07.24.10
Mikakuto (strawberry and grape)
These were another item that wended their way from Hawaii when my awesome in-laws went to visit. YAY In-laws! YAY Mikakuto! So…what’s a Mikakuto you may ask? Glad you did! They are vaguely Starburst like taffy entities with little gummy bits in them. I do not get the gummy bits in the taffy thing (as we last saw in the special Mikakuto) but they don’t detract too much from the taffy experience while also adding a nice tart burst of flavor. Maybe that’s the point, although I liked it better when the flavor burst came from a Sweet Tart bit.
BTW, I’ve figured out what is up with the white blobby mascot of the last Mikakuto: Apparently these not so special Mikakuto are shown to have white bodies (which they do) with anthropomorphically placed blobby bits of color (which they don’t). They do have a pleasing white outer taffy surrounding a pale red (strawberry) or purple (grape) inner color.
Anyhoo, this package came with both strawberry flavored taffy bits and grape flavored taffy bits so let’s look at each one individually.
Strawberry: Mmmm, strawberry-a-licious my nose says. The strawberry Mikakuto is tart yet STRAWBERRY FLAVORED but in a good way. I’d say it leans more toward the natural strawberry flavor than labberry or crunchberry…maybe a 6 plus tartness on the 1-10 strawberry scale (again, 10 being the actual fruit). On the manufactured strawberry flavor, I’d peg them at maybe a low 3, it’s not exactly artificial as much as it’s not quite fresh berry. They have a nice powerful flavor too so do not worry about whether or not you will get your strawberry bang for your buck – you absolutely do.
Grape: Grape smells like grape Kool-aid or grape popsicles. Grape tastes like grape Kool-aid or a grape popsicle that has solidified into a blob of taffy. It’s not a bad but it’s pretty blatantly the industry standard of grape flavor which isn’t actually grape at all. In fact, on a scale of 1 to 10 of Grape Standard Flavor (which is not actually grape) these are perhaps a perfect 10. My oft time Guinea Pig LunarGeography would hate, Hate, HATE! these with a passionate HATE!! as she detests artificial grape. These should be the new standard by which all other grape flavored things measure themselves. And…it’s probably the furthest from natural grape as you can get, although the little tart gummy bits add a nice zing to the over sweet GRAAAAAPE.
Rating of 3.5 Wasabi Peas out of a possible 5.
