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.

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. :)