Lotte Ume Gum ロッテ 梅ガム

I don't chew gum very often. Usually only when I feel a bit sick. I chewed it a lot during pregnancy to help with morning sickness. Today when I was at the Japanese Supermarket (Nippon Foods) this gum was on sale.

I'm not really a big fan of Japanese plum, because usually it's sour and burns my tongue. But this gum is not "umeboshi" (pickled plum), it's just plum, so I figured it might taste ok. It was on sale for $1 per pack so I figured if it was gross, it wasn't going to leave a big hole in my pocket.

The pack itself is quite pretty, which I think drew me in somewhat because of the cute plum blossoms. On the side of the pack it states "梅の味とシソの香り" which means it has the flavour of plum and the aroma of shiso leaves.

Each gum piece is long and flat and individually packaged in silver foil and then an outer pink paper wrapper with plum blossoms on one side and the Lotte Ume Gum logo on the other. There are 9 pieces per pack.

Upon opening the piece of gum there is a vaguely sweet smell that reminds me of cherry. The gum is sweet to taste and at first has a very strong taste of plum but there are also hints of something else that reminds me of cherry or cherry blossoms. For the first minute of chewing the flavour is quite strong, and it's really quite pleasant. As stated on the box there is a shiso aroma that comes out while chewing the gum, I'm not a fan of shiso, but this is ok as it's not too strong and is only temporary.

As with most gums, the longer you chew this gum the weaker the flavour gets. After 2 minutes or so the flavour is quite weak and it stayed that way until 5 minutes when I discarded it.

I found that 5 minutes was the maximum for me because around then was when I started to feel really thirsty. In any case they did the trick and the hit of sugar combined with a bit of chewing made me start to feel better.

If you want a long-lasting gum then this is not the right choice. However it is an interesting flavour to try and would definitely satisfy a sweet craving. It's good value just for trying something out of the box. :)

Calbee Kappa Ebisen Kishu Plum かっぱえびせん 紀州の梅

On a rainy day during last week I pulled out this bag of Kappa Ebisen Kishu Plum! I'm not a big fan of plum and my husband hates it all together, so I didn't know if we would like this one at all. Kishu is a place in Wakayama Prefecture in Japan and is famous for its plums, which are also made into Kishu Plum Wine.

The bag had a very tangy aroma when I opened it, and each long senbei stick had sprinkles of red all over. On the back of the bag it stated that it was red shiso. I'm not a shiso fan, in fact I try to stay away from it.

This snack however, was really yummy. The red shiso seems to have a different flavour entirely from the normal green shiso, and there was notes of tangy plum present when I crunched down into the senbei. The prawn flavour was still evident underneath and combined, all three flavours made a melody in my mouth.

After the first handful of these we were both pretty much addicted and ate the whole bag in no time! I think these would be great as a beer snack too.

The design on the bag was really pretty - a shame to throw it out really. Unfortunately I did throw the bag out and also forgot to write down the nutritional information so for my readers that usually want to know those details - I will resume in my next post.

Get yourself some of these! :)

Kishiri Crystal Throat Candy Red & Green Plum with Mint キシリクリスタル 赤梅＆青梅ミント

I woke up this morning and found that Winter had finally found Perth. It's been MIA for the last half a month or so, we've had such lovely, hot, summery days.

But now, here comes the rain, and so with it, a sore throat for my dear hubby. I remembered this morning that I had a pack of these in my latest installment from napaJapan, so it's perfect timing really.

I'm not familiar with the company who make these. The Name of it is Kishiri Crystal, and the brand is Teicalo. The word "kishiri" usually means "to squeak", but I think in this case it is from the Japanese word for xylitol - (kishiritoru), because it is where the candy gets its sweetness from instead of sugar. Looking on their website, they seem to only make throat candy.

I'm not a very big fan of Ume (plum), so I was hesitant in trying these, thinking they were maybe going to be really sour or yuck. But, actually I was surprised.

Not really as pretty as the picture is it?

There are 3 layers to this candy. The top layer is red plum, the middle is a smooth white minty paste, and the bottom layer is green plum.

The top layer, the red plum is the most sour of the two, and it really reminds me of cough medicine in that it has a certain cherry flavour about it while still tasting like plum.

The green plum is much sweeter and has hints of green apple.

The mint in the middle really ties this candy together, and it really is refreshing. The one thing I couldn't get out of my head while eating this though is that it reminds me of toothpaste. You know how they make that toothpaste (I think it's Maclean's) with the white stripe of mint down the middle? Well this looks just like that, except it's a throat candy.

I am not sure how beneficial this would be for your throat. Besides herb and peppermint extracts, it doesn't really have any medicinal values. It's not like the Western kind of throat candy that numbs the throat or stops your nose running.

But in all, it's nice for what it is. I probably wouldn't buy it to use when I have a cold, but I find it to be good as a breath freshener, I like it more than chewing gum.

Brand: Teicalo Calories per pack: 70 Website: http://teicalo.com