Melon soda
 

Hi all,

I just spent a week in Tokyo last week ... it was my first visit and I loved every minute of it! I can't wait to go again.

While I was there, we popped into a joint called "Mos Burger". I guess it's a fairly popular chain from what I hear. While I was there, I ordered what was listed as a "melon soda". It was a bright green concoction, and it was pretty darn tasty.

Do any of you know if that melon soda was an in-house creation, or is it a regularly distributed soft drink over there? Is it possible to find it in the US?

Melon soda is pretty common in Japan... you can find it in vending machines, convenience stores, etc.

Mountain Dew was selling it in the southeastern US a couple of years back, before they put out their orange and red varieties. I think this was an experiment, as I don't recall ever seeing it outside the Carolinas.

No. no. It's been around for a very long time, might even date back to before the war, certainly been popular since the 50s.

Practically every soft drinks company has their own version (there's even been a a few Fanta versions - watermelon, cantaloupe, green melon, you name it) and there's also cream melon sodas available.

Best way to experience melon soda is on a very hot day with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the top (it's the only way I'll touch the stuff - works much better as a junky, but refreshing dessert than as a beverage IMO - my Japanese husband loves melon soda and has been sharing ice cream floats with his grandmother since childhood)

Next time you're in Japan, look at the vending machines more closely, you'll find lots of varieties of this popular drink.

If you can find Japanese stores near you - it's possible you might find it in a refrigerator somewhere, especially once the summer is in full swing.

Hey where is Mosburger going to chime in on this subject?

Melon soda is good. I see it here in Taiwan as well.

I have never seen it outside of Asia though.

In addition to their more well-known lemon (ramune) soda, the Japanese brand Ramune also makes a nice melon soda. I have occasionally been able to find it in Japanese or Asian groceries or on-line from sources like Maruwa.com. It is not always available, but once in a while you can find it. A plus is the cool bottle they use with a marble "cap" that you punch down into the bottle to open.

JR

Here's a link to the Fanta Melon Soda Original web page: http://www.cocacola.co.jp/7andifanta/index_f.html.

There is also a Fanta Melon Cream Soda, which is clear and doesn't taste quite as good....

I treat myself to one out of the international foods aisle in the local grocery store once in a while. Don't know the brand, but it comes in an aluminum "bottle".

Another popular brand that seems to be everywhere in Japan is "Pocari Sweat." Anyone tried it?

I have, so many times that I lost count after the tenth bottle. ;)

Sanosuke!

You might as well ask if anyone has tried Canadian Dry in Canada!!! (Which goes extremely well with Thai food I've discovered - thanks Ontario!)

Pocari Sweat is probably the best known of the isotonic drinks amongst foreigners (I think it has something to do with the name...), but there's also Suntory's Dakara, DyDo is bringing out Miu - made with deep sea water... mmmm! Thirst quenching!
And there are loads of other similar drinks by various companies that come and go. Aquarius by Coca-cola is easily available and is pretty similar (not as nice as PS though, IMO)

I probably like PS best, and like to alternate between bottles of this, cold green tea (oicha) and water on hot days.

I'm also very fond of Calpis (marketed as Calpico outside of Japan) and really enjoy a bottle of hot steaming calpis on a chilly day.
Also, when I was a child, Calpis was supporting and sponsoring my favourite cartoons (Heidi and Marco) so my feelings for this company are as warm as their winter lemon product can be.

Perhaps you'd like to try vitamin-in - comes in a plastic 'foil' pack and gives you the sensation you're drinking frog-spawn through a straw. Quite nice when you're in the mood for it!

Look for "Sangaria Melon Soda" here in the states. Sangaria is same company that makes ramune sold here in the states, so if you can find ramune you can probably find the Melon Soda at your Japanese/Asian grocery store.

Like this below:
http://www.wizzywig.com/xcart/produc...roductid=41695

It's clear - has no color. If you want the "cream soda" taste and look from Japan, need to add a little bit of green food coloring and vanilla ice cream.

Your thread brings back memories of my quest on Flyertalk to find Fanta Melon Soda:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=424100

I actually received no replies, and there is some useful information listed in this thread. Most Japanese markets will have melon soda, just not the exact kind you are looking for.

I completely missed that one - sorry! But to be fair, I would have had no idea how to answer it.

If you're in the US, specific questions like that are usually best asked in the Dining Buzz forum (which is pretty much biased to discussion on restaurant chains and food products in the US :mad: ) or in a particular country or area forum - such as my recent quest to find Mexican Cholula sauce - where I got some incredibly useful and specific advice... in the London Forum.

I don't believe I would have gotten such helpful answers in the 'Mexico' forum.

Melon soda is the best. You can find a couple of varieties at Oriental food stores, but it's not as ubiquitous as ramune or Calpis. The Fanta Fresh Peach that they've run as a special flavor a couple of years is also amazing stuff, but I've never seen any of it either.

This link may help explain why there are so many versions of Fanta

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-10zjT4OLE

Most traditional coffee shops serve "melon float," melon soda with vanilla ice cream floating in it.

Actually, my favorite melon beverage is "melon juice," sold mostly in basements of department stores at a counter with a row of blenders. It's kind of like an Orange Julius, only made with honeydew melon. You can also get strawberry and other fruits blended up with whatever milky substance that is.

Japanese beverage vending machines hold endless fascination as soft drink varieties come and go. Aside from the endless variety of coffee beverages and the growing number of tea beverages, I have seen apple soda, mango soda, cardamom soda, and plum wine soda--once each.

Those were great! I love Japanese CMs.

Apple tea soda is the one I wish I could find. The one time I've been to Japan, I ended up the trip with a couple days at Tokyo Disney Resort, and really enjoyed this particular drink there. Figured I live in southern California, there are tons of Japanese markets here--will be no problem to find it back home. No dice--if anyone's heard of it, they're sure it's not exported. Ah, well...

MrLapLap said he's had it a couple of times, once a least was from one of those vending machines that sell you a cup of drink with ice in it.

According to this website Liptons make it and it was available last November: http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/yorchie/diary/?ctgy=2 - the guy was stocking up as he said it was already disappearing from stores then.

The same flavour drink can be released by different companies during different years. Was it Liptons you had?

Non sparkling apple tea is a pretty common drink - so you should eventually find one kind or another.

It was Kirin, and admittedly this was back in 2003, so who knows what might have happened since then. I hadn't really thought about it, or done any research, in a few years--this thread reminded me of it. I may have to poke around the net a bit this weekend and see if I can find any new info.

There might be a resurrection one day, but it's possible you'll never see this product again (which is why the guy in the thread above was hoarding the Lipton Apple Sodas before they disappeared).

We have a virtual shrine for long departed drinks in this forum, you might like to pay your own respects...
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...72#post7574772

I could swear I've seen the Lipton apple version in Lawson's & AM/PM in the past few months. Comes in the pourable cardboard container. Lipton Peach tea seems to be in the cycle now & it's pretty good.

The stuff in cartons is not sparkling though ....
I remember some kind of apple tea with bubbles (from one of my student trips to Japan - back in the late '80s). Not a bad drink, but I've never noticed it since, I would guess that one maker or another gives it a go every so often.

Was it called "Sparkli'g" ?

Just "tea".

You were here in the 80's too?:confused: :p

I don't think so.

IIRC it had an all kanji name - which was something along the lines of: iron|chef|red|tea|apple|taste|carbonated. (I might be wrong about the iron chef bit - but I distinctly recall "iron" in there somewhere).

The only place I ever saw it was in vending machines at Shinjuku station.

BTW - I notice that there are now vending machines at Akihabara station which sell bread-in-a-can. This is a realization of one of my very favourite home-made oyaji gags. (Q: What do you call a machine that sells bread? A: A jidou-pan-baiki).

Not sure if it's the drink or the advert that has legendary status.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko888qUIiYs


Suru means to finely grate (pulp) something - like you do with ginger/wasabi/daikon. Suta is the past tense so it means something that's been finely grated/pulped. I'll leave you to figure out what the other word means :)

There were a whole series of these adverts. Kerching! (Who said 'it don't come easy'?)

groan....