Bireley's Orange

Bireley's Orange

(Japan Crate: October 2015)

[Japan Crate description: This orange drink actually originated in California back in the 1920's, but was discontinued. Asahi, one of Japan's largest drink manufacturers, was able to begin manufacturing Bireley's and is now only available in Japan.]

Kimberly Says:

This was...neither terrible nor wonderful. Honestly, it just tastes like slightly tangier Sunny D. I chugged the rest of it after we both had our samples (and let my sister finish off the caramel puffs), but really it was just...not memorable? Drinkable, but not exciting.

Melissa Says:

This drink doesn’t lie – it’s basically orange juice. In fact, it tastes and smells similar to Sunny D! It’s just a bit tangier. It was kind of fun to drink. While I’d probably not get it again, it was pretty good once.

Tohato Caramel Corn

Tohato Caramel Corn

(Japan Crate: October 2015)

[Japan Crate description: A caramel corn snack that's just in time for Halloween! The texture is more like Cheetos than popcorn, with a subtle, salty caramel flavor. Just like Umaibo sticks, you can find this snack in an array of yummy flavors.]

Melissa Says:

This was…unique. The taste of these little Cheeto-styled caramel corn bites was actually fairly good. It’s a subtle caramel flavor paired with a slight salty taste and something more I can’t quite identify. Actually rather good! 

The downside to this snack is that it looks outright vile when you pull it out. It’s like little, short, fat Cheetos that appear to be like insects. It’s rather odd. But really, they’re quite nice. In fact, I’m snacking on them while I write this. If we found them again, I’d consider getting them.

[Edit] I remember! The caramel thingies remind me of corn puffs!

Kimberly Says:

After the absolutely awful long puff sticks in the last review, I was wary of trying another puffed snack.

However, these ended up being surprisingly good. Maybe it was just in comparison, and it was a little weird to have what looked like small cheese puffs (or, what I first pictured, maggots. >.> ) that tasted sweet, but overall I actually enjoyed these.

The bag was cute, too. x3

Gyutan Umaibo Stick

Gyutan Umaibo Stick

(Japan Crate: October 2015)

[Japan Crate description: These airy corn sticks come in a huge variety of flavors. This one is Gyutan - a grilled cow tongue dish in Japan. Don't let the flavor discourage you, this salty snack is a tasty flavor experience.]

Kimberly Says:

It's not often anymore I try something that I outright dislike to the point of wanting to spit it out.

This was one of those.

I can't even really tell you much about what it actually TASTED like, because my brain immediately decided to forget everything about it except that it was absolutely disgusting.

We each had one bite, then threw away the rest of it, and will be finding somewhere to get rid of the rest.

Melissa Says:

We had three of this little stick things, which are flavored like grilled cow tongue. That would’ve been alright, except this is one of the few things I’ve eaten out of these crates that I downright did not like. It’s not the flavor, per se. I mean, it wasn’t a great flavor. But actually, it’s overwhelmingly salty with a really weird texture. The flavor was just the cherry on top. Er, cow tongue? 

Anyways, we ate half a stick and decided enough was enough. I’ll not be having any more of it!