UHA CuCu Watermelon Salt Vanilla Candy

When Candybowl was young, he went to a summer day camp run by hippies.  Not hula-hoop-twirling, dirty-dredlock-wearing hippies, but just good snaggle-toothed, granola-eating folk into whose hands we were placed for a chain of hot summer days.

There was some weirdness, like the belief that powdered milk was healthier than fresh, or the picking up and inspecting of insects, or the grunge at the bottom of the swimming pool.  But most of it we just accepted as normal.  Like cutting the white parts off of the watermelon rinds other kids had sucked clean earlier in the day and tossing them into an aquarium so we could pickle them.

Of course, there was nothing normal about making watermelon pickles in an aquarium.  For good reason.   First, aquariums are nasty places in which fish and reptiles do terrible things.  Second, aquarium glass breaks easily.  So when we were all supposed to be eating yummy pickled watermelon rind, instead we were picking pieces of broken glass out of the broken aquarium and rinsing the rind, and hoping to god that the pieces we were eating wouldn't kill us.

Which is why the new Japanese fad for watermelon salt candies evokes a sense of longing in Candybowl.

This morsel is part of UHA's CuCu line.   Like all of UHA's candies the texture is flawless.  On sucking, one gets mild and very pleasant watermelon notes with just a hint of vanilla.

The crunch is delightful, releasing a burst of saltiness and just a little caramel.  The watermelon flavor intensifies, but only slightly, more like an increase in sourness without additional fruitiness.

And no broken glass.  An odd and pleasant treat from CuCu.  Try them as soon as you possibly can.

Sapporo Hokkaido Butter Caramel

This sublime, western-style butter caramel comes to us from Sapporo "Gourme" Foods. 

The caramel is rough-hewn and textured, giving it the appearance of a handmade candy-store candy.  However, the ingredients are not altogether traditional.  Although it contains real milk and sugar (presumably from Hokkaido) it also has millet jelly, shortening, and flavorings.

The initial flavor note is overwhelmingly sweet toffee.  There is one odd note present, reminiscent of dust from the inside of a wooden box.  Perhaps the wooden box in which they found the caramel recipe.  I don't know.

This is a soft candy, so all the action is in the chewing.  This confection has excellent texture.  Soft, not sticky, but a bit grainy.  It releases sweet.  burnt caramel notes, followed by a burst of buttery toffee flavor.  A bit too sweet, perhaps, but overall a very tasty candy. Only a tiny bit of residue left on the tooth and even this dissipates quickly.

A very nice, if conventional caramel from Sapporo Gourme' Foods.  Pick one up if you can, but don't go out of your way.

Amehana Sumiyaki Coffee Soft Milk Candy

This roasted coffee candy comes to us from CandyBowl newcomer Amehana.

According to the package, the outside is coffee powder, and the inside is a milk coffee soft candy.

CandyBowl was expecting a sweet flavor like the coating of a piece of of tiramisu.  Instead, the coating is actual dried coffee powder, which makes sucking a bitter affair reminiscent of the all-nighter stunt of eating a spoonful of freeze-dried coffee.

This is a soft candy, so there is no crunch.  Instead, this is a firm but soft, waxy confection.  During the chew, a nice, slightly bitter coffee note emerges, followed by a sweeter latte flavor.  The candy leaves a small amount of goo on the molars, but it quickly dissipates. 

With more chewing, a slightly artificial taffy flavor comes through, but the coffee flavor remains intense and milky.

This is a very nice first effort from Amehana.  Try one.

UHA 100% Fruit Juice Gummy

Here is a fruit gummy candy from UHA, a company no doubt well known to followers of the Candybowl (the blog, not the bowl or the blogger).

Make no mistake: this is not a super-soft Kasugai gummy.  Instead, it has a firmer bite closer to a Rowntree fruit gum.  Adding to the textural delight, each candy is shaped like the fruit whose flavor it bears.

Candybowl tried the grape, orange, and peach.  Grape had a very realistic concord grape flavor reminiscent of the Kanro Grape candy.   Peach, too, was fairly realistic.  Orange, on the other hand, had a slightly medicinal flavor without real orange juice or zest notes.

The 100% juice claim, while impressive and borne out by the flavor of at least some of the candies, is a bit of an optical illusion.  According to the package, each candy contains 20% of a 5x fruit juice concentrate.  The remaining ingredients is a mystery, as the printing on the package is clear on white and quite illegible.

Another delightful candy from UHA.

Senjaku Premium Vanilla Candy

Candybowl (the blogger) has been impressed by the offerings of Senjaku, and was therefore excited to come across this confection.  It features images of ice cream on the outer package, and promises mellow milk flavor and flecks of real vanilla. 

The eager anticipation was, sadly, unjustified and unrequited.

The outer surface is rough on the tongue, but not unpleasant.  Sucking the candy reveals initial taste notes of artificial vanilla and condensed milk.  However, the milk flavor is neither as pronounced nor as realistic as the Senjaku High Concentration Milk candy, and the vanilla flavor is one-dimensional.

This is one tough pebble to chew, and leaves an unacceptable amount of residue on the tooth.  While avid readers know Candybowl is prepared to overlook a bit of gumminess, this candy simply fails the test.  It lacks other redeeming qualities that might justify giving it a break on texture.

Senjaku can do, and has done, far better.  Try their milk candy instead.

Takaoka Blueberry Chocolate Candy

Yet another in the torrent of blueberry candies coming out of the Japanese market comes to us from Candybowl newcomer Takaoka Chocolate Company.

As seen in the photo, it is a smooth and shiny ball.  It is also one of the smallest candies featured on this blog since Kanro Natury Berry.   The outside is blueberry-flavored chocolate and seems to have some kind of wax or lacquer on the surface, accounting for the sheen.  As a result, there is almost no flavor on sucking.

The morsel is soft to chew, and the blueberry chocolate shell mixes with a blueberry paste center to form a tasty fruity treat.  The berry flavor, however, is not entirely realistic and is muted somewhat by the chocolate.

This confection contains some artificial color and vegetable oil, however its main ingredients are sugar, cocoa powder, milk and milk solids, and blueberries.  Why blueberries?  Ask the Japanese.

A very nice debut from Takaoka.

Ribon Noko Nama Blueberry Candy

Shortly after completing the entry on Ribon Strawberry Yogurt, Candybowl discovered another dense-filling sweet from blog newcomer Ribon.

The outer package suggests this candy may be aimed at those seeking the purported health benefits of blueberries, since it boasts 25% blueberry juice, and an entire bag contains 880µg of vitamin A, and 230mg of blueberry extract.  Puzzlingly, it also contains 175mg of Nikko Maple extract.  Which must have some appeal to somebody.

The outer shell is not very refined, but that does not detract unduly from the mouth feel.  The initial flavor notes are blueberry, sweet, and mild Elmer's glue.  Nothing bad there, but also nothing to knock one's socks off (unless one wears socks on one's tongue).

On crunching, the berry flavors intensify.  Not a strong blueberry flavor, but a nice fruity paste.  Speaking of paste, this thing really sticks to the tooth.

Not nearly as nice as the strawberry sweets, but eating one is a small and delicious price to pay for the dubious health benefits of real blueberries.