The chew is my favorite candy genre. From Now and Laters to gummies, I like the sweets where my mouth burns a few calories before the final full satisfaction of eating and swallowing. Yes, of course I also like the candies that just melt away, but I don’t yeaaaaarn for them – nor for the ones that I keep chewing until I’m ready to spit out, like gum.
These Hi Chews…well with the name alone they kinda got me before the word go. Still, I wouldn’t be much of a candy reviewer if I didn’t do the due diligence of stuffing a bunch of these things in my mouth and giving you the blow by blow. (wow that reads inappropriate.)
I enlisted my kids to join in since they’ve been bugging me for a month to eat these things and because it turns out kids like candy. whodathunk.
So here’s our take on the 6 flavors we tried: Peach, Mango, Melon, Green Apple, Banana and Grape.
Note that I cut these things in half for the kids, and I of course went full portion. Even the half portion had my kid chewing for a while. It appears Hi Chew is an apt name.
First off with the peach, the kids liked it. Secondly, they had no idea it was peach. Which is ridiculous because it tastes just like peach. Ok maybe not the peach you get off the tree but every other peach taste you’ve had.
Next up, Mango. First words out of Kid 1′s mouth: “I love these.” Why? “Because this one is really good.”
I gotta veritable Shakespeare on my hands.
I will say that generally speaking mango is a great candy flavor. It’s the one fruit flavor that actually tastes like the fruit. I mean I love grape more than the next guy but I’ve rarely if ever had a grape flavor that tastes like the grapes I buy from the store. With mango candy on the other hand, they usually taste like what I buy. So the Hi Chews do mango right.
Now we’re on to melon. “It’s kinda like peach,” says Kid 1. I think it tastes like cantaloupe but the kids said not so much.
Side note: something I love about Hi Chews — they take a long time to eat if you let them. As the little one said when we told her to hurry up, ‘these are just really good and I want to keep eating them.’
On to banana, about which Kid 2 says “This one is really good”. Not sure I’ve ever heard a kid say that about any banana flavored candy. But this has a fruity banana taste. It’s more like heavy banana overtones of a general fruit flavor.
“Oh my god it’s so good it’s awesome. yum.” I guess green apple is a hit. And they’re right again – these are super good. Green apple is generally always good yes? Can we all agree there? From Jolly Rancher to lollipops and Haribo the world over, most of us agree that green apple is often the best flavor of the bunch. With Hi Chew, the flavor isn’t muted at all. It’s strong and lasts all candy long.
And finally grape: “I dont really like it, it kinda tastes like grape medicine.” WTF? That’s dissapointing to hear from the little’uns. And I disagree. To me these taste like concord grape juice. Really strong grape flavor that is almost like drinking a cup of juice. As I said above, grape doesn’t reaaaaaaaaallllllllllly ever taste like the grapes I eat from a store, but these taste exactly like the grape you get in grape juice.
So to sum up – green apple, mango and peach was top 3 for kid 1, and mango (“favorite favorite one”), green apple and banana were the faves of kid 2. And I liked them all.
Hi Chews should make millions in this country. They are like Starbursts without being too soft nor saccharine-y sweet, with flavors that are fuller and truer. The consistency is more like a Mamba right at the get go, but kinda turns to being a tougher bubble gum consistency in the middle before it breaks down and you swallow. I simply can’t just eat one of these. I’m always looking at finishing the entire package. Good for them – not good for the back fat.
Finally, the flavors are the real hit here. They are strong and pervasive throughout the lifetime of the piece in your mouth. The banana is one of the most interesting to me since it’s absolutely a banana flavor, that they paired with a slightly general fruit so it’s like a real juicy banana. I keep wanting to re-eat that one. Also, the melon tastes a tad strange when you pop it in but then it’s all cantaloupe until the end. I love cantaloupe. And how many cantaloupe candies in America have you tried?
All you Starburst, Mamba and Now and Later lovers – go forth and buy Hi Chews. They are better. Yes, I said it.
