Flavors of Ramune - Ramune Marble Soda

Try to say all these flavors five times fast.

The many flavours of Ramune

Wild flavors

Curry, Squid Ink, Corn, Salty Watermelon, Maple, Cream Stew, Chili Oil, Brussel Sprouts and Fermented Soybean flavour.

Tasty flavors

Lemon-Lime (Original), Apricot Kernel, Banana, Blueberry, Blue Hawaii, Bubble, Bubble Gum, Candy, Champagne, Cherry, Chocolate, Coconut, Cola, Corn Potage, Curry, Disco Dance, Flaming, Grape, Green Apple, Green Tea, Kiwi, Lemonade, Lychee, Mango, Melon, Muscat, Mystery, Octopus, Orange, Peach, Pineapple, Plum, Pomelo, Raspberry, Root Beer, Sour, Strawberry, Sweet, Takoyaki (sauce), Teriyaki, Vanilla, Wasabi, Watermelon, and Yuzu.

There are new ones coming all the time.

How to Open a Bottle of Ramune with pictures

Let's make this super easy. (There are some fun facts at the bottom)

First step, take your bottle and put it on the table:

 1) Wrap your hand around the plastic part and twist it off. 

You can do this in one simple motion. 

(This saves the trouble of slowly taking off the plastic)

 

 2) This will leave you with the bottle and the wrap.

3) Take the white wrap off of the green piece which will leave you with the following:

 

4) Push out the center portion of the Green piece: 

5) Take the center portion in your hand:

 (You don't need the outer ring anymore)

6) Fit the green piece into the blue hard plastic:

7) Push the green piece into the opening on the blue piece.

The next part takes a fair bit of strength so I usually use the back of my hand. I recommend against using your thumbs or fingers for this.

 

8) It should look like the following picture below:

 

9) Take out the green piece (like below) and you are ready to drink!

 

Fun Fact #1: If you want to drink the Ramune fast without having to constantly swing it back and forth - use a straw! 

The straw holds the marble in place so that it won't obstruct the Ramune.

Fun Fact #2: The Ramune bottle is the reason we have bottle deposits

It wasn't Ramune itself but the Hiram-Codd bottles. People in England (where it was invented) would take the bottles and break them for the marbles. It wasn't until they put a minor bottle recycling fee that the bottles started to be returned!

Fun Fact #3: It is almost impossible to get the marble out of the bottle without smashing it.

You don't need a physics degree to realize that the marble will not fit through the top while the blue plastic piece remains. You need to saw through blue piece which is kept in place by a powerful adhesive. Oh yeah, also it's molded around the plastic. Most people? Drop it on concrete.

Ramune Pronounciation - Ramune Marble Soda

This is the way Ramune is written in Japanese. (In proper Japanese you have to draw the bubbles too - it's a tough language!)

Pronounciation of Ramune.

So.... You want to be a ramune snob and correct everyone on their mispronunciation? No problem.

Question: Is it rah-moon? Or is it Rah-moo-ney?

Answer: Rah-moo-ney. You have passed the test. (You will not get karate chopped in Japan now)

How did it become like this?

In the mid 1850s some boats came from the US and they had a party in Japan. OK. Not exactly.

They did bring over some soda though. It was an instant hit. Early flavors included some pretty interesting combinations. I imagine cabbage & onions. Then again, I have a pretty wild imagination.

Originally the name was Lemon Sui. No one bought it though. The original person who was going around Nagasaki selling it thought the name was a problem. He was right.

The name comes from the Japanese pronunciation of Lemonade.

They just shortened it from:

"Rah-moo-ney-do" ---> "Rah-moo-ney"

Ramune Soda History - Ramune Marble Soda

Ramune has been working for 160 years now. It needs a break too.

The drink revolution that was started by an actual revolution.

In the 1800s, Japan had issues. I mean real issues. The same guys had ruled the country for like 250 years! Basically every Japanese person was bored out of their minds.

Then...in 1853, Perry showed up and was like, "whaaaaat?" This started a revolution. (He said it so loud it was heard from space.)

Some things happened. Miraculously though, someone had brought soda from the US. Everyone stopped fighting. (Ok, this is just a coincidence.)

The first soda was thought to be a bomb. Seriously. Some prankster shook the soda before presenting it as a gift to the Japanese.

This was given to the emperor and many people immediately pulled out their swords to protect him.

The Wandering Soda Samurai

Soda caught on. Sort of. It took about 10 years of wandering around testing flavors and names.

One man would travel from town to town and sell his new lemon-lime water.

He also added the Cobb-neck bottle.

It was called "Remon Sui" (Lemon Water). No one wanted to buy Lemon Water. (They could make that themselves...duh.)

So he changed the name to "Remoneedo" (Japanese pronunciation of Lemonade).

It was only a matter of time before it changed again to Ramune. Pronounced "Lah Moo Nay".

Original flavor ramune is very similar to its original flavor.

Ramune Soda Marble Purpose

Don't get us confused or you may be in for a big surprise. (Eel Wasabi flavor anyone?)

History of the marble inside Ramune Soda

First there was the cork. Then there was the cork. Then...there was still the cork?!

Until 1888, everything carbonated was made with a cork.

Corks are nice but they are leaky especially with carbonated drinks. (Think of champagne bottles)

The answer was English.

Not the language but a person named Hiram Codd who invented the Codd-neck bottle in 1870.

Corks leak, plastic and marbles don't. Ramune comes in regular cans too but remains largely in its iconic Codd-neck bottle. 

By the way, did you break the bottle to get at the marble inside? Congratulations if you did, this is the reason they invented the bottle deposit. 

Yep, it is not modern day recycling but rather that they wanted their marbles to come back home which is why they put a deposit. Anyone lost their marbles?

The birds and bees of Ramune

...So how are Ramune bottles made?

Ramune bottles start out as something like a lopsided hourglass with with a marble instead of sand.

Originally the opening is wide enough to slide a marble in. Then the glass is reheated.

Liquid is pushed into the bottle. Really Fast

The marble jumps to the top and gets stuck in the plastic.

This creates a perfect seal.

And now you are the proud owner of a new baby ramune. Take care of it. 

Ramune Soda Review - Ramune Marble Soda

Never had Ramune?

It's one of those drinks where you are just surprised. Most people's first words are, "this is surprisingly good!"

Why? ...because... it uses very little sugar.

It's all natural baby.

Okay. It isn't.

But it is darned addictive because it is a very subdued taste. It gives you enough flavor to tease you and leaves it at that.

It's also not as carbonated so you don't get an overwhelming sensation from drinking it.

Basically, it was created by Dr. Moderation.

And if you feel a kick, it's not because of the drink, it's probably because you are pregnant.

That's why Ramune is so refreshing, it's light, balanced and not too carbonated.