Another in my growing list of unusual Japanese soft drinks: Chocolate Sparkling. I keep seeing this at my local supermarket and, despite the intrigue, I’ve resisted buying it (which means I’ll just have to continue imagining the sickly sweetness).

PS: posted with the VERY handy Wordpress for iPhone app

I know there are already enough blogs and websites reporting on Japanese products, but here is another drink that caught my eye in the supermarket – brace yourself for it – “Grapefruit, Vinegar, and Milk”:

(yes, the iPhone camera is crap but I couldn’t be bothered doing a professional stock shot with my real camera)

For a while now, Kirin Beverages has been doing a series called 世界のキッチンから (which means “from the world’s kitchen”) and they feature soft drinks based on “traditional” drinks or flavours from around the world. The first one to come out was the “Diabolo Ginger from Provence” – it was very good and had a nice ginger kick to it, so, after that, I’ve always kept my eye on the brand. The only other ones I’ve liked so far are the “Mint Julep Soda” and the “Lemon Peel & Honey”.

Each bottle contains extensive information about the “inspiration” for the drink with some home-style graphics:

Surprisingly, as wretched as this combo sounds, it is actually very tasty (and I don’t really even like grapefruit juice)!

Pepsi Shiso on my kitchen counter

In the summer of 2007, Pepsi Japan introduced cucumber-flavoured Pepsi that was the start of an annual tradition of introducing novelty flavoured Pepsi (2008 and was “Blue Hawaii”, a pineapple lemon concoction). This summer it’s Shiso.

Most people know shiso best as the green leaf that comes with your sashimi. It is very fragrant and seems to be something people either love or hate. Personally, I like the odd piece of tuna wrapped in a shiso leaf and I absolutely LOVE ume shiso maki (うめしそ巻き), so I’m definitely a shiso fan (I’ve even used it as a substitute for basil in homemade tomato soup – using it as a basil substitute is not that uncommon in Japan as shiso is generally cheaper). It is, of course, also known by it’s scientific name perilla, but that probably doesn’t mean much to most English speakers who are not sushi eaters (i.e., perilla is not commonly found in North America supermarkets).

Apparently (according to everyone’s favourite reference tool, Wikipedia), shiso is thought to have anti-inflammatory properties and is thought to help preserve and sterilize other foods (the latter would definitely explain why people would wrap it around a piece of raw fish in the height of summer).

So, unfortunately, while I have big love for shiso, I don’t really have big love for Pepsi (I hardly ever drink anything other than water, wine, or coffee and, if I do, it is Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper and never Pepsi). Therefore, the bottle of Pepsi Shiso is still sitting in my refrigerator – I bought it more to take a photo of and think about the marketing than I did to actually consume.

Pepsi started a great summer marketing gimmick with the Cucumber Pepsi back in 2007: it generates a lot of excitement and curiosity and gets people into the carbonated beverage section who might otherwise just pass it by. In general, Pepsi Japan has done quite a few interesting limited edition launches over the years – my favourite was probably the BAPE Pepsi bottle-shaped cans (I had a few lying around for years, but I may have gotten rid of them when I moved, which maybe I shouldn’t have done because I just saw 4 of them for sale for $20 on yahoo auctions…):

BAPE Pepsi bottle-shaped cans

Anyway, I may or may not taste the Pepsi Shiso – I’ll keep you posted (although a number of first reports on the web are not giving favourable reviews, with most saying it tastes like medicine).

Official release poster from the Pepsi Japan website