I have a thing for Japanese drinks. I love how the Japanese market puts out drinks for every occasion, most probably due to the fact that there are one or five vending machines on each street corner. The prolific nature of vending machines and the Japanese penchant for celebrating the little things means that drink companies can and do make drinks for every occasion under the sun (and moon). Sakura are blooming – there are several limited edition drinks to celebrate. First leaves of the fall changing color? There are drinks to celebrate that too! Fresh snow falling? Well, you get the idea.
There are so many quirky drinks out there but one of my favorites is the classic ramune. Ramune is a lemonade-ish soda that is sweet, refreshing, and incredibly fun because of its unique bottle design. They come in codd-neck bottles: glass bottles sealed with a marble to keep the fizziness in. To open them, there’s a little piece of plastic that you use to push the marble down. It’s kind of like an experience drink. You don’t just drink it – you need to open it in a fancy kind of way, which makes it just that much more out of the ordinary.
