Saturday, June 28, 2014

Bourbon Horo Waka (Purple Yam Flavor)- Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ

Bourbon Horo Waka (Purple Yam Flavor)- Asian Food Market: Cherry Hill, NJ
Remember this from my Asian food Haul video? It's been sitting it my food stash forever for three months, and it's finally time to review it! I'm hoping it's still good, since it's sealed, but that's the trouble with buying and reviewing food items. They build up over time and things may fall through the cracks before I have time to photograph and review them and they may go bad. (I hate having that happen because it's a waste of food AND money. I'm cheap.) I think these are still good to go, since they appear to be some kind of white chocolate candy, but I guess we'll see.

I may not be the biggest fan of taro/yam/sweet potato flavors, but this packaging was way too cute to pass up. Similar to the taro flavored Kinoko No Yama I reviewed a few years ago, the packaging consists of a cardboard box, this time with a matte finish and softly rounded edges, and individually wrapped candies. I like that the packaging uses complimentary colors and little flower shapes, but I always assumed taro was a popular flavor for fall. Why is it in flower shapes? That seems very spring/summer to me, but maybe this line is always flower shaped? I'm not too sure, I haven't seen anything else from this line on the market so I don't if any of these traits are exclusive to this flavor of not. What I do know if that the packaging is really cute and I really like it's layout and design.

The packaging opens just like the Kinoko No Yama, with the front peeling up to reveal individually wrapped candies, which is something I love/hate. Sure it's really convenient for sharing, it is pretty much a portable candy bowl, but I hate tearing the front of the packaging off. It's a pet peeve of mine that a lot of people don't seem to have a problem with, but I hate destroying things. (I prefer creating them.)




Inside, the wrappers are the same saturated purple color as the box. Each wrapper lists the calorie content per piece, which is quite handy when you're handing these out to friends, but other than the brand, flavor, and caloric information, the individual packaging is pretty plain.


I opened the wrapper up, and sure enough there was a cute little flower-shaped treat inside. At a glance this looks like some kind of shortbread biscuit, so I'm not sure if this is a cookie or a candy. The packaging mentioned chocolate so I just assumed this was flavored white chocolate, but it looks awfully cookie-like.

This little flower smells sweet and earthy, just like the taro Kinoko No Yama, and it feels very light weight in my hand.


When I took a bite the texturing was not at all what I expected. It looked like a cookie, so I was expecting a crumbly cookie texture, but this is some kind of dry, chalky confection. I think it's white chocolate based, well not real white chocolate, this tastes like the artificial stuff, but the texturing is really dry and crumbly. It's almost as if it's flavored corn starch pressed into flower shapes. When I pinch it in my hands to crumbles to bits, similar to a bath bomb, which was really bizarre, but in a good kind of way. This stuff is different, but not bad.

As far as the taste goes, it's a lot like the purple taro flavored sweets I have had in the past. This tastes sweet, starchy, and there is a decent amount of artificial yam flavor mixed with a hint of toasted sesame seeds. The flavoring is great, if you like taro, but I am on the fence about sweet potato flavored candies. I find them to be enjoyable, but they have a dry starchy taste that makes me want to chug a glass of water afterwards.

If you like sweet potatoes and yams, then this candy is definitely worth trying. (Although I don't know how easy it will be to find.) Personally I won't be buying this one again, but if there are more flavors in this line I would love to give them a try.

© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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