Starbucks Sakura Chocolate Latte (product announcement)

You know that spring is on its way in Japan when the "sakura" (cherry blossom or cherry depending on the entity that distributes it) foods start popping up. In my buffer, I have a post I've been sitting on which talks about seasonal flavors and sakura is definitely a harbinger of the end of winter. Starbucks is launching a very pink-looking beverage the day after Valentine's day. You'd think they'd do it before, but I believe this is a way of appealing to palates that are tired of all that chocolate. This is cherry and white chocolate with strawberry-flavored candy bits on the top. While I have to admit that the colors are beautiful, this is the sort of thing I'd avoid because I'd expect the fruit flavors to create a strange melange and the white chocolate to make it too sweet. 

Lawson Frozen Sweets (product info.)

I wonder how many times I've started a post with "since coming back to America..." Well, this is the first time that I can follow that with, "this is the only thing I've thought, damn, I wish I were still in Japan so I could try that!" It's not the concept of "Lawson Frozen Sweets", nor the fact that they come in such boring flavors as chocolate, mango, green tea, strawberry, coffee or even "soda" (that would be "ramune"). It's the fact that there is a yuzu* ginger flavor! How awesome would that be? Someone go buy one and enjoy it for me.

Lawson isn't going to stuff its shelves with these in so many varieties. They are staggering the release and the yuzu ginger one won't be around until July 9. Chocolate and mango have been available since April 9 and strawberry and green tea since May 14. Coffee comes out June 4 and soda on June 24. I guess they're saving the best for last.

The description makes these sound like a frappucino-style beverage made with slushy ice and sauce. The green tea one has sweet beans on top of it and the fruit ones either come with tiny amounts of fruit or are garnished for the photos to make it appear that they are. My guess is that these are actually fairly icy and supposed to remind one of kakigori (shaved ice with syrup, similar to a sno cone).

*Yuzu is Japanese citron, a unique blend of citrus that tastes like a happy marriage between lemon, orange, and grapefruit, possibly with some kinky action from a tangerine.

Random Picture #120

One of my friends recently told me that he revisited his childhood by buying Otter Pops. Though he is about 17 years younger than me, those were a part of my childhood too. For those whose younger years were not graced, or disgraced depending on you viewpoint, with the dubious joys of Otter Pops, I'll say that they are plastic tubes of sugary liquid that you toss in the freezer for a cheap frozen treat. Parents can buy them by the 100 and give their kids something cold to shut them up in the summer. 

When I saw these Koala School drink tubes, it reminded me a lot of Otter pops, though the cartoon animals and plastic tubes really are pretty much where the comparison ends. As far as I could tell, these are not meant to be frozen and the flavors include orange, yogurt, and strawberry (whereas Otter Pops have 8 flavors). Even though these are really cheap, 88 yen/$1.10, they aren't as cheap as Otter Pops. I did like how these seem to be designed for kids, but show a bartender shaking a shaker on the front. 

Pepsi Pink

The fine folks at Pepsi continue to attempt to distinguish their brand image from Coca-cola's by offering up another uncommon flavor. Of course, this time, it's actually not particularly "uncommon" though since it is strawberry. Perhaps they have seen the lack of imagination at Nestle Japan with all of the strawberry KitKats and have decided to get themselves some of that boring, boring flavor action. 

Still, I have to give them props for offering up such a dainty label design and name. Women are definitely the demographic that sellers are gunning for in Japan these days, and why not? They're working more, marrying less, and throwing away disposable cash at an appreciable rate while the young men are cuddling anime-character-shaped pillows and waiting for robot girlfriends to become more affordable. Japanese women are traveling more and keeping what little of the economy that is still breathing alive.

At any rate, since "pink" isn't actually a flavor, the bottle announces that this is "strawberry and milk". Never mind the fact that neither strawberries nor milk are in the ingredients list. I'm sure that some sort of artificial chemicals are in there which approximate the real deals and that they are cost-effective. There are a few listings for "flavoring" so I guess that's where it all comes from.

This smells faintly like strawberry candy with a hint of bubblegum. Perhaps it is my imagination, but I'm beginning to sense bubblegum in every unusual soft drink I sample in Japan. I had my husband taste this and give me his impression before telling him mine, and he summed it up best of all by saying that it reminded him of a strawberry jellybean, though I must hasten to add that it's not as sweet or intense as one. It does also taste faintly of the essence of Pepsi, but it is a mere whisper in the background. The strawberry part delivers a sweetness punch, but the Pepsi element gives it a dry finish. This is not a bad combination at all. 

This tasted okay, but at 47 calories per 100 ml., I didn't drink the whole bottle. If I'm going to throw away nearly 250 calories, it's got to be on something more interesting than a Pepsified strawberry jellybean beverage. If you're a fan of fruity drinks which aren't too intensely fruity, this is certainly worth a sampling. It's not a revolutionary flavor, but it's also inoffensive and more interesting than the average strawberry drink thanks to the Pepsi influence.

Random Picture #81

I'm not sure if this is as funny to others than it is to me, but the name of this product makes me think of some lewd interaction between a boss and secretary during lunch time. For those who are less perverse about what it might me to "take a break on the desk", I will say that it's a zero calorie tea (hence the big zero in the lower left corner) which I'm sure would provide a less than impressive break experience as I've had several of these before and most of them taste like weird Kool-Aid and artificial sweetener. Still, the Bergamot Lime looked interesting, but I've had a bad time with bergamot in Japan so I gave it a pass.