Haagen Daz Royal Cassis Milk Ice Cream (product announcement)

One of my friends once indicated, in his own unique, colorful, and thoroughly charming way, that he believed that it was a waste of my talent and potential to be writing about snack foods. I could see where he was coming from, though I did remind him that I did have another blog. 

The purpose of continuing to do this blog is that it encourages me to consider trying new things. In fact, part of its original intent was to push me to try more Japanese food back when my tastes were more conservative. As time has gone by, and I've broadened my experience to encompass quite a lot of what there is to offer, it's taken on a new purpose and that is that tracking Japanese snacks informs me about marketing, culture, and the origin of various foods. I've expanded the blog to try and include one non-Japanese review per week (usually on Fridays) in order to broaden my sampling and knowledge, but there is still plenty on the Japanese front to learn from as this product illustrated to me.

I had heard of "creme de cassis" before going to Japan, but only as a word in reference to alcoholic drinks, but I didn't know what cassis was (it's the French word for blackcurrant). It's not popular as a flavor or fruit in the U.S. - most likely because it isn't a native plant and never was incorporated into the common food culture. This ice cream includes not only cassis, but Marc de Champagne. Of course, I had never heard of that before either, but my research says that it is a colorless champagne made from the seeds and stalks that are a byproduct of making champagne. As you can see, I am pushed to become more broadly educated by virtue of writing about snacks.

Haagen Daz is marketing this as a holiday (Christmas and New Year's) special and it's supposed to wed the tangy acidity of cassis with the creaminess of milk and the warmth of the brandy. It's an extremely elegant combination which I probably would not sample even if I have the opportunity because I'm not a fan of boozy sweets. Still, I find it a reflection of the larger culture in Japan that such sophisticated offerings are created for the consumer market. It's not that we don't have such things in the U.S. - we do - but rather that they tend to be more available as specialty products by smaller artisan or craft makers. 

Lotte Glamatic Cassis Gum

I've seen "Glamatic" brand gum around for quite some time and have actively avoided it. The packaging is super sparkly and the writing is stylized in a fashion that makes it clear that Lotte is trying to attract 12-year-old girls, or those who think like them. I figure anything that is trying so hard to show style carries a high risk of lacking substance.

As I've mentioned before, sometimes I like to have gum on hand for throat moistening purposes. There's nothing that gets the old saliva going like gum. That being said, I still don't like to chew gum. It makes me feel like a cow chewing its minty-flavored cud.

Lotte mustn't think much of this gum because it's buried in the list of "other gums" on their gum page. I guess it isn't getting the push that Fit's is in terms of promotional potential. Given my bad impression of Fit's, I can't say I believe Lotte has it's priorities straight.


I chose this gum mainly because it is flavored "cassis" (essentially, a grape-like berry) without the addition of mint. I'm not a fan of the fruit plus mint flavors that dominant the chewing gum sections in Japan and it was slim pickings. So, I had to buy the frilly girly gum for prepubescent girls and look like a pathetic 45 year old who doesn't know her age.

A pack of 14 pieces about the size of a Chiclet or Dentyne gum costs 100 yen ($1.10). The gum is sugarless, which is important to me because I care about my teeth. It's made with both Maltitol and Aspartame. It smells a bit perfume-like at first, and tastes a bit like it as well. One of the slogans for the gum is something like "a makeover for your breath". I think it's supposed to make you think you'll smell pleasantly of perfume. After that first hit passes it has a pretty pleasant grape flavor which is relatively short-lived. I'd say it holds its flavor for a maximum of 10 minutes.

This is actually pretty decent gum. The grape flavor is not a kid's flavor, but actually similar to cassis. The shell is crisp and the gum inside is soft and easy to chew. I'd definitely buy this gum again if I was sick of sucking on herbal throat drops and wanted to chew gum to keep my throat from getting dry, even if it does look like I'm outside of the market for it by at least 2 decades.