Review: Morinaga Hi-Chew Green Apple

Review: Morinaga Hi-Chew Green Apple
Best Before: May 2012
Review: March 2012

http://www.morinaga.co.jp/hi-chew/

My preference, when it comes to Japanese snacks, is towards either the salty or the outrageous, and consequently some of the most common-but-enjoyable everyday snacks tend to get missed. Much like, somehow, it took me six months to get around to reviewing a flavour of Pocky, it seems a little silly to me that I’ve somehow missed talking about Morinaga Hi-Chew. For the most part, bubblegum is not terribly prevalent or popular in Japan in my observation, but chewable soft candy packaged and sold in the manner of gum? Very much so, and the flavour range is pretty incredible! Generally the candy is flavoured with yogurt, giving the candy a milky, round, and tangy flavour, and then additional flavours are layered on top. So let’s see what Morniaga’s “new” Green Apple Hi-Chew has to offer!

Packaging: There’s almost no English on this package, other than the Morinaga logo, and the big NEW!!! on the front of the package. While the juicy illustration of a green apple is appetizing, this is the kind of snack you wouldn’t know to try unless you already knew about it, if you know what I mean. I do like the foil treatment though, it’s eye-catching.

Scent: A faint, sweet green apple scent is present once the outer package is opened, which is nice. I always expect things with this flavour to smell as harsh and intense as air freshener or cleaners, and this is kind of mellow.

Taste: While the appearance of the candy is of a green bit of chewy candy wrapped in the standard white chewy candy, the taste of green apple is apparent as soon as it hits the tongue! Chewing the Morinaga Hi-Chew is like the best, first 30 seconds of chewing a piece of gum before it loses all of its flavour. The candy is initially about as tough as taffy, but breaks down quickly and every single bite is intensely flavourful.

The flavour resists being overly sweet, somehow, and the green apple despite being quite intense never ventures into industrial cleaner territory, which is welcome. The tang of the yogurt is there as well, right up at the front and all the way through the 30 seconds or so of chewing. Afterwards, you’re left with a yogurty tang in the after-taste, but also a sort of tingly, near-menthol type effect on your tongue. It’s pretty neat.

I gotta say though that, 10 minutes after my first piece, there’s a little bit of a chemical sweetness aftertaste that’s not the nicest, but it’s also not the end of the world either. When you’re eating a piece of commercial candy made by a huge conglomerate, you kinda know what you’re getting into.

Verdict: There’s a reason that Morinaga Hi-Chew is a classic, and there’s a reason they’ve even started exporting the flavourful candy to America (with English packaging!). It’s pretty great stuff. The upside is that it’s got all of the flavour of gum! The downside is that you can go through a pack in 10 minutes if you’re not paying attention, where a pack of gum might last you a week. Still, if you’re the kind of person that enjoys an insane 30 second burst of flavour, check out all of the flavours of Morinaga Hi-Chew, including the regular “Yogurt” flavour–they’re unique and, if you like them, they’re everywhere!

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