Sugar Savvy

When I tasted Hi Chew for the first time, I really couldn’t believe it. With one bite, they easily became my favourite candy. Literally the best tasting candy I’ve ever eaten. These Starburst-like chews from Japan come in several different flavours, all of which are remarkably authentic.

Blueberry tastes just like blueberries. Strawberry tastes mostly like fresh strawberries, although I found it a touch too sweet for my taste. Grapefruit was pretty strong, typical of the fruit, but it had a slight cough drop aftertaste. Orange was very much like a real orange. J claimed it made his mouth explode with saliva. He also likened it to an orange freezie, his favourite. Michelle said the aftertaste of the orange Hi Chew made her want to drink actual orange juice. Darci tried the lemon and said, “Oh I like that. It’s bursty!” She also said the texture reminded her of gum, to which we all agreed. Jay was not a fan of the lemon, saying he could take it or leave it.

And then there was grape. Grape is my favourite flavour pretty much across the board. No matter what the candy is, I have rarely been disappointed by grape. Dave tried one and said it was as close to real grape as one could get. He liked it, we all did. But there is actually something better.

When I said grape a second ago, I expect most of you thought of a lovely, purple coloured fruit, and that’s exactly what I meant. But the Japanese are particular people and I applaud them for it, for I am also a particular person. The best flavour of Hi Chew, without a doubt and so agreed by nearly everyone who tried one, is white grape. The first Hi Chew I’d ever had was white grape and I purchased it specifically because of the picture of white grapes on the label. (The ones I purchased had no English on their label but I have lately seen ones that have the words Hi Chew on them. They always have a clear picture of what the flavour is though, so watch for that.) I thought I had reached sugar nirvana, the ultimate in taste sensation. My reaction to this candy was what I assume most people experience when they have great chocolate. (Chocolate is merely fine to me, I’m weird.) Dave managed a ‘wow,’ Amber said it was just like Welch’s white grape juice. Michelle said that the white grape was closer to the taste of the fruit whereas the purple grape was closer to the standard expectation of grape flavour.

A word of warning though. I have been known to hoard really good candy so that I don’t run out before I’m able to get more. I tried to do that with these but if you keep them too long they do lose their freshness and get a little hard and styrofoam-like, much like a Starburst would. Not that that bothered me much, it’s the taste that coos seductively in my pleasure center.

So much for the single fruit flavours, but that’s not all they make. No sir. Hi Chew Mixed Fruit was an interesting experience for all involved. Michelle and I like to smell our candy first to see if it elucidates the taste before we begin. This one smelled of pina colada, although Amber said apricot. The point is we didn’t examine the package carefully enough to decipher what actual mixed fruit it was supposed to be until we’d all tasted it. Michelle and I were baffled after the pina colada guess as once we started chewing, those flavours were in question. Amber guessed correctly, good for her, and chose mango, papaya & pineapple. These were, of course, clearly pictured on the label once we looked. J summed up the experience of this candy quite succinctly and said they zinged with flavour. And he also swore a lot. If you’ve ever eaten a bowl of fresh mango, papaya & pineapple together, you’ve noticed that fruit can be sweet and sour all at the same time. These chews were incredibly accurate in their capture of that intense quality and yet quite unlike any candy currently defined as sour.

Lastly we tried a totally non-fruit Hi Chew, Hi Chew Creme Caramel. These were very different in that they have crunchy bits inside the chew. But again, the authenticity of this candy blew Michelle and I away. We both love creme caramel and this tastes just like it. The crunchy bits inside emulated the burnt sugar top of the dessert and once chewed the texture of custard seemed to remain in the candy. Amber was the only one who noticed that there were two different coloured sides to the chew and smelt each one individually. She said the one side smelled like vanilla extract and the other side like toffee, cookies and cream. Once she tasted it she noticed a butterscotch-maple undertone. The only person who tried one and didn’t like it was J, who said he never liked crunchy and chewy together. I can understand that, he also doesn’t like actual creme caramel. Then he said that it felt like it might pull out his fillings and lest he forget to mention, ‘crunchy & chewy = ew.’

So, as always, it’s up to you. Do you like your candy to surprise you with its near magical capture of an already existing taste? Or do you prefer it to stick to preconceived ideas of flavour and not ruin your dental work? All I can say is that I found Hi Chew to be unique in the realm of candy. And that suits me fine.

A great place to buy Hi Chew…

http://www.jbox.com/SEARCH/hi_chew/1/

Photo from Wikipedia.