Drinking in Japan

I last blogged about the quick bites I’d get from Japanese convenience stores and vending machines. This time around, I’ll be sharing the drinks I purchased in Japan.

The drinks offered in Japanese vending machines are truly something that American vending machines would be envious of. The selection is quite diverse and almost always has something you want to quench your thirst with. Perhaps these drinks are rather common to the average Japanese native, but to an American, any offering that goes beyond bottled water, sodas and the occasional OJ is a relief.

The thing is, like in America, not everything offered is healthy. Yummy, but probably not healthy.

I should add that some vending machines sell alcoholic beverages so be cautious what you opt for if you don’t drink.

23% Peach

Since I don’t drink, I honestly had a moment when I wanted to try a peach drink. After much pondering on whether the beverage had alcohol in it or not, I decided to buy it. I figured I could just toss it if I smelled any traces of alcohol upon opening the bottle. Fortunately, it smelled alright and ended up being a keeper.

I realized later that the percentage marking on the bottle was just an indicator of how much peach juice was used to make the drink. 23% is low! (Like I said earlier, many of the drinks offered might not actually be healthy for you.) If I recall correctly, it was a carbonated type of drink. Good but not something I’d want everyday.

Sakura Tea Latte

Anyone that wants to drink something with Japanese aesthetics would probably want to drink from this sakura tea latte carton. Drinking from this carton was weird. Weird because drink cartons remind me of public school milk cartons and the last time I had such a carton was some time in my younger years. Way too long ago and not really something I wanted to reminisce about.

But what I found to be most weird was the brand behind this sakura tea latte. Lipton. Like, how inauthentic does that sound? And it’s being sold in Japan, of all places. LOL But I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt, considering the fact that big brands like Lipton have probably made their corporate mark “everywhere”.

So, did it taste good? It was ok. Since I had it later in the day, I wasn’t really feeling it especially since I could actually taste and feel the caffeine I didn’t need. I feel like I would have enjoyed the drink more had I been tired. As for the sakura taste, what is sakura supposed to taste like anyway? (Someone needs to pluck sakura and try its petals, raw. No joke.)

Matcha Latte

Ran into another drink by Lipton except this time, it was in a cup and a slightly different type of latte: matcha latte. The matcha latte was yummy and exactly what I needed after hiking a bit. Obviously, I recommend this drink. Just keep in mind that there isn’t a lot of liquid in this cup and you’ll probably regret not buying two to fill you up.

Yuzu Lemon Water

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this flavored water but at the same time, felt it was the very thing I needed for vitamin C intake. And I was right, actually.

This yuzu lemon water was actually pretty good. With the existence of this, there’s really no need for anyone to stress out about buying a lemon for the sake of making lemon water.

If you’re sick or feeling like you’re coming down with something, this is the drink you want to consume.

Vitamin B

There was a rather interesting and slightly expensive drink I managed to find and try while in Tokyo. I unfortunately don’t have a picture of it but take my word when I say this drink is strange and not commonly found in vending machines.

The drink actually caught me off guard. When I first drank it, I thought it was partially frozen. I was surprised and then confused. The drink was basically a mixture of liquid, gelled slush and semi-solid gelled slush. If that doesn’t make sense, well, now you understand my confusion with this drink.

It turns out that it was a vitamin B drink. So, all these gelled slush stuff was probably vitamin B. And you needed to shake the bottle for the more solid slush to become less solid.

It sounds gross and honestly, I felt grossed out by it at first. But once you got used to the texture, it was a pretty good drink. And with it being a vitamin drink, I guess it was priced appropriately.

Limited Edition Coca-Cola

The drinks you’re familiar with can sometimes be found in limited edition bottles or special wrappings.

The prettiest one I saw was a Nara Coca-Cola bottle as it was wrapped in pink with deers and sakura on it. I was tempted to buy a bottle but didn’t like the idea of lugging around useless liquid for the remainder of my trip.

I once again was tempted to purchase a Date Masamune Coca-Cola bottle in Sendai, but again, was not feeling the idea of keeping useless liquid on me.

I did purchase a small Coca-Cola bottle with a 2020 Olympics wrapper around it, though. But this wasn’t because I was going to keep it. I, for whatever reason needed caffeine that day and my only option at the time was this Coca-Cola bottle.