Griffin Parker
A few months ago, I realized we hadn’t ranked all the Hi-Chew flavors on Sporked—an obvious misstep in my time here. So, I sent a single email to a contact over at Hi-Chew, and a week later, a giant box of fruity candy was sitting on my doorstep. Oh, the life I lead. (For the uninitiated, Hi-Chew is a Starburst-y type chewy fruit candy from Japan.) Since then, I’ve ranked 48 official Hi-Chew flavors from across the globe; may the lord have mercy on my stomach.
- Mango Chamoy Hi-Chew
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Oh god, why is it savory? I’m sure this is for someone, but it isn’t for me or anyone I offered it to. It’s just hot enough to cancel out the sweetness, which means you end up with a neutral-leaning-savory piece of candy.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Watermelon Hi-Chew
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This Hi-Chew flavor tastes like taking a bit of watermelon a little too close to the rind. One of my fellow taste testers said it tasted like paint, and I hate to say he wasn’t far off.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Salted Caramel Hi-Soft
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Did you know the manufacturer of Hi-Chew started with caramels? Having tasted this American-produced version of one of those original innovations, I have no idea how the company lasted this long. Unlike most salted caramels, this is actually salty! It tastes like a pretzel.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Açaí Hi-Chew
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The texture and flavor of this Hi-Chew flavor come together to create something really unpleasantly floral. Basing a candy flavor on a superfruit people mostly eat for the health benefits is certainly a choice.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Yuzu Lime Hi-Chew
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At first, it has a pleasant citrus flavor…but then it turns into the unmistakable taste of kitchen cleaner by the end of the piece. Yuck.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Ramune Hi-Chew
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I love ramune but this Hi-Chew flavor is a huge miss. It’s so bland! There’s about as much flavor in the wrapper as there is in the candy.
Credit: Liv Averett / Nijiya
- Grapefruit Hi-Chew
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This is the LaCroix of Hi-Chew flavors: It tastes adjacent to the flavor it’s supposed to be. It’s funny that two of the Sweet & Sour Mix flavors (Watermelon being the other) are rounding out the bottom of the list, while the third flavor is one of the best in the whole bunch.
Credit: Liv Averett / Japan Candy Store
- Mai Tai Hi-Chew
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The cocktail-flavored Hi-Chews leave a lot to be desired. They really took the “spiced rum” part of the Mai Tai recipe and ran with it; where’s the orange and pineapple?
Credit: Liv Averett / Total Wine
- Dragon Fruit Hi-Chew
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There isn’t a ton of flavor in this Hi-Chew flavor, but dragon fruit isn’t the strongest flavor to begin with. The chia seeds muck up Hi-Chew’s otherwise wonderful soft texture, as well. Who asked for this?
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Hi-Chew Bites
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These are slightly smaller pieces of Hi-Chew coated in some sort of starch so they can jostle around in a bag together without pulling a Voltron and becoming one giant Hi-Chew. There’s no new flavors and the starch affects the flavor in a negative way. These don’t need to exist.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Blueberry Hi-Chew
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Have you ever wanted an unripe blueberry-flavored candy? This is technically correct, but it sure is unpleasant.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Kiwi Hi-Chew
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This Hi-Chew flavor tastes very similar to the Green Apple, but the chia seeds again ruin the texture. I wouldn’t throw it out, but I’m not picking it first anytime soon.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Mango Hi-Chew
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I’m pretty biased against mango as a whole, but the mango flavor in this candy stays in a pleasant zone most of the time. There are so many better Hi-Chew flavors, though.
Credit: Liv Averett / Total Wine
- Mango Hi-Chew Gummies
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This gummy variant is better than the standard Mango Hi-Chew, but still nowhere close to my favorite flavor. Since they aren’t individually packaged, all the non-sour Hi-Chew gummies ended up tasting muddled with the other flavors in the bag.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Blue Hawaii Hi-Chew
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This cocktail-flavored Hi-Chew didn’t leave a great impression. It actually took a little time before it tasted like anything at all. The flavor was pleasant by the end, at least.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Watermelon Hi-Chew Sour Gummies
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This was not sour enough to claim to be sour, but I dug the flavor quite a bit. Toss in some more citric acid and we could have a real winner here.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Red Apple & Strawberry Hi-Chew
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This had much chewier fruit chunks than the other “PlusFruit” flavor, but these fruits don’t work as well together. It’s still a nice piece of “red fruit?” candy.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Strawberry Ice Cream Hi-Chew
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Here’s another underwhelming strawberry flavor—what a fall from grace. But if the regular Strawberry Hi-Chew is too strong for you, this will be perfect.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Japanese Strawberry Yogurt Hi-Chew
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This is from an actual Japanese bag of yogurt-flavored Hi-Chews, which gave me very high hopes…that this flavor did not live up to. It doesn’t have the acidity I want out of something yogurt flavored, and the strawberry flavor sure is barely there.
Credit: Liv Averett / H-Mart
- Green Apple Hi-Chew
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You know those caramel green apple suckers? That’s what this tastes like. It’s not an overwhelming fake-sour fruitiness, though. Like many other Hi-Chew flavors, this tastes like actual fruit.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Green Apple Sour Hi-Chew Gummies
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If you grew up on Sour Skittles, this is not even going to read as slightly sour. The texture of the Hi-Chew gummies is fantastic though—big fan.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Mango Reduced Sugar Hi-Chew
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Both reduced sugar flavors are much easier to chew from a texture standpoint, but it comes at the expense of less flavor overall. Still, a worthwhile addition to the lineup from an accessibility standpoint.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Key Lime Pie Hi-Chew
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The creamy key lime flavor here is pitch perfect; I’m just personally confused that key lime pie was thought of as a candy-worthy flavor.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Strawberry Hi-Chew Gummies
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This is closer to “real” strawberry flavor than your grandma’s hard candy. And the texture remains fantastic. Hi-Chew Gummies are all filled with a goo that does great things for my brain.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Peach Hi-Chew Gummies
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This was the (non-sour) gummy with the most distinct flavor and it was the cutest because the gummy/filling color combo makes it look like an actual peach.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Candy Apple Hi-Chew
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Red apples don’t get enough love in the candy production world. This is a pleasant-enough reminder that “sour” and “green” are not the only adjectives for apples.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Raspberry Hi-Chew
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This Hi-Chew flavor is a totally perfunctory raspberry candy. It probably won’t be anyone’s favorite, but it’s a good filler for a variety bag.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Grape Hi-Chew
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If you have nostalgia for any sort of grape medicine from your childhood, Grape Hi-Chew will hit you like a truck. If you don’t? It’s still pretty good.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Pineapple Sour Hi-Chew Gummies
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Sour Hi-Chew Gummies are better than regular Hi-Chew Gummies. Pineapple is better than basically every other fruit. Ergo, this is the best Hi-Chew gummy of all time. All hail.
- Orange & Tangerine Hi-Chew
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The fruit in this “PlusFruit” flavor work together much better than Red Apple & Strawberry. The fruit chunks definitely make the texture softer and a little more interesting—this is a top-tier Hi-Chew on every level.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Strawberry Reduced Sugar Hi-Chew
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This feels so much like strawberry gum that I had to remind myself it was okay to swallow it. It’s pleasant, but I’d never guess it was a Hi-Chew if I ate it blind.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Pina Colada Hi-Chew
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This is the only good cocktail-flavored Hi-Chew. The pineapple and coconut are balanced super well. I want Menchie’s to make this into a frozen yogurt ASAP.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Strawberry Lemonade Hi-Chew
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Good news! Hi-Chew accidentally nailed the flavor of a hypothetical “Strawberry Lemonhead.” If that sounds like something you want to try, track down this Hi-Chew to make all your dreams come true.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Rainbow Sherbet Hi-Chew
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This is so authentically sherbet-y, it’s unreal. Raspberry is a hard flavor to tone down; this absolutely nails it.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Japanese Orange Yogurt Hi-Chew
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This is more “tangerine” than generic candy orange flavor—not uncommon for Japanese products. There isn’t much yogurt flavor here, but the candy leaves a yogurt texture in your mouth. This is an achievement in science.
Credit: Liv Averett / Exotic Snacks
- Juicy Peach Hi-Chew
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If you’ve ever had a Peach NEHI, you know exactly what this tastes like. I truly didn’t expect such a strong flavor from a historically soft fruit in the field of candies.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Blue Raspberry Hi-Chew
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You already know what this tastes like. This is a perfect execution of the extremely real blue raspberry flavor we all know and love: tart, strong, and sweet. Hi-Chew has done Blue Raspberry properly.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Mystery Flavor Hi-Chew
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Y’all, I don’t want to spoil the just-released Mystery Flavor too early…but I know exactly what this is. Say hello to the first ever Cherry Limeade Hi-Chew. I’d bet my house on it, I’m so confident. Oh, and it’s fantastic. As a big cherry limeade fan, this deserves a few awards.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Juicy Strawberry Hi-Chew
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This Hi-Chew flavor is practically identical to the standard Strawberry, save for the “juice” at the center, which doesn’t really make much of a difference. That said, the Infrusions line of Hi-Chew flavors as a whole is killer—get yourself a bag ASAP.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Strawberry Hi-Chew
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Strawberry Hi-Chew is a great strawberry candy, but it kinda has to be good, you know? If you can’t make strawberry work in your fruit-based candy line, get out of the kitchen.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Juicy Blood Orange Hi-Chew
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Blood orange isn’t a common candy flavor and this Hi-Chew flavor has me reconsidering that. It’s fantastic stuff, above and beyond your standard orange candy. Tic-Tacs should be losing sleep over this one.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
- Cola Hi-Chew
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This Hi-Chew flavor starts as a very convincing cola and turns into something not-quite-cola-but-still-good. Think of the cola flavored “Bottlecaps” candy and you know what’s going on here.
Credit: Liv Averett / Economy Candy
- Japanese Yogurt Hi-Chew
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This is just Yakult flavored Hi-Chew and I’m not mad at all. They nailed the sweetness with that unmistakable yogurt acidity underneath. I could eat a stick of this a day and never get tired. (Okay, my jaw would definitely get tired. This ranking hurt my face, y’all.)
Credit: Liv Averett / Yami
- Pineapple Hi-Chew
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I absolutely love the authentic pineapple flavor in this Hi-Chew, but it’s just a little too weak to give it a perfect 10. Compared to the strength of the very best Hi-Chew flavors, this one needs to hit the gym and get back to me.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Lemon Hi-Chew
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Lemon is a tough flavor to balance without going full Lemonhead, but Hi-Chew absolutely nailed it. This Hi-Chew flavor is giving Lemon Pledge in the best way.
Credit: Liv Averett / Omi
- Black Cherry Hi-Chew
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I give this Hi-Chew flavor an A+. I could eat a thousand of these and never get tired. I’m going to try eating one of these with a Cola Hi-Chew at the same time and see if I can reverse engineer a Cherry Coke Hi-Chew.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Banana Hi-Chew
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This is not just the best Hi-Chew flavor, it’s the best banana candy ever made. This isn’t that “banana candy” flavor based on the extinct variant; this is modern banana flavored and it’s absolutely perfect.
Credit: Liv Averett / Hi-Chew
Mango Chamoy
Watermelon
Salted Caramel
Açaí
Yuzu Lime
Ramune
Grapefruit
Mai Tai
Dragon Fruit
Bites
Blueberry
Kiwi
Mango
Mango Gummies
Blue Hawaii
Watermelon Gummies
Red Apple & Strawberry
Strawberry Ice Cream
Strawberry Yogurt
Green Apple
Green Apple Gummies
Mango Reduced Sugar
Key Lime Pie
Strawberry Gummies
Peach Gummies
Candy Apple
Raspberry
Grape
Pineapple Sour Gummies
Orange & Tangerine
Strawberry Reduced Sugar
Pina Colada
Strawberry Lemonade
Rainbow Sherbet
Japanese Orange Yogurt
Juicy Peach
Blue Raspberry
Mystery Flavor
Juicy Strawberry
Strawberry
Juicy Blood Orange
Cola
Japanese Yogurt
Pineapple
Lemon
Black Cherry
Banana
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Ariana Losch
Justine Sterling
