Poifull Soft Chewing Candy

I bought this pack of Poifull Soft at Lawson on a pit-stop, driving along the coast of Nagoya. I had heard alot about Poifull but never actually tried it myself, and as I needed a quick pick-me-up, I decided on these.

What really decided it for me was the flavours in the box - red grape, white grape, peach yoghurt and yoghurt. I love all of those flavours so I thought this candy couldn't let me down.

The box weighs 44 grams and was ¥115. There seemed to be more yoghurt and white grape than the other two flavours.

Each pellet is a small rectangular rounded piece of chewing candy, this is where they differ from the regular style of jelly bean.

Yoghurt - Creamy white in colour, very much like Yakult or some other yoghurty drink, though it is quite tart.

White Grape - The outside of the candy tasted sour, the first notes are tart and sour, and becomes sweet at the end, really tastes like muscat.

Red Grape - A washed out maroon colour, sour on the outside, really sour and tart on the inside, only a little sweetness, mostly sour.

Peach Yoghurt - Baby pink in colour, this reminds me of the texture and taste of the skin of a peach, very real peach flavour, some tartness, but very well balanced with sweet.

Overall, my favourite was the peach yoghurt, followed by yoghurt. I am a grape flavour fan but I thought these were way too tart for my liking. I gave them to two other friends and they also agreed.

Citrus Ginger Throat Candy

Japanese Nodo-ame (のど飴) or throat candy, have a reputation for being more like a regular candy than something to medicate when you have a sore throat. At the time I bought this pack, my husband was sick with a cold and a sore throat. I took them home but somehow he overlooked them and didn't use them.

This time around it's me who has a sore throat, and I thought I could give an accurate review in regards to my feelings on the candy's effectiveness.

This throat candy is made by Kanro, a company known for it's candy and gummy. The flavour is Citrus and Ginger, and the pack shows a picture of lemons, an orange, and grapefruits. The pack itself is somewhat rustic looking and quite different to other throat candy packets I have seen. It seems to be more "homestyle" as if trying to represent a feeling of nature or natural.

There are 10 individually wrapped pieces of lemon-yellow candy. They are approximately 1.5 x 2.3 cm, and 0.8cm high. There is a vague smell of grapefruit from the candy itself.

The first thing I taste when I put the candy in my mouth is the citrus flavour, mostly of grapefruit. It's a nice flavour, not too sour, but also not too sweet. Other moments I can taste the tang of lemon, or juicy orange, but mostly the grapefruit comes through. As I suck the candy piece, a ginger taste starts to build up in my mouth until it becomes a very hot feeling. It's mostly on my tongue and inside of the cheeks than at the throat. Even swallowing the burning hot, does not make my throat feel hot. The hotness stays in my mouth.

Surprisingly my nose started to become unblocked after sucking on this candy for a few minutes. My throat also felt slightly less sore. I can only attribute that to the ginger, as I know that it has healing properties, and is a well-used ingredient in cold and flu remedies.

The hotness in my mouth is not like eating a chilli, it's more like someone turned a heater on in my mouth. It's hard to describe. It's not uncomfortable. I imagine if you are eating it in Winter as I am, It's a very nice warm-up for a cold night.

The candy is hard all the way through. I'm glad of that though. I'm not really a fan of the candies that have liquid in the centre.

I think this candy lived up to expectations and absolutely topped them. My throat has definitely benefitted from this candy, unlike most other Japanese throat candies I have tried. It also has a nice natural flavour, and the heat which the ginger generates in my mouth is a welcome relief from the cold.

If indeed you like these flavours in general, you needn't stick to eating them only when you are sick. I think this candy could be enjoyed at any time of the year.

I thoroughly recommend these throat candies. Please note that Kanro have changed the pack design and the amount of candies contained inside to 11. The image of the new pack is here.

Chelsea Asian Dessert Mix

This bag of Chelsea by Meiji has been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks waiting to be reviewed.

I've really wanted a lolly today so I thought I would get the review over so I can eat some!

This bag weighs a mere 77 grams and cost $3.99. The bags usually state how many items inside on the back of the bag, but this one only says the weight.

There are three flavours covered in this bag, Banana Coconut Milk, Mango Pudding, and An-nin-dofu (an almond curd dessert).

There are 6 pieces of both the mango and the an-nin, but only 5 of the banana.

The good thing about Japanese candy is they are individually wrapped, and the wrappers are different colours, so it's not a surprise candy when you open it.

Mango Pudding - As soon as I put this one in my mouth I got the flavour of real mango. I'm a mango fan and I absolutely love this! It has all the aspects of mango, and as you suck the lolly there is alot of depth in flavour that comes out. There is real fruit juice in the mango and banana lollies, so that may have something to do with it. I've never actually had mango pudding but I will definitely have to try it now!

Banana Coconut Milk - Wow. I'm a big fan of banana and coconut and when I popped this into my mouth I got a really big banana hit, like a real banana, not that fake stuff. After having the lolly in my mouth for a while the coconut flavour started coming out. At first a coconut cream flavour which graduated into roasted coconut. For me, the banana comes second in this lolly and is really overpowered by the coconut. Sucking on this a while kind of makes me feel ill. I'm not sure if it's because of the overwhelming coconut taste or the sweetness building up.

An-nin-dofu - I've tried the Kit Kat of the same flavour, but never had the real thing. I like those almond cakes that you can get from European countries, but I'm not much into tofu, the texture puts me off. I don't like slippery food. This lolly gives off the same flavour as those cakes from Europe but there is a little bit more of a milk flavour there too. The almond is the star, but the creaminess of the milk is a welcome addition in this lolly.

The mango is really the only one I like in this bag. The banana was too sickly and the an-nin was not really my thing. I haven't had any of the original desserts these lollies are based on either.

It was an interesting foray into Asian desserts, but now I've realised Asian desserts are probably not for me. I think I'll stick to icecream!