Matcha Meltykiss

In America, green tea has been steadily growing in popularity. The health benefits attributed to green tea have led to the rise of green tea extracts being sold in markets. The flavor isn’t bad either, seeing as how there are things like green tea ice cream and there are many different green tea flavored drinks. However, an area that green tea hasn’t been able to gain popularity in America yet is the candy market. If one were to go into an Asian market, or more specifically, a Japanese market, one would see that in the candy aisle there are green tea flavored candies. Some find the flavor of green tea to be delicious, but I could take it or leave it. I would be more likely to buy a cola flavored candy over a green tea flavored one. However, the packaging for the next product looked so nice that I bought it anyway.

Meltykiss is a chocolate candy that comes in little cubes. The outside of the candy is dusted with cocoa powder, giving it a much stronger chocolate flavor than typical chocolate candies. Inside is a very smooth chocolate that has a rich taste. Usually they have a cocoa or strawberry flavor. I’ve had caramelized almond flavor, and now this matcha flavored variety. When I first bought this, I thought that it was mint chocolate because I didn’t read the box. I mean the box has snowflakes on it and everything.

A Matcha Meltykiss cut in half. I swear I didn’t bite this one. Okay, maybe I did, but you’ll never know

The consistency and texture of this Meltykiss is just like all other varieties of Meltykiss. The outside still has the cocoa powder which gives the candy a pleasantly bitter and cocoa flavor. As the candy melted, it became sweeter and the matcha flavor started to come out. Was there anything special about the matcha flavor? Not really, if you like matcha then you’ll like this, if you’re not that enthusiastic about it, then this won’t change much. My favorite Meltykiss flavor is still good old cocoa. This is still a good candy, but it’s not my cup of tea.

Matcha Meltykiss: 7.5/10 (increase the score if you’re a fan of green tea)

Trident Vitality Vigorate

In the world of sugar-free gum, 5 Gum and Extra are at the top, at least to me that is. That isn’t to say that I don’t like other brands of gum, it’s just that my preference leans towards these two. I don’t mind a stick of Stride every now and then or some Orbit on occasion. However, I typically am not a fan of Trident. Their “Layers” line of gum is good, but everything else seems to fall short. Maybe it’s because their pieces are smaller or maybe it’s because their flavors aren’t quite right. I’m not sure what it is about Trident, outside of the Layers line, that doesn’t appeal to me. Recently, they have come out with a new line of gum called “Vitality”. Since it was on sale at Target, I decided to buy some and see if it would change my views on Trident.

The box is very nice and I figured that I couldn’t go wrong with a flavor like strawberry and citrus. If you notice, it also says that there’s Vitamin C in the gum. I’m not sure how well that works as a marketing strategy, but okay.

This is the nine piece package. There’s nothing special about it; it resembles all other gums that are in hard shells.

The inside of a piece of Trident Vitality gum. Yes, I did bite it.

The initial bite and the few chews after were very pleasing. The flavor resembled that of most other citrus flavored gums. I didn’t quite detect any strawberry flavor. How good a sugar-free gum is based on, in my opinion, how good the flavor is and how long the flavor lasts. While the first few minutes of chewing were pretty good, the flavor went away rather quickly. It didn’t disappear altogether, but it mellowed out quite a bit. I like my gum to usually have lasting power for at least past the ten minute mark if not more. Overall, this Vitality line is nothing compared to the 5 Gum and Extra. If anything, I think Trident should put more effort into their Layers line and develop more flavors. The Pineapple-Apple flavor is one of my favorite flavors of gum, but the Melon-Mint is not good. On a side note, I want to see gum makers make a cherry flavored gum and lime flavored gum. The Key Lime Pie flavor of Extra’s Dessert line does not count.

Trident Vitality Vigorate: 7/10

Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate & Strawberry Squares

As mentioned in the previous entry, Ghiradelli is one of the very few chocolate brands that's putting out a strawberry and chocolate combination for Valentine's Day.

The packaging is obviously geared toward Valentine's Day. I'm not going to lie, I'm not a fan of Ghiradelli. Despite them being known exclusively for their chocolate, I just find that their products fall flat, especially in the face of Lindt and Hershey's Bliss line. Their chocolate seems to not have the extra richness that I like in my chocolate. Maybe some like their chocolate to boast a strong chocolate taste, but I like mine to have more than just that. However, they did put out a strawberry and chocolate square, so I must commend them for that. I also like their seasonal product such as their Egg Nog and Peppermint Bark squares.

The horror that is inside each square

The flavor of the chocolate was okay, not good, but just okay. The filling reminded me of cherry and raspberry flavors more than it did of strawberry. That was a bit disappointing. Some parts that seemed to ooze with filling didn't even give off a hint of fruit, which was somewhat confusing as well. Overall, I applaud Ghiradelli's attempt to cash in on Valentine's Day, but overall they produced something that was just okay, and not very good.

Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate & Strawberry Squares: 7/10