Japanese Plum Hard Candy Koume, 2.39oz

The miracle of Umeboshi plums in candy form.Soooo good.They are probably an unusual flavor for most western palates and taste, at turns, pucker-inducing, sweet, fruit blossomy and salty. A veritable circus for your tastebuds. I love them and can’t be without them, so when my local Japanese store was out, of course I came running like a trained seal to Amazon. The price isn’t horribly inflated, so they are worth the splurge.

I have been trying a bunch of different Asian candies and others' reviews of this candy really intrigued me. These came today and I was not disappointed. WOW! The experience of eating them reminds me of the Mexican lollipops I enjoy with a rough, spicy and salty corn exterior, that rewards you, after some determined licking, with delicious pineappley sweet goodness. But they are actually not at all like that. ;)Others have described this candy very well, but it's nothing like actually eating them. The small ones start out salty, like a real salted plum; the next layer is a not overly sweet candy laced with the flavor of umeboshi. I forgot about the jelly/paste in the center and when I reached it I was surprised and delighted! Having said that, hubby doesn't care for them much, although I gave him one of the big ones (that isn't salty on the outside; instead it starts with the second layer and ends with a larger ball of umeboshi jelly - hopefully that won't be wasted on him :p) to try later.I highly recommend these, especially to people who don't like sweet sweet sweet, but enjoy complex flavors and interesting textures. And yes, buy more than one bag because I just got these today and they are already half gone (hubby is taking some to share with co-workers).

This is one of my most favorite Japanese Ume candies!

I was a bit taken aback at the first taste which is salty for some reason, but once I got past that, the real flavor of plum comes through. Each individual candy is quite small, but so flavorful! And there is a nice surprise when you get to the middle, which is a chewy jelly. I really like these!

I was on a binge searching for sour candy because of massive craving my entire household had for some reason.Saw stuff about umeboshi sour plums, ordered some of those.Saw this candy, thought why not.A review I saw said it was sour, but I was disappointed to taste no sour whatsoever. Not sure if maybe they had a different candy or if my binge upped the level of sour I need to taste sour.It comes in a bag, with individually wrapped candies. One or two large ones (that my family got before me! Darn).Each ball has a white, BITTER powder. Not sour. Slightly salty too. Very interesting.Then the candy itself is rather sweet and tasty.And at the center is some paste. Also sweet. Surprising if you didn't know about it, so now you do.Overall, a pretty different candy. NOT sour, but hey, it's still weird and delicious. Not my most favorite candy. Getting past the bitter sure makes me eat these sparingly since I'm not a fan of bitter. But overall it's good. It's like life, or something.It sucks and your tears are a bit salty, but then it's good and at the end you get all mushy about the whole affair.

This has an amazing flavor, a slight tartness and light sweetness. It's perfect! Yummy 😋 It's my favorite hard candy now. I love Japanese candy.

The candy had some sort of powder around it that tasted bitter. It was not pleasant.The taste of the candy itself was not my favorite.

Special ordered these because I had a craving for plum candy. A treat I had not enjoyed in years. These were wonderful, small little orbs similar in shape to a tootsie pop without the the stick. There are two large versions in the bag as well, filled with plum candy paste. These are not the overly sweet plum candies but more authentic, slightly tart and sweet, all at once. Delivery time was very reasonable, packed safely and in brand new condition. Would buy these again from the same seller anytime and I will, when I run out. Ordered two bags and I have been using them slowly, to make them last longer.Koume is probably my favorite brand of plum candies.Note: These are hard candies, not soft chews. Mine came in the package shown.