Saturday, June 27, 2015

KIRIN World Kitchen - Harecha

About
Kirin Harecha is an unsweetened tea drink sold by KIRIN under their "World Kitchen" brand. Inside Harecha are four herbs, lemongrass, mint, rosemary, and geranium, mixed with green tea.
On the label is a passage about how housewives in Greece include lots of herbs inside their cooking. This is supposedly where the inspiration of this drink came from.

Taste
The taste is slightly bitter and you can definitely taste the herbs that are inside the drink. I could clearly taste the mint and rosemary, while the lemongrass was quite subtle. I could not distinguish the taste of geranium since I do not know what it tastes like.
Although very unique as it is unsweet, the taste wasn't unexpected at all. It tastes like what you would expect an herbal green tea to taste like.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Lemongina - Does it taste like dirt? - Taste & Review

Although it has the French national flag printed on the label, Lemongina is available only in Japan. It was sold on March 31st, 2015 by Japanese brewer and beverages company, Suntory, which also owns the Orangina brand of beverages. Suntory claims that its researchers, in association with Orangina Snapple, spent over two years in France developing a lemon peel extract suited to the tastes of the Japanese consumer.

Taste
Upon release, many consumers claimed that the taste of Lemongina resembled that of "dirt". However, I did not taste "dirt" in the drink; instead, I felt a strong lemon peel flavor, and a genuine lemon taste, much like that of homemade lemonade. My theory is that since lemons are not so widely used in Japan, many people may have associated the flavor of the lemon peel with their experiences of smelling "dirt".

Lemongina contains actual lemon juice, along with grapefruit juice and orange juice, and is not so sweet. Although many carbonated drinks taste artificial, Lemongina tastes very natural and does not have much fizz to it.

In conclusion, I would describe Lemongina as "carbonated homemade lemonade".

References
http://www.suntory.co.jp/softdrink/news/pr/d/sbf0228.html

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Teas' Tea Bergamot & Orange Tea

Teas' Tea is a brand of tea drinks sold by Ito-en, a Japanese company specializing in tea and soft drinks.
This is "Teas' Tea Bergamot & Orange Tea" and contains both bergamot orange and plain orange juice. It also claims to contain orange flower, to give it an accent. The drink is also 90% decaffeinated.

Taste
The drink is considerably sweet and the taste is basically tea with orange juice and sugar mixed in. You can also taste the bergamot orange in there but only slightly. Despite the tea-like appearance of the liquid, I would say the drink is not "tea" but more like orange juice with a little tea flavor added in.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Fanta Mango ファンタ豊潤マンゴー

Fanta Houjun Mango is a mango-flavored Fanta drink sold in Japan since 2014.

Taste
Despite having no mango juice inside, the taste of the drink is not artificial at all. This maybe due to the drink not using any artificial sweeteners. Overall, it's a fruity drink that tastes like carbonated mango juice.

Monday, September 22, 2014

KIRIN World Kitchen - Vitamina

KIRIN World Kitchen's Vitamina is a non-carbonated drink made with 5 types of berries, blackcurrant, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and cranberries. The drink also contains grape, grapefruit, and acelola juices and contains 450mg of vitamin C.
On the label of the drink, there is some text that describes how a mother in Sweden makes a syrup called "Saft" from berries picked during the summer. It goes on to say that Vitamina is made by mixing water and other fruit juices with Saft.


Taste
The drink is sufficiently sweet and has a very strong berry taste. Out of the berries, I found the raspberry to taste the strongest. Overall, it's an unusual and interesting drink to have.



Friday, September 19, 2014

Gogo No Koucha(午後の紅茶) Straight Tea

Gogo No Koucha, which literally means "Tea in the Afternoon", is a line of tea drinks sold by KIRIN in Japan, mainland China, and Taiwan.
The "Straight Tea(ストレートティー)" is one of their main products in their lineup and has been sold in Japan since 1984, the year Gogo No Koucha was first introduced into the market.

Ingredients & Taste
Gogo No Koucha Straight Tea uses 100% Ceylon tea leaves from the Dimbula region in Sri Lanka. It also contains a hefty amount of sugar so it's quite sweet. KIRIN claims that the Dimbula tea has a rose-like flavor, and I must admit, the product actually does have flowery and rose-like taste.
Overall, it's a well-made drink, and the flowery taste goes well with the sweetness from the sugars. For those who don't like sweetened tea, there is also Gogo No Koucha Oishi Mutou, which is unsweetened.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

HI-C Peach

HI-C Peach is a non-carbonated, sweetened, peach drink sold by Coca Cola Japan. The product was reintroduced in 2014.

The drink contains 20% peach juice, and is very fruity as a result. The sweetness of the drink is just shy of being too sweet, which makes for one nice drink to consume when chilled.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Gokuri Sweet Pineapple

Gokuri Sweet Pineapple is a fruit drink sold by Suntory in Japan, and is part of the "Gokuri" series. The drink contains 15% juice consisting of pineapple and lemon juice, sugar, fruit fibers, and fruit extract.

Taste
The fruit fibers give the drink an impression of freshly squeezed pineapple juice. However, since the drink is not 100% juice, it is not as viscous and is easier to drink than pure juice.
This makes the drink an excellent thirst-quencher during the hot Japanese summers.