Hi-Chew – Aloe Yogurt

Aloe is an interesting case study in how the idea of something can be marketed into oblivion and overproduced to the point that people completely forget what the original product or concept was. What I mean is, aloe has been long touted for it’s calming and soothing sensation when used on skin. But then somehow we started eating and consuming it because we thought it would calm and sooth our guts too, which I don’t know whether or not that’s true but it seems exaggerated regardless. I still remember when it became a super popular drink, where it was sold as aloe vera juice but the contents of aloe were limited to the cubed pieces in the drink. The liquid in the drink itself was essentially super sweet, tasty grape juice.

Somehow after some point, people started thinking that’s what aloe tasted like and that combination of aloe soaked in grape juice started being used in bubble tea and desserts. I’m fairly certain at this point if someone was to try tasting the actual aloe plant, or even touch one they would be surprised how slimy, and not so tasty it actually is.

I bring all this up because I’m curious how this flavour will go. Hi-Chews yogurt flavours tend to be sweet and tangy enough that it could mask even the most unpopular flavours. Then again, they could take the lazy route and go with what the aloe juice flavour tastes like, aka glorified grape juice.

This mini bag comes with 8 individually wrapped pieces. These are sealed nice and tight so I can’t smell anything but plastic. Peeling back said plastic, I smell something that actually smells quite similar to my conception of what actual aloe plants smell like. It’s not quite medicinal or herbal, but has a distinct plant like smell to it.

The flavour of yogurt is recognizable as Calpis or Yakult, basically more like the yogurt drinks common in East Asia than actual yogurt that one would find over in the frigid North. I can’t say I’ve had much aloe on it’s own. The aloe I have had is usually accompanied by lots of sugar, or some fruit flavour. The aloe flavour kind of reminds me of licking an envelop at first, and the flavour is somewhat like a herb, somewhat like a leaf. Basically it tastes green, if colours had a taste. I’ve heard some say that aloe in its purest form is slimy and kind of disgusting to eat, so I can see how adding in yogurt might help to sell the taste of it better. It really is a yogurt flavour with something else on the side which is noticeable, but hard to really describe.

Thinking more on it, I’m realizing what the backseat flavour is. Bear with me here – if you are old enough to remember what envelopes were like, the flavour of the aloe reminds me a lot of the taste that adhesive leaves in your mouth after you lick it to make it sticky so that you can seal the envelope. Yes, that sounds nasty if you don’t know what it is, but those who know will realize it’s just sort of mild and while distinct, generally inoffensive.

There isn’t much to say about texture here, and it’s the typical chewy, taffy like bite that Hi-Chew is known for. This particular variety doesn’t stray from that near perfect formula, and most of the variety here is the flavour. The texture is generally a winner and what makes or breaks most Hi-Chews is whether the flavour can match up to the texture.

To be frank, I can’t say that I enjoy these a whole lot. That being said, if I treat these as a typical yogurt flavour then I enjoy these for no other reason than scarcity. Hi-Chew in Japan doesn’t seem to release too many yogurt flavours compared to their standard fruits, so as long as the yogurt flavour doesn’t taste terrible, I choose to opt in. I’m not sure I would sign up for envelop adhesive flavour on it’s own though, so make of that what you will.