Tokyo Noodle Drops

I decided to try out some of my J-List schwag today, and I was really intrigued in general to try the "off/regionally flavored" candies that I had gotten. I started with the Tokyo Noodle Drops, as they seemed the most likely to be captured in a candy well, as opposed to the Sasebo Burger Drops or Tako-Rice [sic] Drops. Which are actually taco rice, タコ/tako being octopus, something got messed up on the package due to the similarity of the words and the fact that tako is so widely eaten in Japan, and the Mexican type of taco seems to be limited in availability to Okinawa for the most part. (Which is kind of horrible news for me should I move to Japan, because Mexican is my favorite kind of food. ;_;)

Generally, this sort of thing is a quintessentially Japanese concept; "wacky" candy that 99/100 people would never even think of, even Japanese people. I mean there are those Harry Potter jellybeans that Jelly Belly has been making for the past few years that were bacon and booger and vomit flavored, but these are meant to be actually appetizing, methinks. The tins are certainly decorated in a way that looks "serious" - or more precisely - cultural.

First, if you purchase one of these bad boys, I'd say don't leave the house without Hercules or a blasting cap in tow. The sticker holding the lid on is merely a formality, because I'm pretty sure the lid is welded on. Once I pried it off with some scissors, I was allowed access to the tasty drops. They smelled, surely enough, like ramen. There are also silicate packets included in each tin to make sure they stay dry.

Upon popping one in my mouth I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting them, since they had an aroma, to be powerful. The first thing I tasted was that typical "candy" taste you get when you eat a hard candy. It's probably some additive or something, but that actually balanced the overall taste out. I then tasted ramen. Not ramen flavoring, but it tasted like real ramen in a bowl, with broth. It was subtle enough that I wasn't getting grossed out, but not so light that I was guessing at whether my mind was pulling off a placebo effect and tricking me because I wanted my $3.50's worth out of the tin I'd just bought. Being the scrutinizing individual that I am my mind naturally thought: "How is it that we can put ramen into a candy but somehow we've gotten cherry, watermelon and apple wrong for so many years?" (I actually hated cherry fruit until about 2005 because of the medicine and candy taste ruining it for me over the years, now they're my favorite fruit ^^)

Even now, the aftertaste is like I just ate a bowl of ramen, it's ridiculous. I'm still a little shaky about what the burger and taco drops will taste like, but I have a feeling you'll be seeing another rave review soon. The full line of these drops snacks can be had here, at J-List, but get em fast because I understand they're popular and the manufacturer has been running out of them!