Hi-Chew – Choco Ball Mix

As I mentioned in my previous Tirol reviews, summers seem to be the time for snack companies in Japan to do collaborations with other brands or companies, and Hi-Chew is no exception. Choco Ball is another line of snacks made by Morinaga, the folks who make Hi-Chews. Choco Ball is pretty straightforward – they are small spheres of chocolate that are usually filled with something. Their most common flavours are caramel, strawberry and peanut. They have been around since the 60’s, and are easily recognizable by their mascot that is a parrot named Kyorochan. I’m fairly certain they’ve used him to market other things, but this is the major product line.

The purpose of this collaboration is to do a crossover with the two lines. There is another product where the two crossover and the typical chocolate ball is filled with the candy from a Hi-Chew. This product that I’m taking a whack at is the typical Hi-Chew format but using the flavours common to Choco Ball, namely a chocolate Hi-Chew with a caramel centre, and a strawberry Hi-Chew with a chocolate center. Also, there’s two distinct mascots on the bag. I’m guessing Kyorochan is supposed to represent the chocolate piece, and his sister/girlfriend/female friend is the one that represents the strawberry one.

Apart from the cute mascots, the first thing I notice is the size of this bag. It appears that this bag is smaller than the usual mix bags that have about 16 pieces in them. This looks to be around half that, so 8 pieces?

Anyone know what that text on the back says??

The first piece is the chocolate caramel piece. It has a dark outer layer which is the milk chocolate, and the lighter, inner layer is the caramel. You can tell from how the piece is “assembled” that there is a small seam down the centre of the piece. I imagine they had to inject the caramel into a mold into a chocolate outer shell. The piece has a very strong smell coming from it, and it’s the caramel. I’ve learned that Japanese caramel (the chew able kind) is different from what we are used to in the North here. Chew able caramels, the ones that come in a block form, are typically very sweet. Japanese caramels tend to be less on the sweet side, and more on the burnt side. There is a lot more smoky flavour to it, and it helps to undercut some of the sweetness. It’s hard not to be sweet though, on account of caramel basically being burnt sugar. I had to test to see if the two parts were different flavours, and they were. The outer layer is a semi-bland chocolate flavour. It is a lot like a Tootsie Roll but without all the sweetness. The inner layer is the distinct, smoky burnt sugar flavour of caramel. I’m also fairly certain it’s burnt brown sugar, since it has that distinct taste. Either way, it’s like chewing a piece of caramel. The chocolate outer layer is easily overpowered, and doesn’t really add much other than maybe a less sticky texture to the very sticky centre.

The smell of burnt brown sugar is quite overwhelming.

The other piece in the package is the strawberry wrapped around a chocolate centre. In this piece, the outer layer of strawberry is all I smell, and I don’t even get the slightest hint of chocolate. I almost think the center is going to be like the outer layer of the previous piece. Biting into it, I feel like it has only confirmed my suspicions – the inner layer is very similar to the outer chocolate layer of the other piece. It’s like eating a reverse tootsie roll, where the strawberry flavour is on the outside, rather than the inside. That being said, because the chocolate is relatively bland, I find the strawberry still slightly overpowers the chocolate, and the the chocolate only serves to even out the tartness of the strawberry flavour.

The smell of this is exactly like the strawberry flavour. No hint of chocolate whatsoever.

I see what they were trying to go for with these flavours, and I kind of think they captured the essence of the Choco Ball candy, for better or worse. In my case, I’m not too crazy about the “cheap” feel of Choco Ball candies as a whole, so I wasn’t too into these. For those who are into Tootsie Rolls, this would be a great pick up for them. I would be unlikely to pick this up again, since it wasn’t exactly cheap, and I’d probably get more bang for buck from just getting the Choco Ball candy instead.

I can’t tell, but it looks like one piece is 2 calories less than the other. I’m going to guess it’s the strawberry one.

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zbearviking

From the frigid, majestic North (Canada), hails a creature like no other. Is it a bear that took up viking-ing? Or a viking that turned into a bear? Perhaps it is beyond human comprehension what the creature truly is, much like Bigfoot or Nessie. What we do know, is that much like everything else in the universe, it is made of star stuff.