Sparkling Drink

Many people would probably long for soda drink when they are thirsty.  Coke, pepsi, Mountain Due, Fanta… there are so many kinds in the market.  But, did you know there’re more unique sparkling drinks sold in Japan?

Coffee, tea, chocolate, fruit juice….  you can find them in sparkling version in Japan.  I wonder how they taste like….  I’m sure some of them are not great.  For example, when I’m thirsty I wouldn’t want to drink sweet chocolate.  I would definitely go for a can of coke or soda water.

Kirin, one of the largest beverage company in Japan, started selling this sparkling green tea in their Nama-Cha range few months ago.  This sparkling green tea is lightly fragranced with yuzu juice.  As being a green-tea-lover, I wouldn’t mind drinking this!  It’s not sweet like chocolate.  Well, it’s green tea, so it should be healthier than other soda drinks, right?

Oh, in Japan, ocha (green tea / Japanese tea) is not sweet.  There is nothing added – just tea leaf and hot water.  I really hate sweet tea….  I don’t mean those English tea like earl grey, I mean some sweet Asian tea like Jasmine Green Tea….  Pokka used to sell (or, maybe they are still selling) genmaicha, oolong tea and mint green tea with SUGAR here in Perth.  They are too sweet.  It’s not tea to me!

So, if you think Japanese people drink those sweet tea like Jasmine green tea everyday, you are wrong….  We drink unsweetened tea daily.  Personally I can’t drink sweet beverage with rice and miso soup.

I remember D told me the other day that there’re supermarkets in America selling only soda drinks.  Then I told him “well, I’m not surprised.  If you go to Japan you will see lots and lots of kinds of tea sold there.”.  Even at a convenience store, you will find many kinds of tera drinks, both cold and hot.

I’m sure it’s not only in Japan.  South Korea, Taiwan, and other countries may be the same.  In fact, there are so many kinds of Chinese tea in Japan and they are very popular.

Ummm  I sometimes miss the convenience of living in Japan.  When you are thirsty just look for a vending machine or convenience store, and grab a bottle of dink with one coin.

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Tea During Pregnancy

I used to be a heavy coffee consumer before I got pregnant.  I loved having a cup of strong black coffee in the morning, after each meal, and before going to bed.  Drinking coffee was part of my lifestyle, and there’s not even one day that I didn’t have coffee as far back as I can remember.  My dad also loves black coffee and I think that’s the reason why I love coffee so much.  Going to cafes is our thing when I’m in Japan.

Now, since I’m pregnant, I don’t drink coffee anymore.  I could still drink few cups a day, or decaffeinated ones, but I actually don’t feel like coffee at the moment.  I like the smell of coffee, but when I imagine drinking it I know I will have strong heartburn.  It actually stops me drinking coffee.

I still feel like drinking something besides water, soda and juice, and in that case tea is another option for me.  Western tea (e.g. English breakfast, earl grey tea) wasn’t really my drink, but I grew up with lots and lots of Japanese tea since I was a kid.  I searched about teas in Japan and I found that some Japanese tea contain very little caffein, and there are few non-caffein teas too.

Teas made from cereals, such as barley tea (mugi cha) and black bean tea (kuromame cha), contain no caffein.  Barley tea is the most common drink consumed in Japan during summer.  After making the tea we chill it and keep one or two bottles in the fridge.   Black bean tea (kuromame cha) has such distinct aroma and I love the flavor of roasted bean.  Very delicious and healthy.  I’ve never seen kuromame cha in Perth, do you know if any shop sells this tea?

According to “Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan Fifth Revised and Enlarged Edition”, Gyokuro (玉露) contains the highest level of caffein.

There are quite big differences between each kind of tea!  I never cared about the quantity of caffein in a drink, as drinking black coffee didn’t affect my sleep at all, and my blood pressure is normally low so drinking coffee actually helped me to focus on something every day.

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Until I feel like drinking coffee I will be drinking lots of mugi-cha, I think.  This is a perfect season to drink mugi-cha and you can buy the tea leaves / tea bags at Asian grocery shops. (look for a Japanese food section)

Happy Soda

If you go to Indonesian restaurant (e.g. Bintang Cafe 1 / 2 ) you can find this drink on the menu – happy soda.  It’s a soda drink with sweet milky taste… It tastes quite similar to Japanese melon soda.  The difference is that melon soda is green color, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream floats on top of soda drink.

To make happy soda, you will need red syrup – we had been hunting for this syrup, and finally found at an Asian grocery shop in Market City, Canning Vale.  If you are looking for something Indonesian or middle-eastern Asian food, you may find it at this shop.

First, you pour 1~2 tsp of condensed milk in a glass.

Then, pour 1~2 tsp of the syrup.  You can adjust the amount of milk and syrup to your liking.

Add 6~7 ice cubes, and top up with soda water.

Nice refreshing summer drink (sweet!) for hot afternoon.

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Maccha Banana Shake

As I bought lots of banana from a market and they started to turn black already, I decided to finish them up by making a banana drink!

I didn’t have much ingredients to use in the fridge, so I just added milk and honey to taste.  With a dash of maccha green tea powder, it turned out to be delicious

It was little thick, just how I like it.

<Maccha Banana Shake> makes 1 glass

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• 1 monkey banana (or 1/2 normal banana)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp Maccha powder

Funcy Japanese Drinks

As you may know, there is a wide range of products available in Japan.  Some of the products, you don’t even imagine that exist in this world!  Although I was born and grew up in this country, these things surprise me every time I go back to Japan.

Because of many businesses running across Japan, there are so many competitions going on between those companies.  Drink is an example.  A company produces a pet bottle of green tea named “oishii ocha” (delicious tea) and another company produces green tea named “ureshii ocha” (happy tea).  Naming of drinks is also a war, as company B can’t use a name which has been already taken by company A.  So, you get to see drinks named “o~i ocha” (hey, tea), “kore ocha” (this is the tea” etc etc

A drink company, Sangaria sells some unique drinks.  Standard drinks such as tea, juice and soda …

and …

Beer for kids! 

… NO, of course this is just a soft drink (non-alcohol)  :p  Looks like beer, and the name is “kodomo no nomimono” (kid’s drink).

Sangaria’s popular drink, Osaka’s cafe style mix juice drink is now available as sake (Japanese alcohol drink).  Sangaria’s mix juice is one of my favorite, and now I’m curious to taste this sweet sake drink!