Thursday, September 14, 2006

Ramune & Cola Bubble Ball

imageFollowing up on yesterday’s Japanese candies, here’s another one that a friend (Joz, of course!) brought me. They’re little hard candies flavored like Cola and Ramune.

Ramune is a Japanese flavor similar to Lemon-Lime but with something else in it that I can’t quite put my finger on, it might be kind of like tonic water. Ramune soda comes in a unique bottle, which has a bubble in the neck that holds a glass marble that seals the bottle when it’s upright and then as you tip the bottle it rolls out and allows you to drink. (The marble can’t get out of the little bubble it’s in, so you don’t have to worry about swallowing it.)

Just about every candy in Japan comes in a Ramune version. Hi-CHEW, Puccho, gum, Shigekix & gummis.

These little candies are also about the size and shape of a glass marble:

image

The Ramune hard candy is immediately tart and a little floral tasting and has a tingle and fizz that comes right after that. I think the fizz comes from a combination of baking soda and citric acid that’s activated by the saliva in your mouth. The fizz goes all the way through. It’s pleasant and not too tart, so you don’t have to worry about burning your tongue when you consume too many.

image

The Cola flavored ones came in little red packets, with different colored lettering on them. I suspect that some were lime cola, lemon cola and perhaps cherry cola, but I really couldn’t tell the difference. They were all cola and had the zippy fizz and spicy cola flavor combo. Of the two flavors, I think I preferred the Cola ones, but I’ve been on a kick for Cola flavor lately. This bag had a mix of flavors (you can also get solo flavor bags or tubs), so I could indulge whatever whim I had ... but at the end of the bag there were just Ramune left.

I’m a big fan of using hard candies on long car trips to keep you alert and your mouth moist. This is also good for planes, especially in these days where you can’t bring your own water. These are pretty cool because they’re so active in your mouth. I have to warn you though, this is no idle bubbly tingle, these will give you the burps just like real soda ... but no refrigeration needed!

Name: Ramune & Cola Bubble Ball
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Lion
Place Purchased: gift (thanks Joz!)
Price: unknown
Size: 3.17 ounces
Calories per ounce: 55
Categories: Hard Candy, Japan

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:06 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. Hey!! You have definitely given me the itch to check out the asian markets to see what I can find, my husband thinks I’m nuts!! LOL But we have a great big asian market in Tacoma, so I’m gonna check it out. Thanks Cybelle!!

    Comment by Amy on 9/14/06 at 7:33 am #
  2. I think you’re burp-sensitive or something. You said the Puccho cola candies made you burp too. I don’t think I have EVER had a candy that made me burp wink

    Brian

    Comment by Brian on 9/14/06 at 8:08 am #
  3. Japanese candy packaging is so busy, so much going on! I think I may have a headache.

    The only candy that has made me burb was “Zaps” or maybe it was “Zapz” with the cool z at the end.  It was a hard candy with a crazy fizz in the center that came packaged in a connected rope.  My favorite candy of all time.

    Comment by cas on 9/14/06 at 8:31 am #
  4. I used to live in Japan and I ate this kind of candy all the time!  They have great pastries there too but I guess this isn’t the pastry blog…

    Comment by Kashi on 9/14/06 at 8:48 am #
  5. Japanese candy is lots of fun.  They have some odd flavors of Pringles there, too.

    Congrats is in order…I saw your Goo-Goo cluster picture was used in the (Nashville) Tennessean to illustrate for a story about a new vendor operating the airport lounge stores.  No homegrown picture of the homegrown product.

    Comment by Dave on 9/14/06 at 2:19 pm #
  6. Cas - do you mean Zotz maybe? (those didn’t make me burp either) smile

    Brian

    Comment by Brian on 9/14/06 at 3:52 pm #
  7. Just so you know, cola means tail in spanish and is frequently slang for rear end or a**.

    Comment by claudia on 9/14/06 at 4:52 pm #
  8. Zotz, that’s it!  Thanks, Brian.

    Gosh those things were fantastic!

    Comment by cas on 9/14/06 at 4:57 pm #
  9. Yay! I love it when you review Japanese candy! smile

    I had some ramune hard candies a few years ago, I loved the tasted but they burned my mouth really badly. Ouch! I’ve been frightened of them since.

    Comment by Sera on 9/14/06 at 5:12 pm #
  10. Cybele's avatar

    Amy - start small to win him over - something like Pocky is easily found most places and can make a convert out of any snacker.

    Brian - it’s entirely possible that I’m too gassy. Thanks for the help on identifying Zotz for Cas. 

    Kashi - yeah, I don’t think I’d be able to fit through the door if I was eating pastry AND candy. But I love wagashi ... red bean mochi especially.

    Dave - thanks for the heads up on the appearance of the photo!

    Sera - I didn’t eat that many of them at once as they were fun to share. I don’t recommend eating them with acidic things like soda or juice though.

    claudia - yeah, in this global economy we’re not going to have many words left if we check them against all the different vocabularies in every language!

    Comment by Cybele on 9/15/06 at 7:44 am #
  11. I read this yesterday, but tonight I was at a new Japanese restaurant and I noticed bottles of Ramune in their refrigerator!  I got so excited!  I’m drinking it right now.  It is reminiscent of a lemon-lime, but the closest thing I can compare it to is to a Bawls energy drink.  The flavors are VERY similar.  It’s really good though and I think the marble idea is ingenious and really adds to the aesthics of the bottle.

    Comment by Alex on 9/15/06 at 6:04 pm #
  12. Cybele, there is a kind of Japanese plum hard candy you might like.  I forgot the brand, but if you are at a Japanese market, ask the people who work there.  It is usually in plum flavor (red or green color), inside filled with moist plum meat.  You will taste the sweet and semi sour outside then when get into the center plum, you will get the different texture and the flavor.  There are several kinds of plum candies but the one contained plum meat in the center of the hard candy is the best.

    Comment by Meow Meow on 9/19/06 at 5:20 pm #
  13. Oh, LOVE.  I was just in Japan this summer and my host sister loved giving me these. And I loved eating these.  Gosh, I’d forgotten about them!

    Comment by Tindy on 9/21/06 at 4:38 pm #
  14. Yay!  I love Ramune candy but never had a chance to try those “cora” flavored ones.  I’m glad you liked them.

    Comment by :: jozjozjoz :: on 9/22/06 at 9:04 am #
  15. hehe i just got the cool ramune ones yesterday. they have four flavours and my favourite one is the one that fizzes. two of the flavours don’t even do anything. and the last one turns cold. it’s so cool! i came up with this saying, i’ve said this all day [today was my last day of eighth grade!]

    japanese candy. IT’S A BIG DEAL!!!

    Comment by hollywood.girl on 5/21/07 at 11:02 am #
  16. I think I had something like this at an Anime Convention…someone was giving them away. At least this is what I think those were…

    Comment by Sara Em on 10/29/08 at 3:47 pm #
  17. I cannt live without “Happy Cola Candy!” I put it in the freezer, and bam…I kill the entire bag….I’m about to buy a five pounder online!
    YAY!!!!!

    Comment by ASHLEY BAKER on 7/15/10 at 9:58 pm #
  18. I like Ramune flavor.

    Comment by colgatepony234 on 3/10/12 at 5:02 am #
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