As I alternated between lychee and Oreo, again – the lychee flavor is spot-on, sweet and fruity with a strong (but good) floral taste. The orange here was a lot like the Chinese orange-mango Oreo – artificial but bright and tasty like a candy without being too tart. Both flavors took up equal real estate, which I liked. Overall, they worked really well together.
Anything else you need to know?
As I’ve stated in other reviews, I’m a fan of the Oreo packaging philosophy in China. Instead of a single large pack, the cookies are separated into 5-cookie mini-packs. I bought an 8-pack box (40 Oreo total), which was more than I expected, but I can share them or keep some for later. I’d prefer all the novelty/limited edition Oreo this way – so much more practical. While the box here wasn’t as elaborate as others in the recent past, it was lovely and the mini-pack wrappers were beautiful in gold and red.
Conclusion:
These are delicious and worth the wait and expense to buy online – although probably wise to get a friend/friends to go in on a box with you to split the cost. It’s an unusual Oreo flavor combo, and so tasty.
Happy Lunar New Year!
Purchased Price: $22.99 + $3.00 shipping
Size: 388 gram box/40 cookies
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 100 grams) 490 calories, 21.5 grams of fat, 260 milligrams of sodium, 69.5 grams of carbohydrates, and 4.3 grams of protein.