Hi-Chew Doubles – Ume Plum and Lemon

You ever have those moods where you feel like eating something that is out of your typical flavour “profile”? Like feeling the craving to consume spicy food even though you are certified spice wimp that will just end up spiting fire out both ends shortly after? Ok good, so it’s not just me. I bring this up because I don’t generally grab at sour or tart candies. I mean, I do but the ones I go for are typically sour only in name. You know, like Fuzzy Peaches or Sour Patch Kids Child’s play. Amateur hour.

This particular Hi-Chew looks to be quite the sour puss though. Lemon is a flavour that Hi-Chew does pretty well, much to my chagrin. Plum is also a flavour they do well, but I like that one. So this is a perfect example of a mixed bag right off the bat. This could be interesting.

The ume, or Japanese plum as it is also known as, is generally pickled. During my travels around Japan, I can say I’ve had my fair sure of ume wine. They sell that stuff in convenient stores, with full pitted plums and all. It has a distinct, almost savoury tart flavour to it.

I’m expecting this piece to be very tart, and possibly puckeringly sour. Is it possible for something to smell really sour? I’m not talking spoiled milk or anything rotten, just mouth puckering. Cause that’s how these smell. Though to be fair, these smell amazing – you know when you go into a candle store and they have all these really strong smells that assault your nose? And you know how there’s usually that one candle that is still strong, but in a nice, pleasant way? Like a nice fruity plum or peach smell? This is exactly like that. The smell of lemon isn’t very strong, but that’s probably because it’s on the inner layer.

Not much more to say about texture beyond the usual – it’s like the perfect cross between firm gummy and taffy. You end up with something very close to the bouncy chew of a chewing gum, but it melts away so you can consume it without worrying about something sitting in your gut for 7 years before being digested.

As expected, this flavour is sour. The tartness got my eyes watering a little, and my face puckering a bit. The outer layer of ume is a nice combo of sweet and sour, and you can even see some bits of what I assume to be freeze dried fruit in the outer layer. The nice balance doesn’t last though, as the lemon kicks in pretty hard, and overpowers the ume right away. If you like lemon and tartness, than this is perfect. If you are like me however, this is not the most pleasant experience. This is sour and taste like actual lemon juice, instead of the embarrassment that is super sweet generic lemon candy that has no kick to it. In that way, I appreciate the lemon.

I’m not a fan of sour candies in general, but if you are, this would be perfect for you. I probably wouldn’t get this again, but that’s cause I’m not a fiend for sour stuff. If I was though, I’d be all over this. I personally prefer something more balanced however, so I’d probably prefer to go with a regular ume flavour instead. That stuff is tasty!