Hi-Chew – Cow’s Recommendation

I’ve mentioned before that Hi-Chew seems to be at it’s best when it’s in it’s element with fruit flavours. They’ve had success dabbling in yogurt combos too, but generally the fruit ones are the best. Of course in other parts of the world they get more creative, but something like this is certainly novel for the Asian market.

When I hear the name Cow’s Recommendation, my first though is of grass or wheat varieties, not chewy candy, but here we are. A total of 16 pieces here – 6 yogurt, 6 strawberry milk and 4 coffee. Worth noting is that all three flavours are made using Hokkaido milk, if that means anything to anyone beyond the higher price tag.

The yogurt is a solid flavour and brings back memories of Calpis. Worth noting that this is more of a probiotic yogurt drink flavour, and it has sweet, tangy flavour that is more the combination of skim milk, sugar and some citrus flavour. It brings back memories of my childhood and I personally really enjoy the flavour. There is a distinct citrus flavour to it that gives it a bright, sharp flavour that follows through to the after taste.

The coffee is a new one for me. I’m not a coffee drinker, so I can’t speak to whether this is accurate to what a typical coffee is but it has the same flavour I get from a coffee dessert like a tiramisu. I’m sure if I was more of a coffee enjoyer this one would be better, but it’s a little weird having something so strong in coffee flavour be in a Hi-Chew, which I generally associate with fruit or dairy and fruit.

Finally we have strawberry milk. Admittedly I’ve had this flavour as much as I have the yogurt one, but truthfully it never gets old for me. Hi-Chew does a really good strawberry flavour, but realistically the main difference between strawberry and strawberry milk is that the dairy portion of the flavour adds more sweetness that reminds me of condensed milk and smooths out a lot of the floral and tart notes that the normal strawberry has. While I do enjoy this quite a lot and am reminded of strawberry ice cream, I do prefer the normal strawberry since the floral and tart notes comes through and make the whole thing taste more refreshing, for lack of a better term.

The addition of milk into the usual flavour assortments certainly works and I could see it being more than a mere novelty. Having said that, I am not big on coffee so that only leaves me with 2 of 3 flavours I find enjoyable. If another version came out with just strawberry and yogurt, or another flavour I enjoy I would do it again. Otherwise, this is a one and one situation.