Or, it’s a bottle with a marble inside. Oh yeah, and some soda, too.
Bottle of Ramune Soda
These bottles of melon and pinapple flavored Ramune were in the cupboard with then infamous Jamaican Irish Moss but unlike the JIM it was still in perfect condition. I don’t know a whole lot about Ramune so I had to look it up on Wikipedia. It’s basically a Japanese soda distinguished by the unusual bottle with a marble inside. It’s kind of a neat little gimmick but I couldn’t tell that it had any effect on the taste.
The name is supposed to be how Japanese people would pronounce “lemonade”.
Pretty much it tasted like artificially flavored soda pop, nothing remarkable except the neat bottle. More photos, including how I got the marble out of the bottle of ramune, after the jump.
As I said, I had two bottles, melon and pineapple flavor, which I’d chilled in the fridge before tasting.
The instructions for how to open the bottle of ramune. It was pretty straightforward and not difficult to do.
You just stick the plunger in and press down.
And the marble falls right down into sort of a basin in the neck. It can’t fall down into the bottom of the bottle of Ramune and it can’t fall out of the opening at the top.
But to be on the safe side we’d better read the Ramune warnings and the ingredients. As you will see, I ignored these warnings at my own peril.
The marble did make a lovely, tinkly sound as it rolled around the bottle. I didn’t find it difficult at all to drink directly from the bottle, but I’ve had loads of experience getting juice out of those no-drip sippy cups so perhaps I just have great technique.
All in all it was a decently tasty drink and the novelty bottle would make it something I’d consider buying for a special occasion to give it a bit of pizazz.
How to Get the Marble Out of the Ramune Bottle
First, use a lighter to soften the plastic. This will make your finger hot and cause stinky fumes so do it outside and don’t let little kids or really stupid people do it.
When it’s soft, saw at it with a butter knife. In theory, you will be able to slice through the thinned, softened plastic.
But, if you are impatient like me and try to pry it off instead, you might wind up popping it off into the bushes in front of your house.
It’s worth the effort for this beautiful marble!
Which wound up in the same floor register where the half and half and coffee was dumped not 2 minutes after I took this picture.
If you can’t find it at your local store, you can buy Ramune at Amazon
(note: this post contains affiliate links to Amazon. I get advertising fees if you buy from them, which allow me to buy even more strange and unusual foods.)
