Frutips Black Currant

 I'm sorta a big deal

The Attraction

I've seen this candy around at various points in my "Asian" life. It was time I wrote a proper review of this perennial treat.

The Review:
Ask any Hong Kong native or frequent visitor to the island about this snack and most likely they will be familiar with it. Frutips in HK are like the equivalent of Lifesavers or Tic Tacs here in the States. Every grocery / convenience store carries these snack stables. I vaguely remember seeing these at various point of my childhood growing up. Even though I was raised in the US, I remember seeing the packaging of these snacks when I would visit HK or when someone would visit from HK and would bring a few roll of these for someone I knew.

Tunnel of yummy goodness?

I have forgotten about this snack years ago, until about 3 years ago, a former colleague of mine with friends in Hong Kong would have them ship her these gummy pastilles to her several times a year. She was kind enough to share some with me and it immediately brought me back to my younger days.

What's curious about it is that although gummies are not an unusual favorite of children and grown-ups alike, the famous flavor of these Frutips are black currant. Yes, black currant. You may be asking, what the heck flavor is that? Well, it looks like a grape and blueberry. It's better explained here.

Gummy and chewy

In any regard, the black currant flavor is far more familiar to folks in Asia and in Europe. So much so that another black currant flavored treat, Ribina, is also very popular in Hong Kong. Fortunately, you can get these concentrated drink mixes here in the US.

What makes these treats so tasty? They are gummy, but not overly sweet, with a subtle tartness to them. The gummy texture is also not too gummy. It doesn't get all in your teeth to the point where you have to use your tongue or worst, your finger, to get the candy our of your teeth. I'm drooling a little just thinking about them now.

The Sweet:
Gummy, chewy, slightly sour treats that are highly addicting

The Bitter:
Hard to find outside of Asia

Conclusion:
There's a reason why this gummy treat is so popular in HK. It's not too sweet and the chewy consistency makes it tough to resist a multiple pastille tasting. Unfortunately, these are usually not sold in the US, so they are a tough item to come by, but when you do, after trying it, you'll be hording a few rolls of these the next time you happen upon them.

Video of the Week

Boy, the things you can win these days in the claw machine

A slightly pervy, yet genius of a business person in Taiwan came up with the idea of putting bikini-clad women in the claw machine games to draw more players. This may surprise you, but it seemed to have worked in a big way. No, you can't select the model with the claw (unfortunately) and it's probably not a good idea to play one of these machines while you are on a date, unless you want to potentially just go home alone.

Kasugai Pineapple Gummy Candy

 Can the Japanese improve upon another idea?

The Attraction

Last week I reviewed gummies from a company originating from Germany. It got me thinking, what would a Japanese version of gummy candy taste like? Let's see!

The Review:
OK, ok, so I have to 'fess up. It's not like I've never had Japanese gummy candy before. I've had several Kasugai gummy flavors prior to this review, but I've never put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) to write a review about it. Sure there are other tasty flavors available, but I have never tried the pineapple flavor, so I thought this review should at least be about a flavor I've not had prior.

I open the packaging and peer inside to see all the gummies individually wrapped. I have mixed feelings about this. It's not environmentally friendly and in my mind, if it means less product in the bag, then I can forego the double-freshness factor.

Seriously hygienic, for the OCD crowd

Oddly enough, when I open the bag, there's a strong scent of plastic or glue. Almost like Shrinky Dinks from back in the day. That was off-putting, but I must solder on in the name of snack review.

I pickup a gummy, unwrap it and give it a gentle squeeze. It already feels less firm than the Haribo variety, which is neither good nor bad. I take a whiff and there is a slight pineapple scent. I take a bite and the gummy gives way fairly easily. If biting into a Haribo cola gummy requires 8 out of 10 gummy bite strength, these pineapple gummies require about 6 out of 10 on the same scale. Flavor-wise, it's a relatively mild compared to dried pineapple itself. Best of all, as with many Japanese snacks, it's not too sweet.

It's healthy because it looks like a

dried apricot, right?

The Sweet:
Nice soft gummy texture with a mild pineapple taste.

The Bitter:
If you like a "gummier" snack, you may find that these yield too easily to your bite. Should be for a pineapple flavor fan.

Conclusion:
If you are a gummy fan, you will enjoy this snack.You will also have to be a fan of the taste of pineapple also. It's not necessarily on everyone's top 3 favorite fruit flavors. Even with that, it didn't take much time to make short work of the remaining gummies in the bag. If you really want to make a bag of gummies disappear, try the Mango, Grape or Lychee flavors.

Video of the Week 

Cause we all need to do our part

In case you haven't figured this out, I'm a fan of food, so when I heard there was a pizzeria that started making a pizza box made out of pizza, I was intrigued. The only question now is how will you keep your pizza pizza-box warm? Build another pizza box...and then so on and so forth....( I hope you really like pizza).

Haribo Happy Cola

 
We know they can do bears, but can they can cola?

The Attraction

I know Haribo well from their world famous gummy bears, but one can not live on gummy bears alone. It was time to branch out and see if their other gummy offerings were as yummy. (sorry, it was better to get that out of the way early)

The Review:
I've been indulging on Haribo's gummy or as they brand it "Gold-Bears" for many years now. As great as they are, Haribo also has other gummy snacks such as Smurfs, Twin Cherries and these Happy Cola. I guess what intrigued me most about these snacks is that they are a one off from the typical fruit-gummy partnership. Could this taste OK? Will it taste like a cola? What mad person thought of this combo?

I don't know about you, but I like fairly soft gummy snacks. Too hard and they come off as stale, too soft and they feel like they are melting. Before opening the bag, I could feel the "Happy Colas" were on the softer side, but in a good way. I opened the bag and a cola smell filled the air. So far, so good.

Like a mini-Coke?

I pick a lucky cola out and pop it into my mouth. Nice consistent gummy texture you would expect from Haribo as I get a steady chew going on it. They also do a good job of capturing the "cola" flavor without making it too artificial tasting. Granting, cola flavor itself is artificial, but it wasn't in an over the top kind of way. The only think missing was some carbonation. (Too bad they couldn't duplicate that in a gummy snack). It was only a matter of time before this bag would get lighter and lighter.

2 short of a six-pack

The Sweet:
Haribo sets the standard with gummy snacks and this is no exception.

The Bitter:
If there is a bitter, it's that it's only one flavor.

Conclusion:
I can't speak on the other Haribo snacks, but their "Happy Cola" is every bit on par as their gummy bears; great gummy texture and flavor that doesn't over or under power you. The biggest dilemma will be deciding which Haribo gummy snack to try next.

Video of the Week 

My palms got a little sweaty for this fool

I don't like heights and I don't like hoverboards. I've never been on one, but they annoy me when I see people on them. Maybe because the people on them are usually moving the same pace if not slower than walking speed...so what's the point? Anyway, how do you make these two things interesting? How about combining them? (I'd prefer to combine bacon and donuts, but that wouldn't be a very interesting video)