Japan ‘s beverage & snack industry is known for its seasonal and limited time products. It’s a manufacturer’s nod to the seasonality of produce and fish, I suppose. Nothing sticks around forever. I appreciate it now, but I still remember the juniper-flavored soda I encountered on our first trip to Japan in 1995. It was disappointing that I could never get it again. Tod kept a bottle of his favorite tea in the fridge for far longer than suggested in order to enjoy it when the limited time period was over.
So every summer we wait to see what new flavor trend is going to hit the coolers. Sometimes we get lucky with a really good tea blend or an interesting fizzy drink. Most of the time, the offering is a bunch of too-sweet fruit flavors. But this year, we have a winner.
Ito En’s VITAMIN STRONG is excellent. It is refreshing and easy to drink. Strong refers to the carbonation. It’s delightfully fizzy with tiny bubbles that foam in the glass. It’s unsweetened with a very light lemon flavor, probably necessary due to the supplemental vitamins: a B complex, vitamin C, and silica.
I discovered it stocked in a vending machine at the Furari farmer’s market a couple weeks ago. We’ve had trouble finding it in stores, so I have been ordering it by the case online. We probably won’t run out before we tire of it and look for another summer beverage.
There’s also MINERAL STRONG without the supplemental vitamins. I’ve yet to try it, but looking forward to encountering it in the wild and giving it a try.
