I was browsing on eBay and bought it on a whim. I didn't know what to expect, pumpkin + latte? Who would think of such a thing? In Australia, people think pumpkin and soup go together but not as a hot drink! In Japan it's a little bit different as the season's change and the Autumn flavours are rolled out, pumpkin being one of them.
On closer inspection on the box, it states this is "pumpkin pudding taste". I've never had pumpkin pudding, so I still don't know what to expect, however, I do love pumpkin, so I hope it's good.
The box has 4 individual sachets inside. The photo on the front is very appealing, although the real thing doesn't look like that. Sadly, on the back of the box I notice one of the ingredients is Aspartame, something I try very hard to avoid. :(
The other disappointing thing is that if you drink this beverage hot, you can only add 130ml of boiling water to the powder. If you have it iced, you can only add 65ml of cold water to the powder! Either way, that's a very small drink!! I know the portion sizes are small in Japan but this is ridiculous. I would need 2 sachets to make up a normal drink size here.
Anyway, down to the nitty gritty. The smell that wafts out of the cup reminds me of corn soup. It's yellow like corn soup too, it's not as orange as the one on the packet and definitely not as creamy. I can taste the pumpkin flavour but it is weak. You don't need to add sugar to this as there is a sweetness that is quite strong.
In all, it's a great fad product. But that's all really... I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it.
See the latest Maxim flavours here.
