Calpis – Yogurt Fruit Chews

In my previous review of the Caplis hard candies, I was pretty happy with how each of the flavours turned out, and how well they captured the flavours of the actual drinks in a hard candy form. Admittedly, it was what made this purchase pretty much a no-brainer. I’m not crazy about hard candy, and in general if I had a choice between a hard candy vs. a soft or chewy one, I gravitate towards the latter. That may change when my teeth begin to fall out from all the soft, chewy candy I eat, but until then my preference remains.

As great as the hard candies were, I’m curious how these chewy morsels will compare. I’m not expecting the flavour to be too different. Looking at the packaging I’m expecting some sort of milk based chewy candy. I say that mostly because the colour of the candy they show is kind of milky looking, and the top right has a glass of milk (I think?) pointing out that there’s extra calcium or something. I can’t say that’s really a selling point for me, but I guess for some concerned parent it might make them decide this is the lesser evil compared to something with no added nutrition. It’s all a marketing ploy if you ask me.

My pack had 21 pieces, 7 of each of the 3 flavours. The flavour look to be the original, grape, and tangerine. I think it’s tangerine, based on the illustration, but could also be clementine or mandarin. I’ve always had a lot of trouble telling them apart…As with a lot of the candies we’ve seen so far, they’re all sealed individually, making for great ammo. If you got pelted in the head with one of these, how angry could you really be if it didn’t take out an eye? It’s free candy! Not that I would ever do something like that. Maybe.

So how bout we start this off with the O.G? The original flavour – the one that started it all. Colour wise, everything seems to be in order, nothing unexpected here. The size is maybe the only thing that I was not expecting. I was expecting something slightly larger, but as you can see from the picture below, it’s a tad on the small size.

I guess the small size means you can pop it in your mouth and not have to strain yourself to chew it. Though now that I think about it, when was the last time I had a chewy candy that was big enough to cause difficulties when trying to chew it? Either way, the size doesn’t really impact anything, other than making me wish it was bigger so I could chew on it for longer. The flavour is basically the same as the hard candy. I guess the big difference here is that instead of leaving it to melt on your mouth to get all the flavour, you gotta work a little for it and chew. Which I am fine with. This is great and I would prefer this over the hard candy any day. Risk of cutting the roof of my mouth – 0%. I am down for this.

The mandarin/clementine/tangerine flavour is very mild looking, and very tame to look at. It’s kind of like that inoffensive, mild-mannered dude at every party ever. He’s kind of there, doesn’t say much but isn’t completely mute to the point of weirding people out. A background character, if you will. He also has a more faint, inoffensive smell, which I can always appreciate. Way better that than some guy who blasts through a can of Axe every two days. Gross guys. We have running water now.

The flavour starts kind of tame, but it very quickly hits you with that nice sweet, citrus flavour and is quickly followed by that tangy yogurt taste. Oddly enough, this one tastes more yogurty than the original flavour. Something about the tangerine/mandarin/clementine flavour lends itself way to the yogurt and makes for a great combo. I hate to admit it, but this flavour is arguably better than the original. Looks like that mild-mannered dude has some secrets of his own. They always say it’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for.

As always, I save what I perceive to be the best for last. Grape has yet to disappoint me, so let’s see if anything changes. Again, same shape, and somewhat disappointingly small size. The smell is quite nice, and is one of those aromas where you can guess how something tastes based on it. For the record, that smell is good – hence it will probably taste good.

The flavour doesn’t disappoint, and is just like the grape hard candy. It’s not quite at the level of a Hi Chew (but what is?), but it is still one of the better grape flavours thus far. Unsurprisingly, that means I love this flavour. Here’s where things get a little controversial though; is it the best one of the three? Stay tuned the find out after the commercial break!

This assortment only has three flavours, but that doesn’t make trying to rank them any easier. This one was actually quite close. While I like them all, I would have to place the original flavour third. This isn’t because it’s not good or I don’t like it, I just like the other two slightly more. Between grape and mandarin/clementine/tangerine, I’d have to say that the latter takes it for top spot. I know, I know, this is probably going to cause riots, but really, I have to be as objective as a perfect human can possibly be. I’m still only human after all. The grape comes in really close second, but what ultimately allows the nondescript palm-sized citrus fruit to win out is how well the flavours mix with the yogurt flavour and combine into a chewy delight.

I found this assortment in my local Asian grocery store, so I don’t imagine it should be too hard to find for my fellow northerners. I would recommend this for anyone who likes yogurt or fruit chews. Just be warned that even if I can’t read the nutrition label, there’s a good chance there is dairy in this. If you’re mildly lactose intolerant, I would still recommend you risk a few toots and poops for it.