Wizarding World of Harry Potter Butterbeer

Along with candy and chocolate, Harry Potter is another one of my great loves. Shortly before the fourth book was released in the summer of 2000, I was introduced to the series, and have been a rabid an avid fan ever since. When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in 2007, I was feeling bittersweet, but I remember thinking, at least I have the movies to look forward to.

With the recent release of the last movie, I thought it'd be a good time to post a little non-review of the Butterbeer served at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Florida. My husband and I went there in June on vacation, and it was like a dream. Even though my husband is not really a Potter enthusiast, he had a blast there as well.


After riding The Forbidden Journey (which was incredible) and the Dragon Challenge, we headed to the Hog's Head Pub to beat the heat. There's only one way to cool off in Hogsmeade, and that's with an ice cold Butterbeer. Only available in the Harry Potter section of the park, Butterbeer comes on ice or frozen, and both varieties are about $3 US.

The regular, on ice variety smelled of cream and mild soda. The bartender first dispensed the amber-colored soda, then topped it with a fascinating bit of magic in the form of a thick white cream. The soda tasted like mild cream soda with hints of butter and vanilla, but the topping was incredible. It was thick and frothy and reminded me of marshmallow fluff, only smoother. It had a lovely vanilla flavor with a hint of saltiness, and seemed to expand and bubble with the carbonated soda, so that there was soda and cream in every single sip.


Here's that magical topping in action!
Later that evening, we returned to the Harry Potter area to ride the Forbidden Journey again, and top off the night with a frozen Butterbeer and a Pumpkin Fizz. Again, the bartender first dispensed the Butterbeer, this time a frozen slurry, and then the magical topping. Because the topping comes out of the tap at around room temperature, it melted some of the frozen Butterbeer, dripping down the inside of the cup.

The frozen Butterbeer was much denser and thicker than the regular variety. If it was carbonated, I didn't notice, and the buttery flavor was much richer. While I really enjoyed it, neither my husband nor I could quite finish it, as it was a much more filling beverage.


I should also mention the Pumpkin Fizz; when I ordered Pumpkin Juice, the bartender recommended a Pumpkin Fizz instead - half juice and half club soda. Apparently, the Pumpkin Juice on its own is nearly unbearably sweet, and the soda cuts down on the sweetness. The Pumpkin Fizz was still sweet, but it was tasty and refreshing. The pumpkin pie spices were great: cinnamon and nutmeg were easily detected. It was much easier to finish than the frozen Butterbeer!

I expected Butterbeer to be more like a thick butterscotch than a fancy cream soda, but I wasn't disappointed at all. Harry and his friends drink it warm in the books, but that's not practical in the Florida heat. The Harry Potter-themed beverages were highly enjoyable and not terrible overpriced (for a theme park).

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is an absolute delight for fans of the books and movies, but anyone would have fun there. It's absolutely worth the admission price! If you made it this far, thanks for putting up with my fangirlish raving. Are any of you Harry Potter fans? The last movie was amazing, wasn't it?

Metromint Peppermint, Lemonmint, and Chocolatemint Water

Metromint was something I first saw on the show Unwrapped on the Food Network. The secret method by which this water is infused with mint and flavors without adding any calories piqued my interest, but I thought it'd be yet another product on that show I'd never see.

To my surprise, the fancy grocer down the street carried several varieties of this yuppie water. I got these flavors on sale for 3 for $5, but I don't remember what full price was.

Peppermint (not pictured) had a supposed chill factor of -9 degrees below regular cold water, and it was quite chilly. The mint reminded me of toothpaste, and it certainly seemed like a good thing to drink after eating something with a lot of garlic. The mint was cool and refreshing, but as a result, it seemed incompatible with a lot of foods (think drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth). By itself, it was a nice substitute for gum or a mint, but I can't see myself drinking it often. B

Lemonmint had a chill factor of -4 degrees, and it smelled a bit like a cough drop. It tasted like one, too. The water was a mild mint with just a hint of lemon, and even though the flavors seem at odds, it worked. This water was milder than the peppermint, and was quite refreshing. B

Chocolatemint smelled weird and a bit like a peppermint patty, but it was surprisingly good. Somehow, without any sweeteners (natural or otherwise), it tasted sweet. The water was lightly minty (just -2 degrees on the chill factor scale) with hints of cocoa, and overall, it was literally a very cool drink. B+

Metromint website

Lotte Let's Be Mild Coffee

While at one of a local Asian markets, I was in the mood for canned coffee. Suntory Black Boss coffee was available, but it was about $2.50. Since that seemed a bit excessive for a tiny can of coffee, I went for a $0.99 Korean coffee called Let's Be. Lotte is a giant conglomerate with a presence in just about every industry in East Asia, including food and beverage.

I am a bit of a coffee fanatic (though not quite at the Gilmore level). My husband and sister are both sensitive to it, but if I don't mind staying up late, I can drink several cups with no indigestion (so long as the creamer is lactose-free).

Let's Be mild is not the best choice for coffee fans. It smelled mostly of sugar and not very much like coffee. The taste was also extremely sweet, and a bit milkier than it looked. To its credit, it tasted very fresh for a canned drink. The bitterness and much of the acidity were muted by the sweetness.

Let's Be mild just wasn't suited to my tastes at all, but coffee is a rather personal thing. There was nothing wrong with the drink itself, I just wouldn't recommend it to those who like stronger coffee. Then again, it was labelled "mild coffee," so I doubt it would attract those types anyhow. There are bitter and black versions of Let's Be, and I would definitely try them if I found them in the future.

C+

Lotte Chilsung Beverage website

Meiji 100% Chocolate Cafe

My recent trip to Japan included a visit to the Meiji 100% Chocolate Cafe, a place I've wanted to visit for a couple years. It is located right next to the Meiji corporate headquarters in Tokyo, about a 10 minute walk from Tokyo station. My husband and I met some friends there for a snack.


I wanted to get a small cake and a drink, but they were out of the cakes (and I can't even remember the name), so I just got the drink. It was called ショコラスクワッシュ (chocolate squash), and it was quite tasty. Basically, it was a bittersweet chocolate soda. It was a nice, delicate balance of sweet and savory, and it was a pleasure to sip.


It also came with the chocolate of the day. The most exciting thing about the cafe is that they have a special, unique flavor for every day of the year. This one (Sansho, or Japanese pepper) wasn't as peppery as I was hoping. It was very good dark chocolate with a slight taste of black pepper and a gritty texture.

I also bought a couple of the chocolates that they have in stock every day, numbers 20 and 48, specifically. I will post a review of those soon.

Meiji 100% Chocolate Cafe

Diet Mountain Dew UltraViolet

While listening to the radio, I heard a commercial for Diet Violet Mountain Dew. I was mildly interested, since it's rare for Mountain Dew to release a flavored diet soda. When I got to work the next day, a friend told me it was available in the snack stand, and I had to sample it.

When I poured the soda, the bubbles at the top (do you call it "head" when it's soda?) were blue, as you can see in the following picture. The drink itself was a pale violet color, much like the various non-diet violet Mountain Dews of the past.


There was a generic berry smell to the soda, but it smelled stronger than it tasted. The first notes were a bit medicinal, giving way to a fuller, but nondescript, berry finish. Unfortunately, I was painfully aware of the artificial sweetener throughout drinking, even more so than with regular diet Dew.

I have to give Mountain Dew an A for effort for putting out a new diet soda flavor, but I don't think I'll choose it again. There are other diet sodas I like much better (Sunkist Diet Sparkling Lemonade, for example).

B-

Mountain Dew website

Mountain Dew Game Fuel Horde Red

I feel that I must get something off my chest. I am a gamer. There, I said it. I'm not ashamed though. Neither my husband nor I ever got into World of Warcraft, but back when we used to stay up late playing video games, we probably would have appreciated something like this. We used to drink Surge, so you can probably figure out about when I was a teenager.

Anyhow, here is part two of the Game Fuel review. At work, my friend and I split this can of Horde Red Game Fuel (again, no trace of a name on the package), eager to taste "Cherry Citrus" flavor. If you remember correctly, she had liked the Alliance Blue, and I was indifferent towards it.

Well, we were definitely in agreement about this one - it was bad. At least Horde Red made Alliance Blue seem a lot better. Red smelled like cherry medicine, and tasted sort of like a melted orange Slurpee. We might have been imagining it, but both of us felt like this even had a bit of a tongue numbing effect.

There wasn't much cherry flavor to speak of, just citrus with a hint of medicine. But, another positive was that it didn't taste like a previously released flavor of Mountain Dew, so at least they took a chance. It didn't work for me or my friend, but it was fun to try something new.

D

Mountain Dew website

Mountain Dew Game Fuel Alliance Blue

At work, one of out security guards runs a snack stand, and he occasionally stocks new, limited edition sodas. My friend and I had been talking about trying the Mountain Dew "Game Fuel" flavors, so this is the first of two reviews.

I wasn't sure if this flavor had a name or not, because all my friend and I couldn't find anything other than "DEW with a Punch of Wild Fruit Flavor." My husband said it was called Alliance Blue, but I never would have know.

It smelled like a blue popsicle, in that vaguely fruity kind of way. Similarly, it had a blue raspberry-ish flavor (no fruit flavor on the ingredients list, though, just "natural flavors"). I felt like it tasted like soda that Mountain Dew has put out before. My friend thought it tasted like Mountain Dew LiveWire.

I wasn't crazy about it, but I'm not a big Mountain Dew drinker. But for fans of Mountain Dew, I think it would be pretty pleasant. It was fun to try, but it seemed like just another rehash of a limited edition flavor.

C+

Mountain Dew website

DRY Soda Rhubarb

I've never been a big soda drinker, but every now and then I enjoy it. New and different sodas are especially exciting, so this rhubarb soda sounded too good to resist. DRY Soda wasn't a company I had heard of, and the bottle was a little pricey, but it did have a lot of things going for it.

This soda was all natural, and made with cane sugar (which almost always makes for a higher price, unfortunately). The whole bottle was 60 calories and 16 grams of sugar. I can't remember how much one bottle cost at the grocery store, but a 12 pack sells for $19 US on the DRY Soda website.

The soda smells just like how it tastes. It tastes like rhubarb, with a lot of tartness and a hint of bitterness, counterbalanced with a little sweetness. It was very dry, but didn't taste watered down like I was afraid it would. The aftertaste was nice, too, a bit sweet.

It reminded me of something, and it was halfway through the bottle when I figured it out. It really reminded me of Lotte Koume plum hard candies, which have a bitter coating, followed by a sweet plum candy shell, and finally a gummy plum center. I wouldn't have thought to compare Japanese plums to rhubarb, but they do have some similar qualities (tartness, subtle sweetness).

I really enjoyed this soda, but because of the price and the complex flavor, I wouldn't want to drink it often. While I drank this, my husband had the kumquat flavor, which was also tasty. As an occasional treat, I definitely recommend this soda.

A-

DRY Soda website

Kirin Afternoon Tea Special Milk Tea

Kirin is a beverage giant in Japan. Aside from alcoholic drinks (Kirin beer in particular), they have large lines of soft drinks as well. This tea comes from their popular Gogo no Kocha (Afternoon Tea) line, and was a "special" version of their regular milk tea.

The back of the bottle (mostly obscured by the label with the translation of the ingredients, as I bought this in the US) said that it was made with Assam tea and milk. I read online that the "special" version here had creamier milk and a more robust tea base. It's been a little while since I had the regular version, so I can't make a comparison.

The tea was very refreshing, with a complex, slightly floral flavor. It wasn't too sweet or too rich, and did taste special. The Assam tea was present, but not strong, which I enjoyed. It definitely worked well as an afternoon tea for that reason. Of course, no matter what time it is, my father likes his tea black and almost over-steeped, so those with tastes like his would not care for this.

The drink certainly wasn't sickeningly sweet by any means. I assume that it was a limited edition release in Japan, but I would certainly drink it again. I will have to try the regular version to see if there are any detectable differences.

A-

Kirin Website

Sunkist Cherry Limeade

I'm a huge fan of Sonic's cherry limeade. Until recently, there was no Sonic in my city, but just last year, one opened. I've only been there once so far, but the cherry limeade is delicious. So, when this Sunkist Cherry Limeade popped up in the snack area at work, I bought a can right away.

In the end, it was pretty disappointing. The soda smelled like medicine when I opened it, and the taste was a bit blah. There was very little lime flavor or tartness; it was mostly a weak cherry. My friends at work also tried it. One thought it was good, and the other didn't seem to hate it, but compared the flavor to NyQuil and snow cone flavoring.

The soda wasn't bad, but it wasn't nearly as good as the stuff from Sonic. I don't think I'll buy this again, but at least it was fun to try.

C

Sunkist Website

Nestle HomeCafe Brown Sugar Matcha Latte

Happy New Year, everyone! Unfortunately, I spent most of the holiday sick with a cold, but I am feeling much better now. A friend came to visit me from Kyoto, and she brought all kinds of awesome snacks, so I hope to start 2009 with lots of reviews! Anyhow, one of the things she brought was a box of Nestle Matcha Latte packets. It's getting cold where I live, so I was very happy to see these.

The first thing I notice is that the serving size is very small for someone who is used to large portions like me. To make a cup, it only takes 130 mL of hot water! It's the perfect size for the small teacups I have, but I wish the serving was a little bigger.

When I added the water to the powder, the liquid got really frothy, and I could even hear the powder fizzing as it dissolved! The powder dissolved very quickly and easily with a little stirring, and it was ready to drink in less than 1 minute. There was a light green tea smell and the color was perfect.

The taste was very comforting and delicious. It wasn't too bitter, but wasn't too sweet, either. I couldn't really detect the brown sugar, but I wasn't looking for it. The flavor could have been just a tad weak, but I also might have added a little too much water. There was no powder blob in the bottom of the cup when I was finished, so I was pretty pleased. Although small, the matcha latte was quite enjoyable. I wish the box had more than 5 packets!

A-

Nestle Website (Japanese)