Calpis Welch's Crush Muscat

Calpis Welch's Crush Muscat is a carbonated, muscat-grape-flovored drink sold by Calpis in Japan. It's quite unique in that it contains 20% real muscat grape juice; most drinks only have a few percent of juice contained inside.

Taste
The first impression I got from the drink was that it was a very fruity drink with a strong muscat flavor. The drink contains sweeteners and is very sweet; personally, I find it a little too sweet. There is some fizz to the drink, but not much.
Overall, I would describe it as "sweetened carbonated muscat grape juice".

Ramune Desuyo

"Ramune Desuyo" is a Ramune drink sold in PET bottle form.

What is Ramune?
The word "Ramune" comes from the English word, "lemonade", and in the past, Ramune actually used to taste like lemonade. Nowadays, "Ramune" is distinguished from "Lemonade" and has a unique taste of its own.
Ramune usually comes in a distinctive glass bottle where a marble must be pushed down to open it. The bottle for this drink however, is made from plastic whereas the marble is glass like it usually is.
Ramune is usually consumed in the summer and is often sold in matsuri and firework festivals.

The glass marble inside

Taste

The taste of "Ramune Desuyo" is what it is, Ramune. With a refreshing and somewhat-citrus taste, it goes well with the hot Japanese summers.

Mitsuya Fruit Cider Lychee

Introduced in June of this year, this drink is "Mitsuya Fruit Cider Lychee" sold by Asahi.

Taste
Despite the fact that the drink only contains 1% lychee juice, the taste of lychee is strong and goes well with the taste of Mitsuya Cider. The carbonation is not that strong, which makes for one easy-to-drink soft drink.
Overall, it's one fruity and tasty drink that I might consider buying again.

Spiral Grape Gold

Gold vs Red
This is the gold version of Spiral Grape and was introduced after the original "red"(Idk why it's red and not purple officially) Spiral Grape. Unlike the "red" one, the gold one does not contain salsify and dandelion, and does not taste like liquorice. It's light with a strong aroma and taste of grape. Not surprisingly, the drink does not contain any juice and the taste of the grape is somewhat artificial like Fanta.
According to the official website of Spiral Grape, it claims the drink has a strong fizz to it but I would have to say that the fizz is rather weak. Overall, it's not a bad drink and I would say the gold version is better than the "red" (or purple) Spiral Grape as I don't like liquorice-like taste of the red one.

Advertising
The advertising for Spiral Grape was aggressive and I still remember the numerous commercials that were broadcast almost every commercial break a few months ago.
You can view the commercials at the drink's official site.

WILKINSON MIXING Blood Orange

Taste
The taste is something in between grapefruit and orange. I can't say if it tastes like blood orange since I haven't tasted blood orange in its raw form. Surprisingly, the drink does not contain any natural juice so the taste is somewhat artificial and fanta-like.
It  also uses natural coloring to give it that blood orange color.

UCC Black Tea

UCC Black Tea is an unsweetened Darjeeling tea drink that has been sold by UCC from April 7th, 2009.

Taste
As expected, the taste is that of Darjeeling tea with a nice aroma. Nothing less, nothing more.

Travel Tip
In Japan, unsweetened coffee and tea is often labeled as "Black". If a tea drink or coffee is not labeled, "Black", it is likely sweetened and has milk in it.

Where To Find
I bought this at a local FamilyMart at around 140 yen.

Zeitaku Mitsuya Cider Green Kiwi

This taste of Mitsuya Cider was released on May 20th of 2014 and is a part of the "Zeitaku Mitsuya"series by Asahi.

Taste

Despite the fact that the drink uses less than 10% of green kiwi juice from New Zealand, the taste of kiwi stands out a lot and complements the taste of Mitsuya Cider nicely.

It is what it is, a Mitsuya Cider with a kiwi taste.

Sokenbicha Sukkiri Blend

Sokenbicha(爽健美茶) is the most popular blended tea drink sold in Japan. It was originally introduced into the market as a rival product to Asahi's "Jurokucha".

A New Blend
Last year, a vote was held to decide whether or not the new "Sukkiri Blend" tasted better than the old, original blend. Personally, I preferred the original blend as the new blend tasted a bit watery and light. That was not surprising as, "Sukkiri(すっきり)" literally means "clear / refreshing". The new blend incorporates 2 new ingredients, yomogi and black sesame, while ridding of pu-erh, green tea, biwa leaves, tochu leaves, and germinated brown rice. By ridding of green tea and pu-erh, the the new drink has become caffeine-free.
The results of the voring, announced May last year, was 824,441votes for the new taste and 716,504 votes for the old one.
So now, only the new Sokenbicha can be seen around Japan.

Taste
Sokenbicha tastes mainly of barley and brown rice, but the other ingredients give it a nice flowery and aromatic taste to it. This can be said for both the new and old tastes of Sokenbicha.
Since Sokenbicha has such a unique flavor, the best way to find out about the taste is to drink it yourself.

Comment
Even after the change in blend, Sokenbicha is still one of my favorite drinks. Healthy, aromatic and refrshing, Sokenbicha is something I would likely buy on a hot summer day.

Schweppes Fruit Vinegar Zero - Muscat Lemon

Introduced into the Japanese market on July 28, 2014, “Schweppes Fruit Vinegar Zero - Muscat Lemon” is one unique drink that uses 10ml of lemon, wine, and muscat grape “fruit vinegar”. It is also zero-calorie and is targeted at women in their 20s~40s.

Taste

“Schweppes Fruit Vinger Zero – Muscat Lemon” does not contain any juice whatsoever, and I was surprised that the drink tasted so fruity. I would say that the taste of grapes is stronger than that of the lemons.

As the name suggests, you can taste the sourness of the vinegar which tastes more acidic than that of lemon juice. However, the sourness goes well with the drink and is not disturbing at all. And as with most zero-calorie drinks, the drink uses sweeteners and is quite sweet, maybe a little too sweet.

Overall, it's a fruity, sweet and sour drink.

KIRIN - World Kitchen Elderflower & Lemon Peel

KIRIN World Kitchen Elderflower & Lemon Peel is one of the newest lineups in the "World Kitchen" series.
On the label of the bottle there is a short passage that describes where the product got its concept from. The passage is about how a lady in Morocco makes "flower water" by distilling water in a contraption where a layer of flowers are placed over a vat of hot water(picture depicted on the bottom right corner of the photo above).
It also goes on to say that the product was made by adding distilled water from lemon peel and sparkling water on top of the elderflower water to make a refreshing and fragrant sparkling water.

What's Inside?
Other than the elderflower and lemon peel, there seems to be less than 1% of lemon juice and grape juice inside the drink. There is absolutely no sugar or sweeteners added in the drink.

Taste
The most striking characteristic about this drink is that it is not sweet at all. It's basically flavored sparkling water.
So what kind of flavor is it?
The flavor itself is quite faint to be honest. It is slightly bitter, likely from the lemon peel, and is quite fragrant from the elderflower. I guess "Fancy & Unconventional" would be the words I would use to describe this drink.
Overall, it is a drink that will go well with food, but not as an everyday drink. It lacks the impact to leave a strong impression and I would not consider buying this product once more for the price it is(140 yen).

ZERO SPARKLING Lime - Pokka Sapporo

Today's review is about this seasonal, limited-time, drink that was introduced in July 7th, 2014.

With a scent of citrus bursting out with every bubble, "ZERO SPARKLING Lime" is one very refreshing drink.

The drink is slightly bitter, just like real lime. However, the taste of lime maybe a little weak compared to the sufficient acidity of the drink.

Sweet and refreshing, and also zero-calorie, it's a nice drink to have in the summer.

KIRIN World Kitchen Salty Lychee - A Japanese Hit

KIRIN World Kitchen Salty Lychee is a popular drink among young people in Japan, to an extent where it is now considered a hit. The producer, KIRIN has even introduced a 1.5-liter bottle version of the drink, a first in the "World Kitchen" lineup.
On the bottle is some interesting text that tells about how the drink got its concept from a Thai dessert called ローイ・ゲーオ(probably: Loy Kaew) from a lady in Thailand. It also includes the lady's quote that "Fruit becomes more delicious with salt" and that they(World Kitchen) used that wisdom to produce this drink, which uses salt from Okinawa.

What's Inside?
The drink contains less than 10% of fruit juice, which includes lychee, grapes, and grapefruit, so it's mostly water. On top of that, the drink contains salt from Okinawa, sugar, and herbs.

Taste
Despite the fact that it's less than 10% juice, you can definitely taste the lychee in there. You can also taste the slight saltiness which gives the drink a nice zest to it. The drink tastes best when it's chilled, and one can understand why it's such a hit. It's unusual, unique, and tastes great.