sherbet (thing)

In the UK (and probably most other Commonwealth countries) sherbet is a white powder commonly found in various sweets and confectionery. Its main properties are an acidic, tingly taste and it quickly dissolves in water. Popular products made from sherbet that I remember from my youth include:

• Flying saucers: these were small circular things made of rice paper filled with sherbet, shaped roughly like the UFOs of popular mythology. Coming in a variety of lurid colours, you would place a saucer on your tongue and wait for the rice paper to dissolve, whereupon you'd be rewarded with the tingly taste sensation of sherbet melting across your taste buds. Wonderful.
• Sherbet dibdabs: a small paper bag of sherbet accompanied by a bright red lollipop: the technique here was to lick the lolly, then dip it into the sherbet which you could then lick off. Repeat until fade.
• Sherbet fountains: a similar concept to the sherbet dibdab but instead of a delicious-tasting lollipop these were accompanied by a hideous hunk of black goo. I firmly resist any claims that licorice is at all edible and so can't give any more information about these so-called sweets.

I believe that in much of the USA sherbet is some kind of drink: if anyone knows what the US term for this fizzy powder is I'd be interested.

Sylvar says In the US, sherbet is very bad sorbet. The only thing similar to UK sherbet, as far as I know, is "Lik-m-Aid" (Wonka's Fun Dip). The powder doesn't have its own name here, though.