Banana Kicks

Snack-happy Koreans have a veritable feast of bagged goods to choose from at the convenience stores here, and I decided it would be fun to start highlighting some of the unique offerings that we don't get back in the United States. For the inaugural "convenience store oddity" post, I purchased a bag of Banana Kicks from my local Mini-Stop and made Dan my guinea pig. Banana is one of Dan's favorite flavors, but he is not a fan of the ultra-artificial variety of banana flavoring present in candy.

Before he tasted the Kicks, I asked him a few questions.

Q.What do you expect them to taste like?

A.I'm expecting them to not actually be that banana-like in flavor.

Q.What do you think the texture will be like?

A.Judging by the picture, I'm thinking probably similar to Cheetos or cheese puffs--crunchy, but with not a lot of resistance. That kind of puff fiber that melts on your tongue, if you know what I mean.

Q.Do you think you'll like them?
A.I think I will, actually. I'm expecting them to taste more like cereal than bananas, and I like cereal, so... I'm just really hoping they don't taste like that banana candy/fake banana flavor.

At this point, I opened the bag and caught a whiff of incredibly strong fake banana smell. I told him I didn't want to give too much away, but that we should probably get the water out to wash the snacks down.

He cautiously took a first, crunchy bite and looked contemplative while I waited for the verdict, and then announced: "Not bad. It is the fake banana flavor, but it's overpowered by the cereal flavor."

I tried a couple and didn't like them at first, but warmed up after a few more. Dan's predictions about the crispy, yielding texture were accurate and there was a nice subtlety to the fake banana flavor; if they had used much more of it, it would have overwhelmed the Kicks and made them disgusting. Overall, we both agreed that they weren't necessarily a snack that we'd buy again, but they were good enough to finish the whole bag.