Do you know what the baobab in Pepsi Baobab is?

If you do, congratulations and I suggest you keep that nugget of knowledge in your head if you ever end up in the Cash Cab, get a call from one of your friends in the Cash Cab, get hailed by a complete stranger who is in the Cash Cab or if you want people to think you’re a pretentious douche.

For those of you who don’t know what a baobab is, let me be a pretentious douche and tell you it’s a tree that’s native to Madagascar, Australia and Africa. It’s also known as the bottle tree, upside-down tree and monkey bread tree. In Africa, it’s common to eat the baobab’s fruits and leaves, but that’s not the case in other countries.

And oh yeah…DUH!

If you’re a regular reader of The Impulsive Buy, you know I have a thing for redheads and limited edition Pepsi products from Japan. Over the past few years, I’ve subjected myself to whatever the flavorologists at Pepsi Japan have come up with to dare their fellow Japanese citizens to drink. In 2007, it was Pepsi Ice Cucumber. In 2008, it was Pepsi Blue Hawaii. Last year, it was Pepsi Shiso. This year, it’s Pepsi Baobab.

Now I don’t know what baobab tastes like because I’m not able to buy-o a bag-o of baobab from my local African shaman or Whole Foods. However, if actual baobab tastes like Pepsi Baobab, then I may just have to make it worth my African shaman’s while to get me some.

The beverage has a pleasant and light citrus scent. Its flavor is also light, starting off with orange and then followed with a grapefruit-ish back end. It was surprisingly refreshing. However, by the time I reached halfway through the bottle it started to become a little chemical tasting. It’s like I’m sucking on the fingers of a French maid, not the role play kind one would pay an extra $200 to get, I’m talking an actual rubber glove-wearing French maid who has been cleaning the kitchen counter with a citrus scented cleaner. I think this is because the warmer it gets, the less tasty it becomes.

Of the four limited edition Japanese Pepsi flavors I’ve tried, I have to say that Pepsi Baobab is my favorite, but not by much. Its citrus flavor makes it taste a lot more normal than the others, but the chemical taste I experienced makes it a little unsavory. Another item that bothers me is the fact that it’s marketed as a cola, but I couldn’t detect any cola flavor. I wish next year they introduce a limited edition Pepsi with a little cola flavor, and I hope it’s called Pepsi Octopus and it’s black and ink flavored.

(Nutrition Facts – 100 ml – 42 kcal, 0 grams of protein, 0 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of sodium and 10.5 grams of carbohydrates.)

Here are other Pepsi Baobab reviews:
Japanese Snack Reviews
Mike’s Blender
SarahJoyAlbrecht.com

(NOTE: I’d like to thank Reid for picking up a few bottles of Pepsi Baobab for me during his visit to Japan (along with a variety of KitKats). I’d also like to thank Meredith for taking the time to mail me a couple of bottle of Pepsi Baobab from Japan.)

Item: Pepsi Baobab
Price: FREE
Size: 500 ml
Purchased at: From a convenience store in Japan
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Nice light citrus scent. Surprisingly refreshing citrus flavor. Fat free. Paying an extra $200 to get a French Maid. Cool people willing to pick up things from foreign countries to send/give to you. Having access to an African shaman. Cash Cab.
Cons: Only available in Japan (and if you’re willing to pay crazy shipping fees — eBay). It has a slightly unpalatable chemical flavor when it gets a little warm. No cola flavor. Sucking on the rubber glove-covered hands of a French maid. Being a pretentious douche.

Here are a few product reviews posted this week from other blogs we like.

I’m disappointed Candyblog didn’t try to lace up a pair of sneakers with these toffee laces from Ikea. (via Candyblog)

I can make bon bons at home!?! All I need now is a slave to feed them to me and a couple more slaves to fan me with gigantic leaves. (via Supermarket Eats)

Fermented soybeans, rice & barley + Kit Kat = Yum (via Tasty Japan)

There will be a time in my life when I have to choose between good or evil…at Chick-fil-A. (via Grub Grade & Frozen Food Journal)

One of my favorite words to say is soufflé. Another one of my favorite words to say is incestuous. (via Heat Eat Review)

Here are a few product reviews posted this week from other blogs we like.

I don’t trust eggs with microwaves, much like I don’t trust leprechauns with pots of gold. (via Freezer Burns)

You know what would go great with microwaved eggs? Fake bacon. If Dr. Seuss were alive, I think he would’ve written a book about the combo. (via The Skinny Plate)

Oh, the memories. I remember when Hot Mango used to be my stage name. (via Jim’s Chocolate Mission)

It’s Weird Japanese Kit Kat Review Week on the internets: Roasted Sweet Potato, Miso and Ginger Ale Lemon. (via Jen Ken’s Kit Kat Blog and Japanese Snack Reviews)

These shipping labels will come in handy when I want to reuse Amazon.com boxes for shipping my old porn…I mean…shipping new porn to people. (via Office Supply Geek)

Here are a few product reviews posted this week from other blogs we like.

If there’s one thing small beer companies know how to do better than the big beer companies, it’s give their beers names that sound unappetizing and not refreshing. (via TBQ)

If it seems like I link to a lot of Japanese Kit Kat reviews, I do. I’m just fascinated with Nestle Japan’s ability to churn out new flavors, like the Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat, at the rate they do. It’s like they have Kit Kat fertility drugs or something. (via Jen Ken’s Kit Kat Blog)

I’m poor and hungry, so I have no standards. I would totally wrap my lips around a cheap microwaveable burrito. Heck, I’d take two of them in my mouth, if I could. (via Frozen Food Journal)

If I want a Milky Way shake I’ll just stick ice cream, some whole milk and one two an entire bag of Fun Sized three Milky Way bars in a blender. (via Chocolate Thunder)

This truly looks like a wiener in a blanket. (via Japanese Snack Reviews)

Here are a few product reviews posted this week from other blogs wrapped in an HTML shell and served with immature writing.

Oh, great…Now Lil Jon has Japanese chocolates. Oh wait. I’m being told they’re not Lil Jon’s. Thank goodness because I think Japanese people with jeweled grills would look as ridiculous as everyone else who wears them. (via Candy Addict)

Wow. Talk about deviation. Taco Bell puts potatoes in a burrito and not one of the usual dozens of other ingredients they put in everything else. Bravo, Taco Bell! Bravo! (via Would I Buy It Again)

I may not have tried McDonald’s latest Angus burgers, but I once received an angry letter from McDonald’s corporate threatening legal action regarding a column I wrote when I worked at my college’s school newspaper. (via We Rate Stuff)

Michael Bay has a profoundly tiny dick? That would not only explain the huge explosions in his movies, but also so much more. (via Pajiba)

Speaking of obscenely large items, here’s a jumbo binder clip. Finally, I can now keep my 300-page manifesto together with one jumbo binder clip, instead of two large binder clips. (via Office Supply Geek)

(Note: Lil Jon photo via Flickr)

It’s hard to imagine why it’s taken so long for the Japanese makers of Coke to come up with the Green Tea Coke Plus with Catechin. After all, the Japanese love green tea. They love it HARD. I think they love it just as much as smoking, manga, short schoolgirl skirts, posing for pictures and physically abusive game shows.

I’m also surprised the American makers of Coke didn’t come up with it sooner because, as they’ve proven time and time again, they’ll shoehorn almost anything into their cola. They’ll shoehorn it HARD. Some ingredients they’ve added to Coke or Diet Coke include: coffee, vanilla, black cherry, lime, lemon, Splenda, cherry and zeros.

Although it doesn’t specifically say on its label, the Green Tea Coke Plus with Catechin is really less like regular Coke and more like either Diet Coke or Coke Zero since it contains artificial sweeteners and no calories. Despite its name, it doesn’t contain vitamins like the U.S. version of Diet Coke Plus. The “plus” in this soda’s name is either for the catechins the green tea provides or it’s being marketed to sumo wrestlers.

Catechins are antioxidants and are mostly found in teas, but also in some chocolates. Studies have shown that catechins prevent plaque from building up on artery walls, some forms of cancer and aging. In my personal studies with catechins and green tea, it seems to turn me into a pompous ass by making me extend my pinky outward when drinking tea.

The Green Tea Coke Plus’ smell and initial flavor reminds me of the American version of Coke Zero, but not as prominent, which doesn’t surprise me because Coke from Japan tends to have a slightly muted flavor compared with their American counterparts. The green tea flavor doesn’t kick in until a few moments later, but when it does, it’s subtle and without any of the bitterness that green tea is known for.

Being someone who enjoys Coke Zero, I enjoyed the flavor of the Green Tea Coke Plus with Catechin, although I wish it had a little bit more green tea flavor. As for the catechins, I think you’d be better off drinking cups of regular green tea because there’s probably not a significant amount of catechins in each bottle of Green Tea Coke Plus, unlike green tea itself.

But overall, I like it HARD.

(Note: Orchid64, who purchased and sent the Green Tea Coke Plus for me, also reviewed it, along with Mike’s Blender. Also, below is a stupid experiment I did with the second bottle of Green Tea Coke Plus I had. It’s stupid because I totally wasted a good bottle of soda that’s hard for me to obtain. Enjoy my wastefulness.)

Item: Green Tea Coke Plus With Catechin
Price: 147 yen
Size: 500 ml
Purchased at: Received from Orchid64
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: I like it HARD. Tastes like Coke Zero. No calories. Easy to drink. I guess some catechins are better than no catechins. Green tea. Short schoolgirl skirts on women 18 years old or older. Japanese game shows.
Cons: Only available in Japan. Not enough green tea flavor for me. Not sure how much catechins it provides, but it’s probably not much. Wasting a perfectly good bottle of soda with a stupid dated Mentos experiment.