Snack Nation: Otoko no Kuro Mint

In Japan, food culture is incredibly sex segregated. Add the number of male patrons in a Mister Donut to the number of female patrons in a Yoshinoya, and the total will be zero. So it only makes sense that men and women get their own kinds of sex-specified candy too.

While women may go for something like Glamatic gum, the development guys down at Meiji obviously think men need candy that pulverizes their tonsils in a rage of minty machismo. Otoko no Kuro Mint (A Man's Black Mint), welcome to the battlefield. 

What exactly is so extreme and masculine about this mint, you may ask? Like all 'black mints' in Japan, Otoko no Kuro Mint serves up some potent doses of menthol that will numb your mouth into a post-apocalyptic nuclear winter. But unlike a medicinal cough drop, the Otoko no Kuro Mint contains a layer of creamy Xylitol.

On a mintyness measure, Otoko no Kuro Mint is off the chart, but with its large size and substantial sweetness, it's also clear that it's probably a lot of sugar going into your body. A stick of Black Black will have the same effect with fewer calories.

One bonus note: The packaging for Otoko no Kuro Mint allows you to fold up the slide-out tray into a smaller box which can hold three Otoko no Kuro Mints. This makes it perfect to throw in a pocket for a date -- as long as your lady can handle the draft of polar wind coming from your mouth all night.