Orion Mini Candy Series - Let's be kids again!

Tiny pellets of hard candy with a cylindrical shape and only 0.5 cm long, yet packed full of flavours to satisfy a candy craving. 

It’s the type of candy which is hard but seems to be made of compressed, powder-form ingredients so that when you bite on it, it breaks apart easily. With this, comes it’s packaging, a cylindrical plastic container with a resealable tab at the top. Come to think of it, it looks a bit like an old camera film container. Bonus points to those who know what this is, or even better, have used one of these before. Haha, just kidding.

Why so tiny?
I was wondering why these were made so tiny. Even the candies were pellet-sized and obviously too small to be of any credit to our palate. After a little digging, I learned that these candies were targeted at children! Now it makes sense. The whole concept of down-sizing the size of the candies and putting it in a small, resealable and easy to carry container is just perfect for a kid’s pocket!

In the Japanese specialty store that I went to, I only found these 3 types of Orion Mini candies: Mini Sour, Mini Orange and Mini Peach. So let's go with those.

Mini Sour (or ミニサワー)

I expected it to be sour, as in super sour like those candies which were intentionally made to give you a funny face once it touches your tongue. A bit disappointed due to my high expectations, but let’s talk about what it actually is. It smelled a bit like bubble gum to me, probably the more fruity types of bubble gum. It had a fruity taste, which is actually quite similar to fruity bubble gum, so I guess my nose didn’t lie to me. Other than that, not much else. I guess you can say that it’s the simplest, in terms of flavour, among the 3 types.

Mini Orange (or ミニオレンジ)

Light-orange coloured, you definitely won’t mistake it for another flavour. Orange is orange in colour, so I guess that makes perfect sense. It strangely had a smell that reminded me of vitamin C. Taste wise, orange, or rather, mildly orange. It’s more like a smooth and sweet orange juice-like flavour instead of a tangy, acidic, harsh and in-your-face type of orange flavour. To me, it’s a nice and safe flavour to go with because it’s so common and acceptable that won’t make you think twice when choosing it over any other flavours.

Mini Peach (or ミニピーチ)

I would label this as “my favourite” among the 3 types. Open the tab at the top of the container and take a whiff of the light-pink coloured pellets. Peach, peaches, and MORE peach aroma just fills up your olfactory system and makes you remember that round, soft skinned and juicy peach that you had back in summer. Ahhh…..such a pleasant and soothing smell. Try one and you won’t regret it. The peach taste was so overwhelming that I almost thought I was eating an actual peach! This one is the most aromatic and delicious Orion Mini candy that I’ve ever tasted.

A little information about Orion

Orion is a Japanese confectionery producer based in Osaka, Japan. Besides the Mini candy series, they also produce various other products such as the Cigarette series (not actual cigarette), Mints series and even a Shinchan series.

In the Mini series, besides the Mini Sour, Mini Orange and Mini Peach, there are also other flavours that you can try. These include Mini Cola, Mini Vita C, Mini Fresh, Mini Grape and Blueberry Ramune.

To find out more about Orion Mini candies as well as other confectionery products produced by Orion, go to their website (Orionstar.co.jp) or their Facebook page. They are both in Japanese but you can always Google Translate the whole page for ease of understanding.

Ps. When you’re eating it, eat a few pellets at a time. Just one pellet definitely won’t be enough. We’re not guinea pigs after all. Then again, we ARE eating “pellets”, so maybe that’s debatable. Hmm…..