Capi Blood Orange Soda: When visiting National Azabu, a grocery store known for its international selection, I purchased two bottles of this Australian brand of soda: their spicy ginger ale and the blood orange flavors. The spicy ginger ale wasn't particularly good, so I didn't have the highest expectations for the blood orange kind. The soda itself is a little cloudy, a sign of it being made with real fruit, and the taste is definitely distinct from regular orange soda or grapefruit soda – a little more tart but... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Darrell Lea dark chocolate covered ginger: This box of chocolates contains a gold-colored pouch with bite-sized chocolates. The chocolate coating is thin but substantial enough and encloses a chewy dried ginger interior. The ginger is mildly spiced and very sweet. My only previous experience with Darrell Lea is the strawberry licorice they sell at Trader Joe's, which I like. This candy was about average. 2.5/5.0
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Bundaberg blood orange sparkling drink: I'm attending a conference in Brisbane, and most meals are provided except breakfast. This has made me unable to try as much outside food as I would like, and it also means I've found myself purchasing non-breakfast items at 7am (I'm still jet lagged). I'm a fan of Bundaberg's ginger beer, so I was excited to see a blood orange offering in its native country. Overall, though, I found the drink to be too sweet and the blood orange flavor to be slightly generic. It reminds me of a less fizzy, ... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Breadtop matcha red bean bun: Breadtop is an Asian bakery chain in Australia. There is one close to the hotel I'm staying at in Brisbane, and it offers staples like sausage buns and sesame balls but also modern takes, like this matcha red bean bun. Unfortunately, the bun was unsuccessfully; the dough had very little matcha flavor, and the red bean filling was overly sweet and uninspired. The dusting of icing sugar made it messy to eat, without much added flavor. 2.0/5.0
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Bickford’s Creamy soda: In hindsight, there were a few warning signs: 1) the label has “with artificial flavors” in fine print, 2) the flavor is creamy soda and not cream soda (I thought maybe it was an Australian thing), and 3) when was the last time you saw a red-colored cream soda? Turns out it’s red because of Red 40, which of course impart no actual taste to the drink (also ironically the packaging states “a century of purity”). What I got instead was an overly sweet, mediocre cream soda. It just goes to show... (read more) 2.0/5.0
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