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. :)

Lotte Black Black Chewing Gum ロッテ ブラックブラック ガム

This sample was kindly provided to me by napaJapan. It was hiding in a box of goodies and I didn't know it was there until I turned the box upside down and it fell out. I was surprised as it's a gum I see quite often in Japanese supermarkets but have never thought to try. I'm not a big mint gum fan, I prefer fruity flavours. Also, this gum just sings "otaku". You can get it at Anime conventions and websites, it's probably the most well known Japanese gum of all.

This was sitting on the computer table waiting to be reviewed, and Yasu saw it and said "hey, where did you get black black from?" I told him it was all his if he wanted it, I only needed one stick. He happily made off with the rest of the pack so I guess this bodes well for reviewing.

There are 9 individually wrapped flat sticks in the pack. Each stick is a dark grey colour with a white powdery coating. From the outside the gum smells strong and putting it in my mouth the mint is so powerful and strong.

I was careful not to try this at night because it has caffeine in it, and obviously it's good for a pick me up. This gum is so minty it burns my throat and gives off considerable heat so that even when I stop chewing it, the heat is still there. Japanese people seem to be a fan of all things minty and menthol and I have tried health care producst like eye drops and lip balm that has such qualities. I, however, am not a fan of it, and I don't like this gum. It's too minty, burny and hot. It just makes everything from my lips to my throat burn like hell.

Maybe Japanese people who are already used to these kinds of products in the market probably like it, as Yasu does, but if you don't like your mint extra extra strong then I would say give it a wide berth. If anything, this gum will definitely get rid of any other undesirable taste in your mouth and will definitely freshen it, so I guess if you didn't have any toothpaste and you had this gum instead, you could use it that way.

Brand: Lotte Calories per box: 75 Website: http://www.lotte.co.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Lotte Plus X Mango Mint Gum プラスエックスガム マンゴーミント味

Wow, two posts in two days, am I on a roll or what?

Plus X is pretty much the same format as the Lotte Xylitol Gum. It's the same small chiclets, and the same super bright gum.

In this case though, the flavour is tropical. Mango Mint to be exact. Not totally out there as far as gum goes. It could be a flavour in Australia or America, not some oddball creation we know they can usually come up with in Japan!

I had no trepidation about trying this flavour, in fact I thought it might be a little mundane. The colour of the gum was anything but mundane - very bright orange in colour.

This gum, like the Lotte Xylitol gum, has xylitol in it so it so it's sweet without sugar. Supposedly better for you too. There are 14 individually wrapped chiclets, and the pack is worth 37 calories.

The taste is very tropical. The first bite tastes like a mixture of tropical fruits, and then it blends seamlessly into a full mango flavour and then again a blend of mint comes in with the mango. But the mint part of this gum is not very strong, it's more mango than mint.

I was surprised that the mango and mint is still around and it's been more than 5 minutes. Mind you, it's not as full flavoured as it was at the beginning but that's because I have probably gotten used to it.

When you're on a diet, getting used to sugar-free, xylitol and sweetener infused products is hard at first, but then you get used to it. I'm now at the point where I can say I actually like this gum. Before, the sweetness would have been too fake, and too bland. It's not as sweet as other Japanese gums I have tried, so if you like your gum on the sweeter side (for example Juicy Fruit) then this gum is probably not going to be for you.

On the otherhand, if you're looking for a good option to have that's not going to stack up the calories, then this would be ideal.

Brand: Lotte Calories per pack: 37 Website: http://www.lotte.co.jp

Lotte Xylitol Ginger Ale Gum キシリトールジンジャーエールガム

I've seen a few Japanese snacks come out lately with the flavour of Ginger Ale (think Kit Kat, and candy). Once one company markets a particular flavour, then all Japanese companies get with the program and saturate the market with the same flavour or versions thereof (just think shio).

I had no idea this product even exisited until I received a parcel with it in there. On appearance I thought it was pineapple gum because of the colour of the packet. It wasn't until I actually read it that I found it was Ginger Ale.

Ginger Ale is one of those things you either love or you hate. I'm the latter. I've always loved it. I totally buy into the Japanese Ginger Ale marketing ploy because it's a flavour I think can span many different types of products.

I'm happy to say that it can also be used in gum! I really enjoyed these because they were very true to the actual drink. Despite being quite small and flat, and bright yellow, very unlike the colour of Ginger Ale, they had lots of flavour and punch.


Ever had a Ginger Nut biscuit? Well that is what these taste like. At first I got a very big hit of ginger, and a hotness at the back of my throat, and a menthol feeling almost like a cold and flu lozenge. As I continue to chew, the hotness gets hotter and the ginger more intense. There is some sweetness there which seems a welcome respite to the intense ginger. This is duality, sweet and hot at the same time.

Where as in some products containing Xylitol I have found that I didn't like the fake sweetness of the sweetener, in this product it really shines because the sweetness is enhanced to seem very real by the ginger. The ginger-burn lasts even after all the ginger flavour is spent in the gum (a couple of minutes). It is then just down to a sweet flavour which would be awful any other time but is quite fine as my throat is still burning. I would love to try these if I had a cold, because I feel as if if I did have a blocked nose, these would help!

These are more fiery than regular ginger ale, but I think it is a good thing. It really makes this gum stand out from the crowd, gives it that extra "oomph". The good thing with these is that the flavour is long-lasting, and by that I mean over 20 minutes or more. The ginger burn is lesser than immediately after biting into it, but it is still there at the back of my throat.

I would buy these again, and I would recommend them to you if you come across them. They are definitely my new gum of choice! You can buy these over at napaJapan for $1.99 too!

Lotte Drink Mix Candy いろいろたのしいドリンクミックス

This bag of candy was another gift from my generous sister in law in Japan. The packet is meant to look like a vending machine.

All the drinks in this bag you can actually buy from vending machines, but also supermarkets and convenience stores. They are what one would refer to as "for your health", or what I think Japanese people think are for their health but are not actual health drinks bar one.

They are all citrus in flavour, but apart from that they probably have loads of sugar, so not actually a 'real' health drink if you know what I mean!

There are 5 drinks and 5 individually wrapped candies for each flavour, making 25 candies in the bag.



Dakara

This has the refreshing taste of white grapefruit, just like the drink that I love so much! I really enjoyed this candy, it only had a hint of sweetness, more sourness, which I liked because it didn't make me thirsty.

C.C. Lemon

An oldie but a goodie, a big hitter in the popularity stakes, kind of a staple like Vegemite to Australia. This has a fizzy texture and a tart lemon flavour. The texture of the candy is quite hard and has a lot of lines in the candy itself, abit hard on my tongue, but the flavour is consistent with the real life drink. I liked this but my tongue didn't.



Natchan! Orange

My husband loves this drink, it's his absolute favourite. I'm not sure if it's because of the cute image on the packaging or the taste itself, but I have to admit, I like it too. Natchan! kind of reminds me of the from concentrate orange juice drinks we get here that are diluted with water. It's not 'real' freshly squeezed juice, but it has that smooth flavour that kids love. The candy was exactly the same in flavour and texture as the drink, the candy is quite smooth in texture, the taste is very orangey.

Bikkle

A stalwart of the yoghurt type drinks in Japan, this is along the same lines as Yakult pro-biotic drink. You can taste the custard like notes in this first off, and the the tang of the yoghurt. Very true to the real life drink, I really enjoyed this candy because it offered something different. It was smooth and tangy but with a real dairy feel.

Dekavita

This comes in a brown bottle in Japan - this is how Japanese manufacturers know they are not messing around, this is the real deal mate. Or something like that. Well, it looks more professional for a 'health drink' than coming in a pet bottle! I've never actually had the real drink and judging from the candy, I'm not sure if I want to! It's quite fizzy, sour, and with no real sweetness at all. It's like sucking on a sour lemon candy. The texture of the candy is quite rough too so it ripped up my tongue when I sucked on it too hard. No smiles here.

These are all real winners for me except Dekavita. Though if you like your candy sour, then I'm sure you would like it.

Pumpkin Pudding Crunky (Halloween) パンプキンプリン味

Halloween is not really a custom for us in Australia but I do enjoy seeing the different snacks that Japanese companies put out at this time of the year, all with a Halloween theme decoration on the packaging.

The most popular Halloween flavour in Japan seems to be Pumpkin, and it ties in so easily as this time of the year is Autumn in Japan anyway, and warm vegetables are 'in'. So it's no wonder that Crunky has put out their Halloween flavour as Pumpkin Pudding.

I've never heard of Pumpkin Pudding before, but I suppose in Japan, anything is possible, right? They could take virtually anything and if they put 'pudding' on the end of the word make it marketable to the Japanese people.

I love Pumpkin, so it's not a hard task to indulge in this one. Will it be pumpkin-y though, I wonder?

The box itself is unlike the usual long rectangle block that Crunky comes in. I suppose because it's made for Halloween, the keyword here is 'sharing', that it is in individually wrapped packages inside. 12 to be exact. They could have gone all scary on us and put 13 in there, but oh the party poopers.


There are 2 joined squares in each little packet, which surprised me because I only expected one.

The chocolate is white, but with a light orange hue, and smells quite like caramel and coconut. The pumpkin flavour is not exactly shouting out on this, given it's 11th on the ingredient list. It's only after sucking the chocolate off the rice puffs that I actually taste a slight pumpkin taste, that which is known as 'jap' pumpkins in Australia, or "kabocha", in Japan.


It's more pudding than pumpkin sadly. Lots of caramel, coconut, and creaminess in there, but not so much pumpkin to be seen. I'm disappointed because if you're going to market something for a scary occasion, couldn't they actually make it scary by bringing out the pumpkin more? I know Japanese flavours are not exactly famous for being bold, but being bold on one day of the year surely isn't bad?

Anyway, pumpkin aside, these are enjoyable. I did like them, and when I stopped thinking they were pumpkin, I enjoyed them more. They would make a very nifty Halloween gift, or a box all for yourself. I certainly won't be sharing these with any trick or treaters...they're all mine! (insert evil laugh here)

Crunky Roasted Chestnut クランキー和栗

As it's now coming into Autum in Japan the Japanese confectionary makers have been releasing snacks to cater to Autumn tastes. A snack that is popular in cool seasons is Waguri or roasted chestnuts, so it's no surprise that Crunky have rolled it out as their latest flavour.

The thing I find disconcerting about Crunky from the start is that the bar itself is so thin. There's literally only rice crispies with a chocolate coating, not the other way around.


The chocolate, when unwrapped, has a strong smell of sweet coffee. It's a coffee-coloured white chocolate that smells so sweet I was afraid to eat it.

See on the back of the bar, it has all the rice crispies, and then some darker dots? Those darker dots are bits of roasted chestnut.


Despite the coffee scent, it doesn't taste like coffee. It does taste like roasted chestnut, it has that roasted flavour, like it has been roasted over the pan for many hours. The rice crispies are quite good in this with the mix of chestnut as they also bring a kind of popcorn taste to the flavour, which ends up being like roasted chestnut, hot popcorn and peanuts.


I really love this! It's got such an interesting mix of flavours, and it really is quite unique. I can image myself eating this while nestled in front of a warm fire with a good book. It's very Autumn-y. But then, I'm eating it in an Australian Spring and it's still really good!

This one is a definitely a keeper.

Koala March Mountain Hut Milk Pudding 山小屋のミルクプリン

This is called Mountain Hut Milk Pudding, the kanji 山小屋 (yamagoya), meaning "mountain hut". The picture on the box is of the alps, a green field, and a mountain hut in the background. This is a kind of milk pudding you can get when you're staying in the alps in a mountain hut, and Yasu immediately broke into the theme song of Heidi, when I mentioned it. I guess Japanese people have a fondness for it.

This is the latest flavour of Koala March, a limited edition. I can't say I'm very excited about the flavour, because Milk Pudding is a very simple flavour, and kind of boring to me.

However, when I opened the package I got an immediate scent of somewhat sour yoghurt crossed with lemon. This is intriguing, will it be milk pudding gone bad?

The biscuits have their usual images printed on them, and approximately half of that is filled with cream. Though the flavour is somewhat puzzling. The first taste is like the scent, sour yoghurt, it has some sweetness after that, and an almost how can I say this nicely, taste like vomit? It really is off-putting and I don't like it one bit! I have to wonder, what kind of pudding are they making up there in those alps?? There's no hint of yoghurt on the ingredients list, only the usual vegetable oil, flour, whey powder, coco powder, milk, eggs, cream powder, and salt. Hmm. Strange.

In any case, I don't like this. I don't want to eat sour milk pudding, no thank you. I'll be handing these over to Yasu who I'm sure, will probably say it's good, but not for me.

Crunky Matcha Shake 抹茶のシェーキ

This was a gift from my sister-in-law upon our departure from Japan. She handed us a bag chock-full of Japanese snacks and goodies to eat on the train ride (15 hours) back to the airport. We dutifully munched our way through some of the snacks but couldn't finish them all. I was able to bring the rest back with me, and this is one of the treats that survived. The chocolate with the slightly engrish name - Crunky.

Its called Matcha Shake, and the image on the front must be meant to be a shake, but it looks more like a mousse or a very thick thick-shake.

The chocolate inside is in a long rectangular block and is matcha green. It also smells very much like matcha used at traditional tea ceremonies.

As you can see in the photo, the back of the block is full of rice crisps. The top of the block is molded into little rectangles that are meant to make it easy to break off; unfortunately mine did not break along the lines but along the corner.

The chocolate is quite thin, so the majority of chocolate is taken up by the bottom layer of rice crisps, with only a very little amount of chocolate by itself on the top.

Each bite is a satisfying crunch of crisps, exactly what it is named for. The chocolate, although it smells alot like matcha, tastes anything but. The most apparent flavour is the rice crispies, and then a vanilla flavour, which I think also comes from the crispies.

There is no real matcha flavour in this chocolate except right at the end, a slight bitterness, but only momentarily. There is no depth of flavour in this bar. I'm really disappointed because I expected much more. It's not really even sweet, but I might prefer it if it was, just for the flavour. It's like eating crispy cardboard really.

The box is pretty, the smell is nice, but that is as far as it goes, unfortunately.