Mochido – Grape Donut Gummies

UHA is a pretty big brand when it comes to the snack scene. They are mostly known for sweets, and more specifically I know them for gummies and chewy candies like Puccho. While I would say there are other Japanese brands that do both chewy candies and gummies better, I do have to give UHA credit for trying some wacky and out there ideas. Like this one.

The inspiration here is the mochi donut – the main difference here with the classic donuts is that it uses rice flour, so it tends to have a very distinct chewy texture when fresh. Mochi donuts have become more prevalent in the past few years, and while I don’t think it will ever be as widely accepted in the west as it would be in Asia, it certainly is catching out. Truthfully it sounds novel in concept but the execution is not that different from snacks that many East Asians grew up with. At least as far as the pastry itself is concerned.

The flavour is very strong, concord grape flavour. The flavour is unmistakable, and is so strong it borders on cough medicine. It starts strong, but near the end it does sort of end up having a medicinal quality to it, so that’s something to watch out for. It’s a shame because it’s sort of like a really good TV show – the first season is amazing, but the second season is piss poor and you start to question why you bothered starting it. But you are too invested to stop so you just keep going.

The texture is a layer of coating to simulate glaze, and the inside is chewy gummy that honestly isn’t too far off from a mochi texture you would expect from candies.If I squint my mind’s tongue, I can sort of see how this would be similar to a mochi donut. They have a distinct layer of glaze on the outside and a very chew dough. I tend to prefer the texture of mochi donuts, so I quite like these. The bonus of these is that they are unlike mochi donuts in that they don’t go as stale nearly as fast. Anyone who has had a stale mochi donut will probably know exactly what I am referring to.

Overall I like the execution of the texture on these, but the flavour is a bit medicinal. Would I consider getting these again? Perhaps the same product, but maybe a different flavour. The texture is unique enough that I wouldn’t mind trying this again. Just ideally something less like cough medicine.