Morinaga Ichigo Caramel (Strawberry Caramel)

This Ichigo Caramel was released for Mother's Day (May) in Japan. It was only around for a little while before petering out. Fortunately for me I received it as a gift with a bunch of other food gifts, and it makes a change from the usual Milk, and Matcha flavours that Morinaga usually make. Not to say I don't also like those, but I do like to try new flavours of caramel when I can.

This box holds the same quantity as usual. 12 individually wrapped pieces 1.5cm x 1.5cm in size. When you push the bottom of the box, the top slides up, similar to a matchbox. You can also push down from the top and have the same effect.

Each piece of caramel is bubblegum pink in colour. It doesn't carry much scent, a very faint strawberry mousse flavour, if anything.

The first taste is a very floral, almost musk-like flavour. The caramel is quite hard and takes a couple of chews to reduce the size. While chewing I get a vague strawberry mousse flavour, but there is still quite alot of floral flavour in there. The strawberry flavour never really builds up in intensity, while the floral notes are extremely strong and overwhelming. After swallowing this caramel I'm left with a taste similar to having chewed pink bubblegum for a few hours. It's not a pleasant taste, and the floral taste has burnt my throat.

This caramel was not enjoyable. Where was the strawberry?? I can just imagine the poor mum's that got saddled with this for Mother's Day. They probably hid it in the garbage when their kids' weren't looking. I guess Morinaga should stick to the basics.

Luckily this was a seasonal thing so I don't have to warn anyone off trying it. It's unlikely you will come across it, but if you do, buy at your own risk! And don't say I didn't give you fair warning. If you have tried this, let me know what YOU thought about it!

Nanae Sweet Apple Wine Caramel 七重スイートリンゴワイン キャラメル

In the past I have tried some unusual Japanese caramels like Genghis Khan and Vermont Curry. I actually liked them, but most people didn't, especially Yasu.

When I saw this product of Hakodate - Nanae Sweet Apple Wine - in caramel form, I just had to try it.

Nanae Town (七重) is a popular tourist destination on the Oshima Peninsula, just near Hakodate.

Some interesting facts about Nanae:

- Nanae was the first place in Hokkaido to start foreign exchange
- There are many Haiku written about Lake Onuma, one of the two lakes in the area.
- There are 9 festivals in the area throughout the year
- Recommended foods to eat in the area are Fried Pond Smelt (?), Pond Smelt boiled in soy sauce, Apple wine, the local Sake, and Apple pie.

But enough about the history and tourism, onto the tasting.

Each box of caramel has 18 individually wrapped pieces.

The box really smells like apple, and I'm glad to say, it is small and does not create alot of waste with packaging. So that's a good start.

The caramel is slightly harder than a hi-chew candy, but has give when you bite into it.

The first notes are sweetness and a flavour of apple juice. As I chew more I get a slightly caramel flavour, then some salt, followed by sweetness. For some reason, I get a slight aroma of fried onions at the back of my throat, though it's not unpleasant, more savoury than anything. At the end I get a slight tart taste, I guess, that is from real apple wine (1%), contained in this caramel, though it is fleeting and gives way to sweetness once again.

This caramel is not overly apple, nor wine, but it does give hints of both. I thoroughly enjoyed this caramel because it is not overdone.

It gives you a feeling as to what the real apple wine might be like. I'd really like to try the real thing, but since I can't, I'll stick to my apple wine caramels.

The wine on the front of the box is an actual product made by the Hakodate Winery (site is in Japanese only). Looking at the website they also sell Sweet Melon Wine and Sweet Peach wine.

If you visit this site, you can see the other caramels made by the company who made these. Some of them looking pretty interesting too! I can see a few for future posts, maybe.