Ramune

Ramune is a Japanese carbonated soft drink. It was introduced in 1884 in Kobe by the Scottish pharmacist Alexander Cameron Sim. Ramune is available in a Codd-neck bottle, a heavy glass bottle whose mouth is sealed by a round marble (instead of a cap) due to the pressure of the carbonated contents. The name ramune is derived from a Japanese borrowing of the English word lemonade.

History
In 1884, Sim introduced this carbonated beverage based on lemonade to the Kobe foreign settlement. This drink, sold in the distinctive Codd-neck bottle, soon became very popular with the local Japanese after it was advertised in the Tokyo Mainichi Newspaper as a preventative for cholera. The drink remains a popular soft drink, sold worldwide, under the name of ramune.

Bottle design


Ramune is known for its distinctive Codd-neck bottle (named after its inventor, Hiram Codd). Although the Codd-neck bottle was once commonly used for carbonated drinks, today ramune, along with Banta, is one of its very few users.

People trying ramune for the first time sometimes find it difficult to drink, as it takes practice to learn to stop the marble from blocking the flow. In one version of the bottle introduced in 2006, little slots were added to the cap where the marble was originally held. This prevented the flow from obstruction if the marble falls back into the cap. Ramune is also available in plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

Ramune is one of the modern symbols of summer in Japan and is widely consumed during warm festival days and nights. Empty bottles are usually collected for recycling at stalls where it is sold.

Flavours
The original ramune flavour is lime-lemon. Including the original, there have been 57 flavours of ramune. As the popularity of ramune continues to grow, there have been many novel packaging designs and a variety of flavours, including collaborations with popular Japanese franchises such as Hello Kitty and Pokémon. Some common flavours include peach, cola, melon, and bubble gum, while some unusual flavours include takoyaki, curry and wasabi.