Top 10 weird Japanese drinks that you might (not) want to try

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Japan is unique from many point of view, not the least of which is the Japanese people’s inventiveness when it comes to coming up with flavors for their candy and their soft drinks. While going on a soda-tasting trip in Japan sounds weird when you say it, the fun part about it is that no one has to know that you are actually sampling the country’s soft drinks.

Just pretend that you are thirsty whenever you see a convenience store or a vending machine, and look for the bottles and jars with strange designs on them or the random unsettling English word. Don’t be scared away by strange combinations – one things that’s for sure is that your drink will be palatable, and sometimes even delicious!

1. Pepsi Ice Cucumber

Looks the same as Pepsi, so it’s easy to recognize, especially by the bright green color of the liquid inside it. It might sound shocking if the weirdest Pepsi you’ve ever had was Pepsi twist, but it is definitely worth trying (even if you don’t like cucumbers).

2. Hot Calpis

If you find yourself on a Tokyo street in winter and you want a cup of hot liquid to warm you up, try the hot Calpis, an uncarbonated, milky, slightly acidic drink that tastes like yogurt flavored water.

3. Coolpis

Coolpis, the cool version of Calpis, comes in Peach flavor and disturbingly enough, in Kimchee flavor. If you like your soft drink to taste like the liquid version of your dinner, you will definitely love Coolpis. If not, try it at your own risk.

4. Black Vinegar Juice

Black vinegar surely has lots of health benefits, but the notion of putting it into juice rather than salad will not appeal to everyone. There are several juice bars selling black vinegar mixed with sweetened soy milk or various fruit juices.

5. Water Salad

To put it simply, water salad is water that tastes slightly like salad. It is produced by the Coca Cola Company, but it is available in Japan only and in six different flavors, for example sushi salad, octopus salad, wasabi salad or okonomiyaki salad.

6. Diet Water

The only thing that can be said about this brand of bottled water is that it has no calories. Just like any other kind of water.

7. Final Fantasy Potion

If you like playing video games, especially Final Fantasy, then you will adore this and keep the bottle as a keepsake: soda that looks like the potions in Final Fantasy! Not much is known about the taste, but the bottle is more important here.

8. Pokka Melon Milk

The idea of melon milk sounds rather appealing, if you like milk and melons. The combination is a slightly melon-y milk drink which is really tasty when it’s cool, and goes quite nicely with a slice of cake.

9. Bilk

Some things go together well, like milk and melon, and some simply don’t, like beer and milk, or bilk. Bilk contains 70% beer and 30% milk, and is actually available only in Hokkaido. It is the invention of a local brewery, who wanted to find a method of using surplus milk.

10. Needs Cheese

Needs is a drink made out of cheese, which comes in berry, citrus and plain flavors. If you prefer to gulp your cheese rather than chew it, Needs will take care of your needs.

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