Japanese Foods-- nomimono

[torakris]

So what Japanese drinks do you like?

sake

beer

teas

soft drinks

juices

?

?

?

[rcarter]

My grandmother's homemade umeshu, drinkable yogurt, Calpis, C.C. lemon. . . and I will pick Pocari Sweat over gatorade any day! I also vending machine coffee and milk tea - hot in the winter and cold in the summer. My sister and I used to search out vending machines tht carried a rare grape juice drink that actually had the little tiny grapes in it.

[Jinmyo]

Sake.

[Wimpy]

Calpis!

[cherrypi]

Boss Coffee

Calpis

Ramune

Ume-shu

[Jason Perlow]

Sake, although I am more likely to bring Soju to a local sushi restaurant now.

[tissue]

Sake.

I like the peach calpis.

Marble soda.

[torakris]

I don't really drink alcohol (it amkes me sick very quickly! ) But I do like umeshu, slightly watered down of course.

I love the Japanese vending machines, hot tea and coffee, even soups in the winter, everything cold in the summer...

I aslo love

CC Lemon

Java tea (it seems to be coming back this year)

gogo no kocha ("Afternoon" tea)

mugicha

the new Fanta tropical flavor

grape flavored calpis

[Schielke]

The Kirin 'Fire' Coffee drinks are great.

I enjoy the marble soda bottles, but the soda is too sweet for me.

The jelly drinks are pretty tasty too. Kinda loose jello style.

Ben

[Jason Perlow]

I forgot that I am a sucker for Kirin Ichiban.

I don't know much else about other Japanese beers besides the regular Sapporo, which is far less common than Kirin is here in the states.

[torakris]

The jelly drinks are pretty tasty too.  Kinda loose jello style.

OOOHHH!!

these make me gag!

[Schielke]

More for me!

I find that in the PacNW, Sapporo is as common if not more common than Kirin. I wonder why.

Ben

[smallworld]

-Sake. But I'm intimidated by it- I have no idea how to tell if a sake will be good just by reading a label or menu. Which means I never drink it at home- don't want to end up with a whole bottle of sake I can't drink.

-Ume-shu (For some reason it's called 'plum wine' in English, but it's actually a sweet liqueur made from Japanese apricot). I made some the first spring after I got married, and since it improves with age we plan on drinking it on all our major anniverseries. Don't know if it'll last that long though!

By the way, the ume-shu that was available in Canada was disgusting crap (as was most of the sake). If anyone has a chance to try real home-made ume-shu, don't pass it up!

-Ebisu Beer. Jason, this is a little hard to find sometimes even in Japan, but if you came accross it somehow hopefully you'd agree that it's the best Japanese beer (at least amoung the major brewers).

As for soft drinks, the variety is AMAZING and there are so many I like. But most products come and go so quickly. Right now I really like this fizzy peach ice tea drink (The one advertised by a go-going Britney Spears, for anyone in Japan now). I only tried it a few times and now I can't find it again!

The cold teas in plastic bottles are great, all of them, and I think canned coffee is a wonderful invention (I'm surprised to see so many people here who like it, since I've met so many non-Japanese who think canned coffee is an abomination!).

Edited May 9, 2003 by smallworld (log)

[Jinmyo]

Sapporo Draft in the tall silver cans is not bad for a not too serious beer.

[Jason Perlow]

-Kirin Beer. Jason, this is a little hard to find sometimes even in Japan, but if you came accross it somehow hopefully you'd agree that it's the best Japanese beer (at least amoung the major brewers).

Really? I thought it was as common as Budweiser! Do you mean the regular Kirin or the Ichiban?

http://www.bento.com/beerfest.html

Is a cool article on Japanese Microbreweries. I wonder if any of them can be found in the US.

[smallworld]

Aargh! I got confused from reading your post. Meant to type Ebisu (sometimes called Yebisu). Will go edit it now.

[Jason Perlow]

Apparently, Kirin Ichiban is actually made in the US by Anheuser Busch in Los Angeles.

So... Its Budweiser?

http://beerandhockey.com/Kirin%20Ichiban.shtml

[smallworld]

Yuck. The Kirin in Japan is definately better than Bud. But it's not very good either.

I think I've read on another thread that most Japanese beers sold in the States are also brewed there. Which might be one reason why not that many Americans like Japanese beer.

[torakris]

-Sake. But I'm intimidated by it- I have no idea how to tell if a sake will be good just by reading a label or menu. Which means I never drink it at home- don't want to end up with a whole bottle of sake I can't drink!

You can use it to cook with!

[tissue]

I enjoy the marble soda bottles, but the soda is too sweet for me.

Ben

I can't get over my fascination with those marble soda bottles. Just I like I think the Grolsch bottle is totally cool.

[torakris]

the marble sodas are called ramune, it took me a while to figure out what you guys were talking about! thought I was missing something.

That awful sugary sweet taste has moved to various products ramune candies, ramune ice crem, ramune slushies, etc.

[smallworld]

What? Ramune is great! So much messy fun and so tasty. The plastic ones (not as heavy as the regular glass ones) are great souviners from back home too.

[margaret]

Sake, of course. I'm absolutely clueless about wine, but luckily I can hold my own when it comes to sake.

I used to drink things like ume-shu and anzu-shu (apricot liquor) and lychee liquor more often, but I think I've outgrown the sweetness.

Shochu, especially imo-jyochu (shochu made from potatoes). I'm often scolded for mixing good shochu with water and umeboshi, but I started off on Iichiko brand and the habit is hard to kick.

Chilled canned green tea of every variety in every convenience store. One of the things I miss most about Japan. I don't miss, however, all the super fruity sodas and the decided unavailability of 100% juice. A bit off subject, though.

Also kohi gyunyu (coffee milk).

For beer, definitely Ebisu. Or Asahi Dry.

[smallworld]

Yeah Margaret, I wish real juice was more widely available.

I will NEVER outgrow the sweetness of ume-shu! I do find that a lot of the ume/anzu-shu available is way too sweet and often artificially flavoured (especially at cheap izakayas and karaoke boxes), which is why I prefer homemade.

The trick is to drink ume-shu to start or finish a meal, or on it's own. Not with the main course!

[anil]

I noticed no one talked about Whisky ? You know Japanese do distill some fine whiskys - Suntory Yamazaki and a single-mat whose name escapes at the present moment.

A few foolhardy Journeymen, at times mix sake,beer and whiskey - Many a time to challenge a gaigin to match it up The scene is not pretty

Edited May 10, 2003 by anil (log)