The Top Ten Weird and Bizarre Japanese Soft Drinks

[romantico]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 9:51am

These are awesome and weird!I am intrigued by Pepsi Ice Cucumber. Check it out.

Diet Water: all the taste and none of the calories of regular water.

Kidsbeer: the Popeye Cigarettes of children's drinks

Mother's Milk: the breast-tasting drink ever!

http://inventorspot.com/articles/ten_bizarre_japanese_soft_drinks_5225

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 10:00am

If you go to the flagship Coca-Cola store on the Vegas Strip they will serve you a $7 "tasting menu" of 16 strange soft drinks from around the world.

Needless to say, people around the globe drink some WEIRD stuff. The worst was a drink that tasted like vodka without the alcohol (what's the point? why would anybody want that then?), and also one that tasted exactly like mint Listerine!
Here's a second part to this article, by the way.

Updated On: 1/17/10 at 10:00 AM

[romantico]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 10:14am

My Dad to this day talks about how he misses Pepsi Crystal. It was his favorite soda of all time. I can not even imagine what that would taste like.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 12:36pm

ugh... crystal pepsi was one of the NASTIEST drinks i ever had!!! i took one sip of that thing when it first came out and wanted to throw up!

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 12:50pm

I'd blissfully forgotten Crystal Pepsi. It was nasty stuff indeed...I vaguely remember an aftertaste that reminded me of the time in grade school when I had to clean the chalk board erasers and accidentally got a mouthful of chalk dust.

As vile as the soda was, I think I drank a lot of it because I thought it made me so much cooler. I also recall that clear/crystal products were trendy at the time...around the same time, some shampoo company was busy marketing a crystal-clear shampoo and conditioner. Maybe Clairol? Anyhow, I used that, too...even though it wasn't very good. Heck, I was young and impressionable to marketing.

On the subject of odd sodas...I do love Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda. There's only one cafe here that sells it. Last time I went in and got a can to go with my sandwich, the lady at the counter felt like she had to "warn" me that it was celery-flavored.
Updated On: 1/17/10 at 12:50 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 1:02pm

What the WHAT?! I LOVED Crystal Pepsi! There was a movement to bring it back a few years ago hopefully with the Van Halen song attached to it, but sadly it didn't happen.'

However, I for one would love to try a nice refreshing glass of Salad Water.

[romantico]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 1:37pm

When will we see this here in the USA?



Whatever happened to Pepsi throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback. I tried both and thought they were nasty,but I guess I'm just use to corn syrup.

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 1:46pm

I was used to the taste of corn syrup in soda for the longest time. Mainly that's because I grew up with it. Then I made an effort to reduce the amount of corn syrup in my diet in general. So I switched to sodas like Reeds Ginger Brew and China Cola. More expensive, but I just buy it less often. I'm not 100% strict or rabid about it, though...but I found that, with a few exceptions, I can't stand corn syrup in soda now. Blech! It just tastes very obvious and I hate it.

As for Iced Cucumber...I'd probably try it.

[Taryn]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 1:56pm

I remember going to the Coke museum once in Atlanta as a middle-schooler. They had a room with all these different drinks from around the world and specifically warned us about this one from Italy, calling it an "acquired taste." AKA it was disgusting. I can't remember what it tasted like anymore, but it was Not Good.

One of the coolest things about visiting London last winter was all that soda with REAL SUGAR. I kept being like, "Seriously? SUGAR in your soda?" Very cool.

[I<3bway]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 2:43pm

I miss my Melon Fanta soda. I used to drink that stuff up when I was a kid. There was this other water/soda/fruit drink that I loved to drink too, but I forgot the name of it! The drinks would come in clear glass bottles, and the flavors would range from blackberry to peach to strawberry! It was delicious!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 3:22pm

I miss Surge! That was the big soda from my childhood that eventually disappeared.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 3:29pm

Holy crap, CRYSTAL PEPSI and SURGE?! This thread is bringin' me back...

P

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 3:30pm

I saw a case of Pepsi Throwback at Costco Friday.

I like the Coca-Cola world at Epcot. You get to taste all the flavors for free!

[Marianne2]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 3:51pm

I remember Surge. I think we found it in the midwest at Wal-Mart, and then they brought it to the east coast. I can't even remember what it tasted like, but I think we loved it in junior high.

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:01pm

Romantico, Pepsi Throwback was a limited time thing, but it's being made again now as of like New Year's or so. I was thrilled when I was home for the holidays in Pittsburgh and I found it in stores, but since coming back to Long Island I have not been able to find it anywhere here.

And how I miss Surge... that was like, THE drink of my third grade class.

[romantico]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:01pm

Do they even make these anymore?





I know for a fact Tab still exists.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:10pm

yes, yes and yes.

[romantico]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:32pm

I like retro soda logos more than the new ones. Good to know. I've never had RC or Mello Yello, but I'm guessing Mello Yello is just like Mountain Dew. I can't tell the difference between Sierra Mist or Sprite.Of course, My favorite soda is 7-UP.Wish Peter Max would do a new 7-Up logo.

[jarretSF]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:43pm

Taryn, you are referring to Beverly Cola. Absolutely vile, you can also sample it and several others at the Coca Cola refreshment corner in Epcot at Disney World. A few years ago my partner and I spent time in there videotaping people reacting to it.

[danmag]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 4:47pm

I used to love Frank's Black Cherry Wishniak.




I think you could only get it in Philadelphia.

Updated On: 1/17/10 at 04:47 PM

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 6:34pm

The soda I used to be obsessed with was ORBITZ. It had little bits of jell-o floating in it.. does anyone else remember that? My dad used to buy it all the time when I was in kindergarten, but no one else liked it. I think they stopped making it by the time I was seven, though... they had flavors like Blueberry Melon Strawberry and Pineapple Banana Cherry Coconut.

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 1/17/10 at 6:43pm

I remember the look and feel of ORBITZ, but not the actual taste of it.

As for Tab...I remember getting some at a little soda fountain counter inside a local drugstore. I had to be really young because I remember going to this store to get things like Tinkerbell "brush-on peel-off" nail polish and empty cigar boxes to store my crayons. I *thought* I liked Tab at the time. Then I tried it from a can a few years later and it was nasty.

Something else I remember...back when the local Woolworth's still had lunch counters that served drinks in those little paper cone-shaped cups with a hard plastic base...they used to have some sort of soft drink that had a color much like Mountain Dew, but slightly brighter. It was carbonated, but the bubbles were lighter and more delicate. The flavor was a sort of lemony-lime with the lime being more pronounced.

[Jenna Maroney]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 12:00am

[morosco]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 12:04am

I still have an unopened bottle of Orbitz. Just took this picture of it. Those little balls are still suspended in the soda after 12 years. I wonder what it tastes like?

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 12:07am

I remember Surge. Wasn't it supposed to have more caffeine than most sodas?

Also, they sell Throwback all over the place here in S.C.