Hi-Chew – Yogurt Mix
In an effort to keep an open mind, (and an inability to source Japan made Hi-Chews), I’ve decided to give some other varieties of Hi-Chew a try. These are made in China, and oddly enough are a variety that I don’t see much of in Japan. In fact, I don’t see a lot of the common mixes in Japan that I see here in North America. I guess it makes sense, given different flavour preferences. Like how currant isn’t much of a thing over here, yet across the pond it’s everywhere in Britain.
While this is a yogurt mix for the North American market, I’m expecting these to be more like the Japanese yogurt flavours, as in they taste like Yakult or Calpis. Essentially like the yogurt drinks than something more dairy based. Based on the smell from opening the bag, my suspicions are confirmed. It has that sweet, skim milk smell to it. Is it possible for something to smell fizzy? For some reason these smell fizzy.
Not too happy with the crazy random distribution here. 3 blueberry, 4 plain yogurt, and a whopping 11 strawberry. I mean, I get strawberry is popular but this is just kinda insane. Unless the blueberry one tastes absolute rank, I find this absolutely unacceptable. For shame!
I’ve ranted at length about the difference between the Japan made Hi-Chews and other Hi-Chews. It comes down to a combo of texture and flavour. Flavour is less subtle, and more “hit you in the head” upfront which is more simple yet powerful. While I prefer the more subtle, nuanced flavour, these are good too in their own way.
Texture is where things take a bit of a departure. Even from simply handling the pieces, these have more a softish, greasy feel to the outside, while the Japanese ones tend to be less slick and tad drier. As for how they chew, the non-Japan ones are softer and don’t have the same characteristic taffy bounce that the Japanese ones have, but the chew is still very nice and still superior to other chewy candies we have in North America like Starburst. I attribute that to the gelatin content used, meaning these are definitely not vegan friendly.
Strawberry is basically strawberry Calpis. Much like the actual yogurty drink, there isn’t a whole lot of strawberry flavour to it. I mean, you know it’s strawberry but it’s basically just the standard Japanese artificial strawberry flavour with the fizzy yogurt like flavour of Calpis. Not that it’s a bad thing. Maybe it’s nostalgia but I truly am a sucker for the fake strawberry flavour that Asian snacks tends to have. The one thing is, I don’t really feel like I like it enough to want 11 pieces of this. I hate to keep harping on this, but dang Hi-Chew, fix your quality control!
Blueberry is…also like a blueberry Calpis. The main difference between this and strawberry is that the blueberry has a sweeter, distinct, fragrant berry flavour. I feel like artificial blueberry flavour is just easier to do than artificial strawberry. Or maybe it’s just more obvious. What blueberry flavour I can taste reminds me of the blueberries you get in waffles and pancakes. Not bad, but not what you’d expect from natural blueberries. I like this one more than strawberry, but I tend to prefer blueberry in general. The fact that I only got 4 of these is also making me appreciate each one even more. Curse me and my hoarding mentality!
The plain yogurt is….you guessed it like a plain Calpis. I don’t want you to think that’s a bad thing though. If you like the taste of fizzy yogurt drink, this will be your jam. As I mentioned before, these yogurt flavours are more like the Asian style yogurt drinks, and not so much like the natural dairy based yogurts that you eat with a spoon that you find more commonly in the west. Maybe things have changed since I last graced the yogurt drink aisle, but I remember them also being very dairy like and thick, as opposed to the liquid sweetness that is Calpis.
Final verdict – would I get this again? Probably, but only if I’m cleared of my snack backlog, and I just so happen to spy myself a bag that has more blueberry. Seriously, what an uneven distribution. It’s honestly kind of upsetting. Who knew Hi-Chew could sour my mood? But all other things being equal, if I had a better, more even distribution, I’d consider getting these again.
