One of our favorite candies in the United States are Starbursts. Originally made in the UK in 1959, they're a delicious chewy taffy with a great flavor.
In 1975, Hi-Chew fruit candies were made in Japan, as an edible kind of chewing gum, since spitting out gum is bad manners. Since then, over 170 different flavors have been created. During a visit to Japan, we picked up 5 different flavors we found and brought them home to try!
The back of the packages, just cause.
When I started to unwrap them, I saw similar silver packages for all 5 packages, but different writing on them. I initially thought they might be the flavors of each kind, printed on the package since they would be indistinguishable after the fact. But using my Google Translate app, I see that instead of flavors, they are more like Inspirational Quotes printed on the wrappers. "For our hard work, let's give ourselves a Hi-Chew" "By chewing a Hi-Chew, let's savor the happiness"
Theresa - Worst first. Here we go!
Joe - You can't take two! Ian's trying to take two! (green apple is a favorite flavor of his)
Next, we'll move on to Asian Pear.
Theresa - Mmm. 
Japanese Strawberry. 
Lemon. 
Ian - There's interesting bits inside them.
Jacob - Oh, I wasn't expecting the center to be different. It's really good. Definitely apple.
Joe - Yeah. It's got crunches in it.
Theresa - Crunchy little candies in it.
Joe - It tastes like the green apple that I'm used to.
Ian - The bits don't add anything to it. I don't like the bits, but I love the flavor.
Theresa - It tasted like what it was supposed to taste like. So that's fair.
Ian - Delicious.
Theresa - It's pretty mild.
Ian - The crunchies don't stand out.
Joe - I don't taste any in mine.
Ian - I don't get much flavor in that.
Joe - It's a very mild sweet.
Theresa - Like a real asian pear. I'm glad they didn't try to intensify it and make it fake.
Jacob - Mmm. I'm not really a fan of that one. I get a little bit of pear, but not great.
Japanese Grape.
Jacob - Usually I'm not a fan of fake grape, but we'll see.
Theresa - Oh, that's the grape I remember!
Joe - Oh yeah. It's like those little balls of asian gum that come in a small box.
Ian - I like those.
Joe - It's not American grape flavor. It's more like concord grape flavor. Grape jelly or grape juice flavor.
Ian - Much better than American grape.
Theresa - But I still love American grape flavor too. These are delicious.
Jacob - Mmm! That one tastes pretty good! Different grape flavor for sure!
Joe - Any bits in it? Not American strawberry. Not Nesquik strawberry.
Ian - My favorite so far.
Alli - Strawberry and Pear are tied for first.
Theresa - That was good. That strawberry is good.
Jacob - Quite subtle strawberry. It's almost just like eating a waxy thing.
Joe - Also with the crunchy bits.
Theresa - Mmm! Wait... Hmm... Well.
Joe - It's on the border.
Theresa - Yeah, almost lemon cleaner flavor.
Joe - I think it's more lemonade than lemon cleaner.
Ian - Are you sure about that?
Theresa - It's too close.
Jacob - Yep, that one is good. It starts off Lemony but ends a little different. I'm not sure how it's different, but it's still good.
Joe - It's more Starburst Lemon than cleaner lemon.
Theresa - I'm not sure I would even pick that over green apple. It's too much.
I cut each one in half to see the insides. We can tell which have crunchy bits inside them.
Having that center being a different color than the outside, really reminded me of that candy from the 80s called Bonkers. I remember those being great, but maybe that's just nostalgia.
What's the results on these?
Alli - Favorites were Pear and Strawberry. Grape, Green Apple then Lemon. I didn't care for the crunchy bits. Ian - First place is a surprising winner, Grape. Then Strawberry, Asian Pear. Green Apple next because I didn't like the crunchy bits. Then Lemon because I didn't like the flavor.
Theresa - I'll just say Ditto to Ian.
Joe - I liked Grape the best. It's the best flavor, especially when it's asian grape flavor. Strawberry was also really good. Then Lemon because I didn't think they took it too far. Green Apple and Asian Pear just were. No preference.
Jacob - Initial impressions are Lemon, then Apple, Grape, Strawberry, and Asian Pear.
The opened "insides" of the candy are interesting...there's a "layered" color streak, some pronounced more than others (grape one really stands out), reminding me of a layered cake :-) The grape and strawberry sound like ones to try first (not a fan of "crunchy" bits, either). Such fun sayings on the candy packaging...makes for some interesting reading. EOM
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