Hi-Chew Doubles – Golden Kiwi and Mango

I feel like it’s been a while since Hi-Chew has started doing doubles as a flavour. The idea is simple, combine two random flavours and hope for the best. At least that’s how a lot of the flavour combos seem to be. This one seems to make sense though. This doubles flavour is the tropical marriage of golden kiwi and golden mango. Kiwi and mango isn’t exactly an untested combo, so it’s one of the safer choices I figured I can’t go wrong with.

The outside has a darker yellow to represent golden mango while the inner layer is a lighter yellow to represent the golden kiwi. I’ve had both mango and kiwi flavours from Hi-Chew, so my minds tongue has a rough idea how it will all turn out. It helps that I’ve got decent amount of experience with the fruits themselves. Mangoes tend to be a messier fruit for me, but kiwis and in particular golden kiwis are fairly easy to deal with and definitely something you have to try to fully appreciate. Golden kiwis tend to lack the tartness of green kiwis, and are sweet but still have a distinct kiwi flavour, seeds and all.

The pieces smell of mango alright, but kiwi not so much. This specific mango is more reminiscent of the Indian variety of mangoes, which tend to be sweeter and juicier, and have less pulp. You’ll most commonly recognize this flavour from sorbets and mousse, which tend to use these varieties of mangoes due to the delightful flavour.

Much as expected, the mango flavour is indeed the sweeter, juicier variety. As I mentioned, if you’ve had mango sorbet or mousse then you’ll know exactly what this mango tastes like. It’s sweet, but has a nice refreshing tropical taste to it. It doesn’t take long for the kiwi to make it’s cameo, and it’s noticeable because of the flavour. It’s not quite as sweet as the mango, and does indeed have a bit of a tart flavour to it. It doesn’t come across as sour at any point though, and the best way I can think to describe it is being similar to a much milder, less invasive version of a typical green apple flavour. The two make an interesting combination. In terms of aftertaste, the kiwi seems to disappear much faster than the mango. Not really important, but thought I’d point that out. In my case it’s more of a plus, since I’m not a huge fan of green apple type flavours.

Texture is on point as always. Out of all the things I fear losing, it’s my teeth. Being able to fully enjoy and appreciate Hi-Chews is just one of the many reasons for that. These things are bouncy and chewy like a cross between chewing gum and taffy, except unlike taffy, the chewiness and bounce from each bite doesn’t melt away quickly. The piece will start to melt away after a few chews, but the bounce remains pretty constant throughout and I love it. It’s due to that gelatin though, so vegans be warned.

While I do enjoy this flavour, I can’t help but feel like I would prefer the mango flavour on it’s own. It’s not that the kiwi is bad, it’s just that when I have this specific flavour of mango, I tend to want to taste just the mango, nothing else. Sort of like how I wouldn’t mix mango sorbet with anything that would taint the flavour. Having said that, if you blind folded me, I would probably guess this is just a variation of the classic mango flavour, and note the tart flavour every once in a while. This is great to try, and I’d even wager that you could treat this as a replacement for the mango flavour, if for some reason this is available but the mango is not.