Cucu CaffeLatte

What? Another review of a Cucu candy? Yes, Candybowl is nuts about Cucu candy and wants you to be too.

The initial taste is caramel, possibly even caramel corn. Yes, there's also milk flavor, but the overall taste impression is not of coffee.

That changes when we get to the crunch. Each bite off the cube (and yes, dear readers, this candy fractures like Blondie's heart of glass, in the sense that what I find is pleasing) yields a burst of milk coffee flavor. Not exactly Starbucks -- more like a cup of coffee that is laden with condensed milk -- but coffee nonetheless.

Still not convinced? Then you haven't, to use the patois of Chicago's Mayor Daley, gone Cucu.

Kyoto Brown Sugar Candy

Followers of this blog know that Candybowl is a big fan of the Cucu candies produced by Japan's UHA Candy company. This candy, while apparently not part of the Cucu line, will be familiar to anyone who has eaten one of those candies.

The flavor notes are intense caramel throughout. Although Candybowl rarely eats molasses, this candy tastes like what Candybowl believes molasses tastes like. The burnt sugar flavor is a little off-putting, but the overall effect is quite impressive.

As seen in the photo, this candy is a marbled cube. The bite is just what one would expect from UHA -- a nice fracture, with an impressively clean finish.

If you want a really nice candy, eat a Cucu butter caramel. If you want something special, eat one of these.

Rings Vitamin C Fruit Candies

This treat comes to us from a company that is new to Candybowl, the Pine company.

According to the package, each of these candies contains 50mg of vitamin C. While that's not going to rock Linus Pauling's world, it would be a much-needed addition to a hypothetical diet of soda, pretzels, and gummy candy.

The vitamin C seems to be the small colored pellets within each candy. As you suck the candy, the pellets are exposed giving little bursts of sour. When you bite into the candy, the little sour pellets break apart and create a severe risk of pleasure. The crunch is excellent, and leaves little residue.

These candies have proven very popular among those who have tried them. They come in three flavors -- the white ones (pictured) are lychee, the pink ones peach, and the yellows are lemon.

Konami Candy

This konami, or soy flour, candy comes to us from Kasugai, the makers of the ubiquitous gummy candies. But comparisons must end there, because in contrast to the gummies' almost-premature explosion of flavor ecstasy, this candy holds back until the end.

It's an attractive two-tone candy, with a white stripe that is identified as "miruku" candy (you figure it out). It has a slightly textured outside that seems to be by design. The fracture is nice, although it leaves an unacceptable amount of residue on the tooth.

The initial flavor notes are caramel, toasted grain and nuts. But they float gently behind a pleasant, shall we say, candyness that makes it hard to discern the flavors. Don't expect a big flavor burst at the crushing finale -- this candy is just that way.

In the 1970's, Kraft made a line of flavor-boosted peanut butters called Koogle. This candy tastes like Candybowl thinks a flavor-inhibited peanut butter would taste like. Inscrutable.

Long ago, Candybowl knew someone who drank Postum, a coffee substitute made out of roasted wheat. This candy tastes like what Candybowl thinks Postum must taste like. Earthy and delicious.

Konami candy comes in a mixed bag with green tea and red bean flavors. All highly recommended, though Candybowl feels compelled to say that the red bean flavor has been an issue for a denizen or two.