A Flowery Song

Background: Lychee is a fruit. Nata de Coco is more interesting; it’s produced by fermenting coconut water with Acetobacter xylinum, a unique bacteria that synthesises cellulose. The result is a chewy, translucent, slightly sweet jelly-like substance.

Nose: Sweet, floral lychee.

Taste: Very sweet lychee. It’s got a good fruity flavour, but this is flavoured sugar water, not juice. The Nata de Coco is floating around as small cubes, approximately 3mm on a side. It adds an interesting texture dimension, but has a tendency to settle to the bottom.

Overall: I found it too sweet for my tastes, but other than that very interesting.

Background: A jelly-like dessert produced by boiling Mesona chinensis, a member of the mint family.

Translucent, black, and slightly firmer than cranberry jelly, with a slightly bitter lavender-like herbal flavour.

Plain, it’s kind of watery and blah. With sugar…well, it’s still no stunner. Might be good in a fruit salad for some added textural contrast.

Background: Fruit-flavoured jelly snacks manufactured by Tsang Lin Industries in Taichung, Taiwan. Each little cup contains, in addition to naturally flavoured seaweed-thickened gel, one or two chunks of what’s probably coconut.

There’s a small amount of liquid hiding out inside these buggers, so be gentle when opening. The gel’s texture is slightly firmer than normal gelatin snacks, and the chunk of whatever provides a nice contrast.

Pineapple: Faint pineapple flavour. A bit blandly sugary, to be honest.

Grape: Tastes purple, as is fitting for a purple gel.

Strawberry: Decent. Stronger flavour than the pineapple, slightly more natural than the grape.

Green Apple: My favourite. I’ve always loved pretty much anything “green apple”, and this provides that. I’d like it to be a bit tarter, but it’s okay as-is.

Overall: Hey, it’s fruit gels, not haute cuisine. There’s no great depth of flavour, but were you really expecting that?