RAMUNE | NONALCOHOLIC

Ramune is a beloved Japanese carbonated soft drink. There are many theories on how it originated but, ramune was invented in Japan some time during the late 1800s by some foreign influence. The name is actually a Japanese loan word from the American word lemonade. Ramune is basically regular soda (like Sprite), but it’s distinguishing feature is it’s codd-neck bottle with a marble ball as it’s cap. Nowadays, there are many different flavors such as melon, strawberry, grape and so on, but the most common and popular flavor to this day is the regular ramune flavor which has a slight lemon/lime candy flavoring to it.

 To open it, the bottle comes with a small plastic plunger topper connected to the top of the bottle. You remove it from the bottle and use it to push the marble down into the drink. It’s famously sold at festivals but you can find it at drinking establishments and grocery stores as well.

Photo credit: Japan Centre