Jess's Top 5 in Japan: Vending Machine Drinks

Well, I was thinking about it, and since I'm busy with finals and homework it's a little bit hard for me to do interesting things during this week and the beginning of next. So for about a week I will be doing Daily Top 5's, of course based on my own opinions and limited experiences but I still think it could be useful for anyone maybe planning to study abroad, visit, or just wanting to know about Japan.

So the first one is Top 5 Vending Machine Drinks! As many of you know, or should know, Japan is a country where it is never hard to find something to drink because every five feet you've got a vending machine right there! Offering you soda, water, tea, or juice of all varieties! Now, when I came to Japan I expected to find vending machines giving out other "sorts" of things but it seems those are hard to find (except cigarette ones) and now Drink machines are the common machines.

In any case, in my list I've left out and drinks I can find in America (like Coke, sprite, Dr. Pepper, etc) except Fanta. This list is also according to my taste, there are many other great drinks in vending machines that you might prefer and might actually be more popular: Pocari Sweat, Royal Milk Tea, etc.

Top 5 Vending Machine Drinks

Number 5:

I'm going with Fanta for number five. Yes it is Available in the US but Japan, and from what I've heard so do other countries, treats Fanta quite differently. In America Fanta generally means orange or grape soda but here you can get all sorts of flavors, there are even monthly limited edition flavors. A common flavor for soda here, and for Fanta, is Melon soda. They've also got melon cream soda, a slight but important difference. Another flavor I liked was strawberry creme.

Number 4:

For number four I've chosen Calpis. Calpis is a lot like Pocari sweat, but I happen to like it better. It's hard for me to describe the flavor, it's not quite carbonated, like a coke, yet it is definatly a soda. It has a chalky white appearance which might throw you odff but it's pretty good for a soda. I particularly like Calpis orange, which kind of tastes like orange creme to me, like flinstones push pops. I don't think this is a permanent flavor though so I'm not sure it'll be around forever.

Number 3:

It was hard to decide to put this as two or three but since I'm more of a juice person Real Gold goes in thrid place. Real gold (or pure gold, power gold, or any of the other names I randomly call it) is a yellow soda. I'm not sure why I like it so much, it's kind of like mountain dew and sprite only a million times better. The bottles are really small though, so unless you can find a cup vending machine you might feel cheated. Real gold also isnt very common, so it may be hard to find.

Number 2:

Although I like Qoo and Real Gold about the same, like I said I'm more of a juice person. Qoo is juice, not soda, but it's really sweet so I imagine it is about as bad for you as soda. I love it though, and they have a wide variety of flavors (as do most Japanese drinks, foods, or candies) including, orange, apple, mixed fruit, muscat, etc etc. I of course also love the cute characters on all the bottles. Qoo aren't always easy to find in vending machines, so if you never come across it then look for it in a conbini!

Number 1:

Hands down, Ichigo Ole, or strawberry milk, has been my favorite drink this entire year. Sweet, delicous, cold, and yummy basically describes this little carton. There not as common as some other drinks but seriously, I can't imagine anything better than strawberry milk. Also, my host father makes some mean homemade strawberry milk and there are plenty of brands to choose from in stores, some with actual strawberries in the drink.

Well, that is the end of my Top 5 list. If you're in Japan then keep an eye out for these drinks.

Much Love!