Unexpectedly Good Jelly Drink

Nomu Satsuma Mikan Jelly

Brand: Tarami

Price: 190 yen

Place of purchase: Train Station Vending Machines

Rating:

For a start, this drink is surprisingly delicious. The mikan orange flavour comes through vividly and it is unmistakably real fruit used in the drink. For someone who normally hates gelatin drinks for their texture, this drink hits the perfect balance between jelly viscosity and liquidity, meaning it goes down smooth but with a bit of texture. The added pulp adds to said texture and it gives the sensation that you are actually drinking the fruit. In terms of packaging, the straw that comes with the drink is large enough to allow a decent flow rate when drinking while being narrow enough to make it easy to get most of the drink in the package.

But the packaging isn’t perfect. The plastic the straw comes in tends to be thin and rips easily when extracted from the vending machine. Those who care a lot about utensils being exposed to public surfaces might be off-put by the holes in the straw packaging that result in the vending machine drop. The amount of drink is also a bit low. At 190 yen, you’re paying exactly 1 yen a gram for this drink. It wouldn’t be so bad, but as the nature of drinks with straws as the only method of drinking, there will always be a bit of remaining drink in the package.