This is the Morinaga Hi-Chew Premium Sōkai Lemon, which boasted an ‘invigorating’ lemon flavour. It cleverly incorporates a pun in its Japanese branding: Suppai-chew (where ‘suppai’ means sour). In their premium range, Hi-Chew utilized high-quality ingredients. In this particular variant, they encapsulated taffy-like core consisting of concentrated lemon juice and lemon paste, encased by a soft candy coating that incorporated lemon juice powder and lemon purée.
The candy was an irregular shape, measuring approximately 1.5 cm in diameter, with a pastel yellow hue and emitting a pleasantly sweet and zesty lemon fragrance. Upon tasting, the soft candy coating rapidly dissolved on the palate, imparting a refreshingly cool sensation and delivering a juicy lemon flavour reminiscent of biting into the juice-filled vesicles of a fresh, sweet lemon, akin to homemade lemonade. This sensation endured throughout the mid-bite, gradually evolving as one approached the chewy taffy center. Here, the sweetness was noticeably more restrained, and the flavour profile featured sour notes attributed to the lemon juice, which were further highlighted by the presence of bright and aromatic zest, evoking the essence of lemon peel.
Overall, the combination of intense flavours and a range of textures that contributed to the fresh lemon taste was highly satisfying, making these candies a worthy option for future purchases.
This Morinaga Hi-Chew Premium Sōkai Lemon contained 32 g. It was produced in Japan and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2023.