Morinaga Golden Kiwi Hi-chew

Numerous sources have told me that golden kiwis are better than the regular variety, and that this Hi-chew tastes very authentic. However, I have never had golden kiwi, so I have no point of comparison.

I bought these at a Japanese grocery store, and they came highly recommended. I was really impressed with the pineapple flavor, so my hopes were high. Maybe they were too high?


I love that the bars are wrapped in gold foil. It makes them look like little bars of solid gold and reminds me of Fort Knox, as seen in cartoons. They smell strongly fruity. The taste reminded me of strawberry kiwi Starburst, because it didn't taste specifically kiwi. Kiwi was there, but there was something else. That must be the golden kiwi.

The pineapple Hi-chew screamed pineapple; it was dead on. Kiwi is a little harder to pinpoint, but there was just something missing from these. Having said that, they were delicious and I had no trouble eating half the package myself in one night.

B+

Morinaga Website (Japanese)

Mars Galaxy

My boss recently spent a week in England, and since she is so thoughtful, she brought back British chocolate for my group at work! According to her, the Galaxy bar is better than Cadbury, so I was very excited to try it.

I vaguely remember seeing someone else's review of a Galaxy bar, but I can't remember which blog it was or what they thought. It's a nice theme, though, Galaxy bar from Mars. And, the chocolate bar itself has an adorable design. I love the little G!


The chocolate smelled very sweet and a little nutty. It tasted unlike chocolate I've had in the past - very rich, creamy, and velvety. It really stuck to my teeth! It reminded me a little of Dove milk chocolate, in taste and texture. I have no nutrition info on it, because I think it was sold as a set and not an individual unit, but it tastes very fattening - that's good for chocolate, though.

I'm glad the bar I had was portioned, but I don't think I could eat more than one block of this at a time because of the sweetness. On taste alone, it might be better than Cadbury, but for mass consumption potential, I think Cadbury wins. I'm not a huge fan of eating chocolate by itself, so I might not be the best person to appreciate this, but it was a nice change of pace from all the Hershey here in the US.

B-

Mars website

Mentos Red Fruit-Lime Gum

Here's another kind of Mentos gum. This time, it's the non-specific "Red Fruit-Lime" that Ryan Seacrest has been talking up on the radio. A friend of mine bought this first, and after trying it, I bought my own so that I could review it at my leisure.

According to the package, I should taste lime, strawberry, raspberry, and some little berries I can't identify. Cranberry, perhaps? Let me know if you have any ideas. After peeking at the ingredients list, I saw that the gum was made with lemon guice, not lime, and blackcurrant, which is a fairly rare flavor in the US.


Once again, the pieces were cute and shiny. They smelled fruity, too, but nothing identifiable. The coating was sweet and tangy, and the center was tart, but a fake lime. The initial tang was good, but it faded fast, and then it just tasted red.

I couldn't taste raspberry, but my husband detected strawberry. Personally, I agree with calling this gum "red fruit" because that's about as specific as I could get. The flavor longevity was disappointing, shorter than Tropical, but the flavor itself was better.

B-

Mentos website

Mentos Gum Tropical

It's been a while since I've posted a gum review. Recently, Mentos started selling gum in the United States, so since I'm a sucker for new products, it seemed like a good opportunity to review some more gum for this site.

According to the packaging, I should have tasted kiwi, orange (or maybe tangerine), and mango in this gum. I also should have been able to see the soft center, but I don't think any of those things actually happened.


The pieces were shiny and pleasing to look at, and the shape and gloss reminded me of Spree (only thicker). They had a light vitamin C smell. I bit the gum in half to see the soft center, which for some reason, I expected to be liquid, but I couldn't see it. It wasn't liquid, either, it was just soft.

The outside shell was very crunchy, and the only flavor from the package I could really taste was orange (maybe a little mango). I also thought I tasted some banana, but that could have been my imagination. It did taste fruity and juicy, so I liked that. Most of the flavor was gone after about 10 minutes, and after just under 20 minutes, I spit it out. I also think it's worth mentioning that the product website advertises a "tasty burst of freshness" but this gum made my mouth feel sort of stale, like most fruity gum. I was pleased with the initial taste, but I can't see myself buying this kind again.

B-

Mentos website

Nestle Tiramisu KitKat

Tiramisu really isn't one of my favorite desserts. I love coffee, but I don't like coffee-flavored desserts and candies very much. But when I ordered the Matcha Tiramisu bars, I figured I might as well order a couple normal Tiramisu bars, too.

The package boasts a "harmony of coffee and cheese" and says that it was made with 0.4% coffee. The last coffee flavored KitKat that I tried was pretty bad, so I was a little worried, but I was pleasantly surprised.


The bar had a strong coffee scent, and when I broke it apart, it was stronger. The chocolate was very creamy, and by itself was mild. The wafers by themselves, however, tasted very strongly of coffee, suggesting that the cream between the wafers was the main source.

It actually did taste like tiramisu! I didn't even mind the coffee flavor for once, because it wasn't overpowering. Maybe it's just because the pack only had one bar, but it wasn't sickeningly sweet, either. Much better than the Caramel Macchiato McFlurry flavor from last year.

A-

KitKat Website (Japanese)