Fanta Plum ファンタ うめ

Just before I left Japan in May, this new flavour of Fanta was released. I'm not really a fan of Japanese plum, because they tend to be small and sour. But the quirkiness of the flavour alone, urged me to buy at least one bottle and bring it home to Australia.

I've only now, just worked up the courage to try it! So tonight at dinner, I poured my husband and I each a small glass. He is also not a fan of plum, but he agreed to try it out of curiosity.

This Fanta wasn't that fizzy, after it was poured into the glass it fizzed for a few seconds and then that was it. It didn't really seem like a soda at all, more like a cordial in consistency. It was a golden colour in the glass, and reminded me of beer without the foam and fizz.

The smell was quite sweet, and it reminded me of a cloying sweet air freshener that you would use in a car or toilet. The first taste was actually quite nice though, and not as bad as it smelled.

Ume flavour Fanta tastes like Japanese plum, but it also has a kind of "odd" flavour that I can only relate to another drink called Sarsparilla or even Dr Pepper. It has that same strong flavour, like both those drinks do, but I can't explain what it is!? I have no idea how to describe it except strange.
I'm not a fan of Dr Pepper or Sarsparilla and I don't like it in this Fanta either, but unlike the other drinks, in the Fanta Ume it is bearable, and not as strong. It did have a slight sourness present, but not as sour as I expected. My husband agreed that it definitely nailed the Japanese plum flavour.

We both agreed that we wouldn't buy this again. Once in a lifetime was enough. We thought that it was a pleasant drink though, and are happy to have tried a quirky flavour from Japan.

Meiji Kinoko no Yama Roasted Sweet Potato きのこの山 やきいも味

This was a snack I picked up in Japan in May and am just getting around to review it. Ever since we came home life has been so hectic I just haven't had a chance to review the snacks bought especially for this purpose so most of them are still in the pantry.

Tonight we were looking around for something for dessert and I pulled these out. My 2 year old son was very interested in the box and kept asking me to open it.

Originally, when I bought it, I was in a hurry and grabbed it from the shelf because I thought it was plain white chocolate flavour. But after opening the box tonight I discovered it is actually "yaki-imo" (roasted sweet potato) flavour.

It's a nice surprise because I actually love sweet potato, and even more so when it's roasted!

This pack is a box containing one wrapped bag of snacks. When you open the box (like a lid) it has a bag inside decorated with mushrooms and trees, and you tear it open from the middle outwards. If you don't eat the whole box at once, you can simply close the lid and save them for next time, so it's very convenient.

Kinoko no Yama are very cute. They consist of a pretzel stick with the top part of the mushroom being the chocolate. In this version the chocolate is white chocolate but with the addition of sweet potato, so it is a golden colour. It smelled vaguely of caramel.

The pretzel stick is just a plain pretzel stick and although it's quite nice and crunchy there is no real flavour. The chocolate is nice and smooth and there is a subtle flavour of sweet potato. It's not a bold hit of sweet potato as I expected. It's quite sweet too so you don't need much. The smoothness of the chocolate and the crunch of the pretzel stick are a nice combination.

I really enjoyed this snack and I found it was the perfect size for my 2 year old's hand, he gobbled most of them down before my husband and I could get any! If you like sweet potato then I definitely recommend you try this one. It's a quirkier chocolate flavour but not too weird as to be inedible.

These are available online at napaJapan too (but I think only limited quantities are left) -- Kinoko no Yama Roasted Sweet Potato