Hi-Chew Mixed Fruit Juice

Fruit punch is like that giant clique of popular kids. There’s the standout fruits that dominate the attention of the group, and there’s the background ones that just add numbers and don’t contribute a whole lot. Think pear, apple and grape as the top tier popular kids of the group, and strawberries, kiwis and peaches as the ones that usually go unnoticed. This is all assuming that you can actually taste the different fruits. More often than not, actual fruit punch is just a mix of left over flavours at the plant, that were later mixed until it tasted palatable. Realistically though, saying something tastes like fruit punch is usually an indication that it’s artificial or some weird Frankenstein concoction.

This flavour looks to be the blending of four different fruits, banana, apple, mango and pineapple. Just based on that alone, I think it’s safe to assume this is going to taste very tropical.

Smell wise, banana and pineapple are the headliners. I’m not crazy about banana, so not sure how to feel about it. I like pineapple and mango, but the apple I’m worried, might overshadow the others, what with it’s strong, distinct flavour and what not. But then again, that’s all conjecture. Let’s find out shall we?

It definitely smells tropical. It reminds me of those “tropical” punch drinks I had as a kid. You know, the ones that were super sweet and artificial, and usually had a distinct tropical taste. You could hazard a guess as to what fruits it was trying to represent based on the label, but if they didn’t show you, you probably would have no idea. That being said, these things smell wonderful.

There’s not much to say about the texture that hasn’t already; it’s got that beautiful, soft taffy like texture with a wonderful chew and mouth feel. The predominant flavour here is between pineapple and apple. I tried really hard, but I couldn’t really taste the banana or mango very well. It seems the tart apple flavour along with the pineapple sweetness overtake them, so that all I can really taste is the pineapple and apple flavours. That isn’t to say that its a bad thing, unless you dislike apple or pineapple. The mango and banana flavours are there, but they are quite muted in comparison, and you have to really focus to try and get them to come forth.

Just be sure that all of them are the same flavour, I tried another two pieces. All three pieces seem to have the same issue, where pineapple or apple dominate the flavour throughout, with banana being only a faint touch, and mango goes almost unnoticed. I think a big part of it is that they tend to complement each other very well in terms of flavour, so it’s very hard to distinguish if whether your tasting is one fruit or another. The apple and pineapple stand out because they had distinct flavour profiles that are a bit easier to pick out. When it’s all said and done, the apple is also what lingers in the mouth, leaving that tart after taste.

If you like pineapple or apple, or better yet both, than you should get this. If you don’t like apple or pineapple, this would probably be a hard pass. Those two flavours switch between each other constantly, and if you don’t like one, half the experience will be bad for you. The mango and banana flavours are faint enough that you might as well not pick it up if you are looking for that. As an overall fruit punch or tropical cocktail, it serves just fine. But at the end of the day, you could probably get a similar experience without paying for the Hi-Chew premium. Unfortunately, I’d have to pass on this one.