Oh I love Calpis water! My friend in Japan made me reluctantly try it. After the first taste its all I ever drank in Japan. Love the Calpis, must have the Calpis. I was also surprised cream soda is yellow/green in Asia where its pink in N. America. Anyhow, I can buy Calpico water here now, but it cost alot. Like $9 for 2L, and yes I do buy it occasionally. Here, our 7-11 are stacked with pop, energy drinks, ice tea, water, and fruit juice. Not one Japanese drink in the bunch =(
@Danny, You ever try that drink called ALOE? I hear its good, but don't have it here yet. I wanna give it a try. (Second vending machine pic, top left corner, green bottle)
it feels like everything in japan is 40 min away... damn tourist shows... regarding the drinks however, its almost exciting how much sunshine of happiness can brighten my break by trying out new drinks (i am a drinka', but nothing with alcohol though, no bull) but i guess it would only be fun and good if the drinks always tasted good...
LOL, Tofu milk? Is it like soyabean drink? LOL Singapore has an OK number of beverages sold I think... Also LOL at "cow piss"...
Lol, it's been sometime since i last had Sarsi...although the 7/11 here does sell them. Malaysia does have a wide variety of drinks, but not all are ubiquitous everywhere. Some can only be found in supermarkets like Cold Storage. Tofu milk pwns! xD
tofu milk? o_O;;; soya bean is it? (or tao fu fa? hahaha)
Tofu milk in our region is called Soya milk or 'soy milk' that drink taste great I on second on trying it
Yup, tofu milk is soya bean or "tau jiong sui" in chinese. Warning! Don't drink too much, or your chest will grow!
Calpis is great, but i'm more the sweet guy and love ramune. mitsuya cider is nice too! first i thought it's alcoholic, but was pleasantly suprised after tasting it! ^^ we don't have the variety you have tho :( i have to get the good stuff in duessdorf (little japan in germany) :(
soya bean is susu kedelai in indo kedelai is some sort of nut, tofu are from nut aren't they? the sarsi thing don't come to indo, we got some local of it though, taste wonderful. sarpalila in indo, don't know the english of it most of my local beverages industries working to much on tea lately, so much sweet green tea, i want a bitter 1...
got calpico to here, but most clerk don't sell it, got to go to some carrefour or some hypermarket just to get 1. it taste great, i wonder why it doesn't sell well here...
Tried a few variations of Coca Cola products from Japan when down in EPCOT/Disney World. THey were rather good but much stronger in taste.
You mentioned how you have to drive 40 min. to get yer self some root beer. I'm in the same boat but have to drive 60 min to get myself some Irn-Bru. Love the stuff, can't get enough of it when I visit Glasgow, Scotland.
A lot of varieties here, but I don't really like most of them since I feel that they're overly sweet. I prefer japanase drinks since most have the right amount of sweetness to them for my taste. For a while now, my favorite drink in hte states would be vitamin water. So addicting
@momocow really? it can grow your breast? gawd. then it's good for trans sex(no offense) and iwasaki(lucky star)
@jojomco is A&W root beer taste terrible or there is no A&W booth near you? i though root beer are sold in a bottle, like coca cola
Pocari Sweat! First proper Japanese cold drink I remember drinking. Wierd name and I have to admit that i can't drink it continuously like, say, coke. But I really want to try Lamune, just for those wierd bottles! Didn't get a chance to before, either that or I forgot due to how frustrating it was when I couldn't figure it out.
Sarsi is available in Malasiya as well? I always thought it was a Philippine drink. If I knew you liked that particular drink, I would have brought some for you during my visit.
Darn it, for all the Malaysians out there, I sincerely apologise for misspelling MALAYSIA. orz
i believe the tofu milk in question is as what the others mentioned, Soya Bean drink (豆奶 or 豆花水). and yes danny, i remember drinking sarsi soft drink when i was a kid as well. ^^; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarsi_(drink)
We've got a decent amount of drinks over here. One in particular that's gaining popularity and is making soda makers shake in their knees is flavored green/white tea drinks. I like the apple flavored one in particular! So you like Sarsi danny? There are tons of that stuff in here. Still not as popular as Coke or Pepsi but it's there. Personally though I don't really like it but my mom and younger brother loves it to death.....
During my trip to Japan in October, I noticed a lot of different drinks available but I had a hard time finding my favorite one in vending machines: Mountain Dew! The only time I saw it (and I bought it of course) was a vending machine in Akibahara.
There aren't many local drinks here in Calgary, but if you visit the Chinese Super Market, u can find a lot Asian drinks.
Oh, Sarsi! I know Sarsi! Good stuff. I thought they had soy milk at the supermarkets, I've had some myself. I think it's called tounyuu, 豆乳? What I miss in Japan is Nestea. They only have it at Costco. I remember buying some from the Foreign Buyer's Club(www.fbcusa.com), too.
i do think the tofu milk is soy milk >_< you had me confused for a second or two there XD
ahhh~ gotta love them Sarsi, we have them here in the Phil. and its reaaaally goood! gotta love them sarsaparilla drinks^^
They just came out with a caramel creme soda in the US. At least I think it's new, because I only saw it yesterday for the first time. The melon creme soda in your picture reminded me of it.
I had a lot of sarsi candy when I was a kid... Mmmmmmm
I favorite drinks while in Japan were Pocari Sweat and Aquarius. They were quite tasty. Supposedly they recharged my "ions" or something. I will say that I downed quite a few while there, and never seemed to run out of steam. I have my friends bring back the powdered version. So I at least get to have some every so often.
I was a melon soda addict. I never drank ony of those enegry drinks, or anything that didn't seem obvious [green teas, sodas, coffees] because I was never sure if any of them had illegal aditives in them. I remember being told not to drink certain things when I was in "indoc" because some teas sold in stores contained opiates or something like that. But anyways, I never tried any of those funky branded ones, even stayed away from those "energy +" drinks. *shrug*
Tofu milk? You mean Soya Bean drink/Soya Milk? But Tofu Milk was a nice word too XD! Sarsi, i drinking alot when i still a kid, but now love to drink root beer more.
Are those freebies a new trend Danny? I don't remember seeing those when I went to Japan (early 2006). And I was all over those machines and drinks. Tasted as many different stuff as I could (in 25 days). We have only the basic here. There are no cream sodas, no hot beverages, very few types of tea (and usually bad ones), and machines are for soft drinks only.... and they are kinda hard to find. One thing that I liked a lot was the machines selling hot drinks. I went to Japan in March... it was still kind cold but not too cold. We had the luck to visit Fuji-san with the clearest view in years, and also watch the cherry blosson... Hanami... also the best one in some years, specially around the Imperial Palace. How can I resist not going back there after such things... T_T
for me, nothing beats the good ol orange soda
Gokuri is a great drink. A grapefruit juice drink with pulp and unfortunately added sugar...This drink rocks! Cannot find it in the states. Some importers have it, everytime I go to Japan I stock up.
Wow, all of those drinks look pretty tasty. We don't get that much variety here from Japan besides Ramune and some other drinks I haven't dared to try. However instead of a lot of Japanese drinks, we get an abundance of Korean and Chinese drinks. There is a Japanese shop down the street thats terribly overpriced, but I'll investigate soon ^^
I love Japanese drinks, their just so yummy. But I have to take an hr bus just to get to the mall to get some Japanese goodies =0
yes, because I live i California, and we have lot's of international drinks...
a large number here in my city. I suspect it's really determined by the size of the town you live in. I live in a city of about .5-.75 million people, so the cultural differences bring in a wide variety of food/drinks. I've been meaning to check a japanese candy store I recently found downtown however; maybe I'll find some nifty looking beverages as well :)
I think the best sarsi that i drink is the local made in kelantan one. it taste different from the commercial one. they packed it in a kicap bottle and paste a sticker to it. I only know that it is made in kelantan when i read the label. oh and it feels really great drinking it accompanied by laksam.( a kelantan sweet and sour mi in fish paste).man, i cannot find any here in southern state.
I mainly sticked to Aquarius and Pocari Sweat this summer because those drinks are great if you're really thirsty. Another drink I really liked (also seems populair among kids) is Mitsuya Cider. It's like Sprite but less sweet (overall bether). I love the amount of vending machines in Japan.
Hi Danny, what is your favorite japanese drink for now? I will be heading to Japan in 3 weeks and I'm just wondering if you can take some pics of the drinks u would prefer. Nice pictures, thanks!
One of the first things that Impressed me of Japan, were all the varied and colorful drinks you can see on the vending machines xD. I was like WOOOT! (I had like 7-8 years back then) so many cool looking drinks! And that ignited my interest for Japan, I'm sure of it :3
What is in the black Coca cola can? I see regular and diet, is it Cherry?
@lowlife187 it's probably coca cola zero, supposed to have 0 calories but still taste like original coke. needless to say, they failed. anyway, there aren't a lot of vending machines here, mostly just coca cola products. never dried those drinks that you've mentioned as i can never find them in the supermarket, but i love soy milk, it goes great with breakfast everyday, is that the same as the tofu drinks you mentioned?
I have a huge selection of drinks. Since the area i live in has such a wide culture base and shops for all of them. I also work at Costco so I get a huge variety there.
coke zero is a failure. and it is also nocive to health (Even more than light is). I especifically don't remember why it is bad, but it's something proven.
the selection of drinks isn't small but its nothing compared to japan's i loved the variety of drinks and snacks when i was there.
My favorites include: Pocari Sweat, Itoen Green Tea, Dakara, and Karada Meguricha.
While I was in Japan, I was kinda suprised than I could not find any sparkling water (natural one) except in Carrefour supermarket. Don't japanese like this kind of water?
Not much a variety here where I am. I can pick up a few of my Japanese favorites, but they are expensive. Some how they just don't taste as good as when I'm in Japan. ^^ It's easy to forget vending machines here in the states. They are big red boxes with Coca Cola logos on them. ^^; No one makes vending machines like the Japanese. I enjoy Root Beer too. I don't like the idea of it being hard to find. I need to check out Costco in Osaka next time to see if they carry Barqs Root Beer.
My fridge has a huge variety of drinks ranging from Coke, Sarsi, Yogurt beverages, and Melon Soda..then juices..bottled waters..and milks (soy and 2%) soy juice being my current favorite overstocked in here..
If you want some rootbeer danny I can bring you some next month :)
I knew I should of bought that 1lt can of Asahi beer to show off to people here in Australia...
Haven't found Calpis yet here, loved it in Japan. But those display cans are misleading. I thought I would get such a cool plastic looking coke can, but out comes a regular coke can... But yeah, took pictures of japanese vending machines too ;p There is so much variety.
Ugh, totally not the 2nd post :, was up this morning, and this is my first post ever. Just getting into anime. But I signed up cuz this post was so interesting. Well. I do love Japanese soda, I have actually started collecting the bottles. Ramune is fantastic.
If i ever visit Japan, it looks like i'm going to need alot of change. Hahaha =)