Excel Bottling Lucky Cola Club: Over the years, I've developed an unfortunate dependency on diet sodas, particular Coke Zeros, which always seem to be around offices that offer free beverages. I wouldn't say I like the taste, but there's something comforting about getting the same flavor no matter where you are in the world. I've gotten used to the sugar substitute aftertaste that dominates beverages from large corporates like Coca Cola. But this bottle, from 80-year-old independent bottler Excel Bottling, is different. ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Meiji Ujikintoki Ice Bars: I've been very slowly working through this box of popsicles for about a month now. Having previously tried a Lotte version of packaged kakigori ice bars, I decided to try this matcha version not realizing it was from a different brand (Meiji). These ice cream bars are really quite bad; the green tea ice is very hard and crunchy and lacks flavor, whole red bean throughout the ice have a very dry texture, the viscous condensed milk that sits on top of it is far too sweet, and the outer coati... (read more) 1.5/5.0
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Meiji Tsujiri Matcha Cone: It's been a long while since I had packaged ice cream like this in the states, with its familiar waffle cone base lined with chocolate that's a favorite at summer camps. The Japanese version if different in a few ways: first, the ice cream is level with the top of the cone, rather than overflowing in a round scoop topping the cone; second, the entire ice cream treat itself features a narrower cone, giving the snack an overall smaller footprint. I actually liked this ice cream a lot - the i... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Sangaria White grape soda: This beverage comes in an aluminum bottle with a twist of top. It contains 20% real fruit juice and probably 80% sugar water, along with what appeared to be slightly chewy pieces of grape. Overall, it was extremely sweet and not something I could drink much of in a single sitting. Purchased at Family Mart. 2.5/5.0
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Ito En Vivit's Chiba Pear Soda: Even with lockdown measures (which I guess as of several hours ago have been lifted in Tokyo), I tried to take a daily walk to a vending machine to try something new. However, I stopped doing that about a month ago as I was running out of desirable options and was worried I might get diabetes. I got this from a discount vending machine having previously had the peach version of this line of sodas. The pear version tastes like a concentrated, slightly more balanced ramune, but still very swee... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Fujiya Country Ma'am Chocolate Mint Cookies: These are standard cookies you can buy at any grocery store (The Fujiya brand is kind of like the Japanese Nabisco as far as I can tell). The pack has miniature, individually wrapped cookies that are alien-like in their bluish-green color, more blue than a normal mint chocolate chip ice cream. They remind me of a cookie version of Andes mints, kind of like the mint-flavored cleaning gel you get at the dentist. 2.0/5.0
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