Cucumber-flavored soda sold in Japan

AP Yahoo ^ | Wed Jun 13, 7:47 AM ET

[ElkGroveDan]

TOKYO - Japanese are staying cool as a cucumber this summer with "Pepsi Ice Cucumber" — a new soda based on the crisp green gourd.

The soft drink, which hit stores here on Tuesday, doesn't actually have any cucumber in it — but has been artificially flavored to resemble "the refreshing taste of a fresh cucumber," said Aya Takemoto, spokeswoman of Japan's Pepsi distributor, Suntory Ltd.

"We wanted a flavor that makes people think of keeping cool in the summer heat," Takemoto said. "We thought the cucumber was just perfect."

The mint-colored soda is on sale just for the summer and only in Japan, Takemoto said. She said initial sales were brisk, and Suntory aims to sell 200,000 cases over the next three months.

Pepsi trails behind industry leaders Coca Cola (Japan) Company, with about 15 percent of the Japanese cola market, and also faces stiff competition from non-fizzy bottled drinks like green tea and coffee, which are popular here.

Suntory said it sold 20.5 million cases of Pepsi brand drinks in 2006, including its popular Pepsi NEX zero-calorie soda.

[Thinkin' Gal]

Thanks for the tip and photo! I’ll have to go pick some up today and try it.

BTW Fanta has a number of great flavors, although they tend to be rather sweet. The banana and the melon (honeydew) are my favorites.

One of the fun things about Japan is all the weird mystery foods and beverages. We sample new stuff all of the time. I’ve purchased small bottles of unknown sauces for 100 yen and found some really delicious stuff. Then I go to the supermarket and buy the large bottles.

A good tip WRT snack foods is to check the nutrition info label. Usually the words (fat, carbs, etc.) are in kanji but the grams are in regular numbers. So I’ve learned to recognize them and can therefore ascertain if the mystery snack is very sweet, very greasy, or most importantly... extremely salty. Also a high protein content will tell me that it’s probably fish, but now that I’ve been in the stores enough, I recognize the products and how they are grouped by type.

Oh, and ice cream bins at the convenience stores are the best. I’ll have to keep an eye out for those fish-flavored treats!

[MikeNJ]

For the best martini, as prepared in Japanese restaurants in the NY/NJ metro area, and perhaps elsewhere:

Vodka rather than gin.
Sake in the place of vermouth.
A slice of cucumber instead of the traditional olive.

It’s called a sake-martini, and is best savored ice-cold and straight up while listening to the koto of Miyagi Michio or Eto Kimio.

[Sir Clean Plate Club]

I’ve always wondered why pine isn’t a flavor.

[ViLaLuz]

Check out this link for other strange flavors:

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/photospecials/graph/040701ice/1.html

Homer will really get hungry.

[Post Toasties]

Let me know when they come out with hamburger flavored ice cream and mustard and ketchup flavored toppings.

[Post Toasties]

Does that make it some kind of sushi ice cream?

[ViLaLuz]

It would be a sashimi ice cream... as in baSASHI. Doesn’t sound good to me, although neither did jalapeno ice cream when I first heard of it. After trying it at the Tabasco factory, it was pretty good—cold at first with a hot aftertaste.

[ViLaLuz]

I’ve had those seaweed chips. They are delicious.

[Post Toasties]

Now if they made one from raw seahorses....

[Cymbaline]

You can get Calpis (or Calpico) in Japanese food stores in big cities here.

Remember Ramune? The soda that comes in the bottle that’s sealed with a marble and you have to whack the top of the bottle and make the marble fall to the bottom?

And then there’s Mugicha, or wheat tea. If someone had figured a way to burn water, that’s what it would taste like.

And the energy drinks they have there, like Lipovitan (or Ripobitan), that come in little tiny bottles and cost a fortune. I miss those.

[snowsislander]

Let me know when they come out with hamburger flavored ice cream and mustard and ketchup flavored toppings.

Oddly enough, you can order egg and bacon ice cream at the famous restaurant The Fat Duck in Great Britain:

I am not sure it's what I would want at the end of a $230 meal, but The Fat Duck's unique cuisine has received a lot of attention.

[Thinkin' Gal]

Okay skeptics, my two teenagers and I tried this new soda today.

All of us agreed that it is pretty good... crisp and very refreshing. Sweet with subtle cucumber overtones, more like the taste of a melon as you get toward the rind. Not bitter at all. Pretty much like Sprite or 7-Up. Nice color, too. A light bluish-green - picture watered down mouthwash, lol.

We don't normally drink sugared sodas (or much diet ones either), but if they did make a diet version (not typical in Japan), I'd buy a supply for the summer.

FWIW

Now back to my Calpis Diet...

[grey_whiskers]

That’s “cock-a-leekie” soup, right?

[Lijahsbubbe]

I’ll have to tell my husband. We were just talking about this last nite. He couldn’t imagine it tasting good, and the way you describe it sounds exactly like I imagined it.

I wonder if it will ever reach the states?