Wednesday, December 30, 2009

CC Lemon Zero


C.C. Lemon is one of those drinks that I've had an interest in for quite some time because it is packed with Vitamin C and who doesn't enjoy a good lemon beverage? My former boss used to drink it on occasion and some of my students swear by it as a way of keeping colds at bay.

I don't like to drink my calories and I particularly don't like to drink sugary acidic sodas because they have a bad effect on the teeth. This is what has kept me from sampling C.C. Lemon for all these years. I especially wanted to try it around the time that the Simpsons were used heavily in their promotions as there were some nifty bits of swag available at that time. Unfortunately for me, the Simpsons aren't being used now when a zero calorie version is available.

I investigated the name "C.C. Lemon", but didn't come up with any explanation of what the "C.C." stands for besides the fact that it's supposed to be packed with a lot of Vitamin C. The American Wikipedia page says that there has been some controversy about whether or not the advertised amount of C is really as claimed, but the Japanese page doesn't mention anything about it. The weird thing is that they don't mention the amount of Vitamin C in terms of usual measures, but as the number of lemons worth of C. A 500 ml. bottle of C.C. Lemon zero supposedly contains 70 lemons worth.


The soda smells pleasantly lemony and you can tell it's lightly carbonated when you open the lid since it makes less of a "pop" noise than other fizzy beverages. The lemon flavor is pronounced, but not overwhelming. The sweetness level is just a tiny bit higher than I'd personally prefer and you can detect the fact that this is made with a cocktail of artificial sweeteners, but it's far less obvious than some of the other diet beverages I've sampled. After the first several sips, the artificial sweetener taste tends to mute (but not disappear) a bit as your tongue grows accustomed to it.

This was a very refreshing lemon drink with a good balance of flavors and a very mild citrus bite. It's flawed because I wish it had a little less of an artificial sweetener flavor, a little more carbonation, and a little more citrus bite and less sweetness, but it's pretty good for a diet version of a beverage. My feeling is that diet soda beggars can't be too choosy, but this is pretty good regardless. I will definitely revisit this if it doesn't end up vanishing as so many zero-calorie drinks in Japan seem to do.

Suntory's web site for C.C. Lemon is currently sporting a strange space ship made from a drink bottle motif. It includes a little Flash-based game, but you have to read Japanese to play it and some desktop pictures and a screen save that can be downloaded. Among the desktop pictures, I find the diagram of the internal structure of the imaginary spaceship rather amusing because of all of the lemon-shaped furnishings.

5 comments:

Sherry said...

I was so happy to see this as I love CC Lemon. When I first came to Japan I thought the regular kind was low calorie until I realized that they play funny tricks with calorie counts on things here sometimes and you have to do some math. I don't think the diet version tastes quite as nice the regular one, but it is certainly a good diet drink in my opinion. The only one I like better is that Fanta Cider Zero thing, but that is super sweet. I am just so happy to see more diet drinks in Japan so any new one makes me happy I guess.

Anonymous said...

I grab CC lemon when I need a pick up in Vitamin C.... I have not tried the Zero version yet though.. but I think we buy soda only twice in a month....

But I love carbonation but try not to intake too much drinkable sugar.. hehe

Soda water and lemon juice is my favorite. And Cola hits the spot when my tummy is upset.

Have you tried the Vitamin C drink or Vitamin C 4000, it comes in a small bottle like the one's from the mini bar in the hotels-- it is supai.....

Makes my lips pucker.. hehe

Want to wish you a Happy New Year... we are near Fuji.. and I hope it snows... it is COLD.

Orchid64 said...

Hi, Sherry, and thanks for reading and taking the time to write a comment.

I am also happy to start seeing more diet drinks and sample most of what I run across when I see something interesting. My husband thinks we should do a blind taste test with Fanta Lemon Zero and CC Lemon Zero to see which tastes better.

You are right about the drinks and calories. The numbers they give you are always calories per 100 ml., so you always have to multiply the numbers by five when you buy a PET bottle of it. Most of the beverages that are made with sugar in Japan are no better than your average regular Coke (even the tea and coffee).

Orchid64 said...

Hi, April Marie, and thanks for reading and taking the time to comment! As always, I appreciate it!

My husband and I are actually pretty indulgent when it comes to soda. We don't drink tons, but we do drink it everyday. I'd say we consume about 500 ml. each most days (about half a bottle at lunch and another half at dinner), but I never drink soda with sugar because it'll peel the enamel off your teeth!

My husband brought back Vitamin C horse pills from Costco in America, so we are using those as supplements. Japanese supplements are fine, but too expensive. I haven't tried those little drinks in bottles because they tend to be expensive, and I'm cheap and poor. ;-)

Anonymous said...

opps.. I meant the drinks that look like they come from the mini bar in Hotels but are in the connivence stores... UGH.. I should read what I write before I submit first..

Enamel... Yikes..I love diet fanta.. I remember I would always take my mothers Vanilla fanta.. or was it cream soda?

You know what I miss sometimes.. Crystal Light Iced tea. = )

Have a fab weekend = )