Asahi Cheesecake and Peach Tart Milk Candy

This pastry-flavored sweet comes to us from Asahi, a company better known outside of Japan for its beer.  In Japan and elsewhere in Asia it is also known for a variety of foods -- sugary drinks, mostly -- that are anything but super-dry.

Candybowl tried the peach tart flavor first.  The initial flavor is intense peach, slightly more realistic than the insipid peach schnapps but not by much.  There is a slight cream note, but the dominant flavor is peach.  On chewing, the cream flavor emerges, along with a chemical note not unlike an odor Candybowl remembers from 5th grade industrial arts.  The overall impression, however, is not at all unpleasant.

The cheesecake flavor is much more realistic.  Not only a good creamy flavor, but also that slight lemony tartness that one gets in a good, dense cheesecake.  After the crunch, the sourness intensifies and a note of graham crackers emerges, coating the mouth in a lovely, cheesy grunge.

Grunge.  This candy leaves a significant amount of gum on the tooth.  Too much.  Add to that this candy is slightly rough-hewn, and one is left with the impression that Asahi does not think we will notice form and texture.  We do.

The verdict?  Buy a bag, eat the cheesecake ones, put the peach ones out for your guests.  And brush well after consuming.

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.

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.

Ribon Noko Nama Ichigo Fresh Strawberry and Yogurt Candy

This filled sweet comes to us from Candybowl debutante, Ribon.  It comes in two flavors -- strawberry and yogurt.  If Candybowl reads the outer package correctly (a big if), this candy contains 50% fruit juice.  It also contains cream from Hokkaido.

Candybowl tried the strawberry first.  On sucking, the morsel released mild strawberry flavor and hints of honeysuckle.  The mouth feel was excellent, and Candybowl could have sucked it for a long time.  But the candy demanded to be bitten.

On crunch, the delicate candy shell gave way to a creamy center.  Shell and center melded into a nice facsimile of strawberry milkshake.  It left very little residue, possibly because Candybowl sucked so long.

Moving on to the yogurt candy, it released a refreshing yogurt notes and slight citrus flavor, almost like a lemon square.  On chewing, the strawberry center overwhelmed the yogurt flavor.  This time, the residue was a bit excessive but still pleasant because of the strong fruit flavor.

A respectable and very likable candy from Ribon,

UHA Tokuno Dense 8.2 Choco Candy

Here is another dense milk candy, this time from UHA.  Unlike the Senjaku Hokkaido candy recently reviewed on this blog, this one has chocolate.  And it makes a big difference.

Also unlike the Senjaku candy, the main ingredient in this confection is sugar. However, the second ingredient is starch syrup (which Candybowl assumes is like corn syrup). After that, it's milk, cream, chocolate, cream, condensed milk, butter, etc.

The form is not as elegant as UHA's cucu candies. This may owe something to the engineering required to get the choco into the dense milk.  Initial taste tests were excellent. Clean, fresh, sweet milk. The flavor is not terribly strong on sucking, but there are no off-notes to detract.

On chewing, it explodes with chocolate flavor, releasing a chocolate syrup that creates the confectionary illusion of a hot fudge sundae inside your mouth.  Wow. 

This is a very nice candy.  Try one now.

Senjaku Hokkaido High Concentration Milk Candy

Candybowl remains miffed that when a milk candy last graced the bowl, nobody took it. Things are different this time -- that package featured a cow, but this one does not.

The japanese character on the front of the packages means "dense." As in high-concentration. Not a description of the people who couldn't figure out that a cow signifies milk (not meat) flavor.

There's nothing fancy about this candy. Perhaps reflecting a Hokkaido peasant lineage, this milk candy is rough-hewn and unrefined in appearance.

The only taste is sweet, delicious milk. Looking at the ingredients list, it's clear why: this candy contains milk, whey, condensed milk, and cream. Indeed, if Candybowl reads the package correctly (a big if) it contains 35% milk. The candy loses marks for having corn syrup as its main sweetener, but there's nothing unnatural in the flavor.

The crunch is very nice, with an acceptable amount of gumminess. The flavor intensifies into notes quite reminiscent of vanilla ice cream. Mmm ... ice cream.

Mmmm.....

UHA Cucu Jiyugaoka Pudding Candy

This candy, has two names. In English, it's "Cucu Pudding". In Japanese, it's自由か丘 which, according to online translation, means "Freedom Hill." (Candybowl can say for sure that "自由" means freedom.)

The package promises the flavors of "custard pudding and bitter caramel" and it delivers. The first taste will be familiar to those who fondly recall Hunt's Pudding Cup. But no hint of artificial flavor, or any of the play-doh notes that can afflict even confections made with real milk.

The excellent fracture reveals the slight bitterness promised by the package. The cube is slightly smaller than other candies but, since this is part of UHA's Cucu line, the rest of the crunch test basically writes itself. A bit of gum on the tooth, but otherwise this is a very refined candy.

One more thing. This candy contains caffeine extract.

Which all leads to the question, why "freedom hill"? Anyone?

Postscript 6/25/09

Jiyugaoka is a neighborhood in Tokyo's Meguro district. There is a theme park called the Jigukayoka Sweets Forest, from the people who brought you the Curry Museum, Osaka Noodles City and Gyoza Stadium. Sweet.

Kanro Natury Berry

Followers of the Candybowl (the blog, not the person) may be excused for thinking that far too much praise is heaped upon Kanro. Yet denizens of the Candybowl (the bowl, not the blog or the person) realize this is because their candies are so delicious. Hirano may deliver bulk, and Kasugai certainly has the distribution network. But Kanro can-do.

This is a soft candy, and the form factor will be immediately recognizable to those who chew Ice Breakers gum.

The initial taste impression, without chewing, is of light fruit perfume. Like smelling a peach (which, as an aside, would be a great title for a collaboration between the Allman Brothers and Spinal Tap). But this is a soft candy, not a boiled sweet, so pre-mastication flavor is hardly the end-game.

Biting into the candy, the perfume continues, but augmented by sour cranberry and general sweetness. This may be because the candy contains chips of dried cranberry and globs of real honey. And real cream. The finish is clean -- to quote Shelley, "nothing beside remains."

A sublime candy. Try it while they last.

Hokkaido Milk Candy

Here's another candy that has languished in the bowl. I think it has something to do with the cow on the package. I suspect people just don't want to take the chance that it's going to be cow flavored.

This is a milk candy -- the characters on the front say "Hokkaido," referring to Japan's dairyland. It's a nice soft candy, but to be honest, it's not going to knock your socks off. The milk flavor is subdued, with overlays of vanilla and play-doh. Still, worth a try while supplies last.