Name: Hi-SOFT Caramel and Milk Caramel
Brand: Morinaga
Place Purchased: Mitsuwa Marketplace (Little Tokyo, Los Angeles)
Price: $.99 each
Size: 2 oz
Calories per ounce: 125
Type: Caramel
First, I give high marks to Morinaga’s packaging team. Like the Hi-CROWN chocolate, the Hi-SOFT caramel comes in a spiffy hard box, perfect for carrying in a pocket or purse and fun to flip open to share. I’m not sure how many caramel products Morinaga markets, but these are just two I’ve found.
Of the two, I prefer the taste and texture of the yellow box Milk Caramel. Both are soft and chewy without being grainy, but the milky smoothness of the Milk Caramel far outweighs the Hi-SOFT’s keen box. Of course nothing will ever top the happy fat cows that got me started on the Japanese caramels.
In fact, of all the caramels I’ve tasted over the past few months, I like the Milk Caramel best. Looking over the ingredients it has the right mix of sugar and milk products, a dash of salt and something I didn’t expect - tea extract.
Rating: Hi-SOFT - 6 out of 10; Milk Caramel - 8 out of 10
Sounds tasty! I happened to pick up the Milk Caramels with brown sugar (dark brown box) and they’re actually not Japanese, they’re Taiwanese. Just thought I’d let you know!
Morinaga has several caramel products. The ones I know are red bean, green tea, cocoa, black sugar, etc. Some products gets made in Japan, others Taiwan. I am happy to have found your post here because I always wondered how Westerners would rate the taste of Morinaga Milk Caramels. It has actually been modified to serve better to Japanese taste.
Next entry: Bleached Reese’s
Previous entry: Chocolate Pocky