Heath先生

  

Today in class, two students and I tried Suntory "White Pop."


We tasted it, talked about it, and shared our review scores. The kids both compared it to Calpis Soda, which I have had only once, and it was like 3 years ago, so I don't have a great memory of it.

Below are our comments and scores. I typed and fixed some grammar while the kids expressed their thoughts.

Heath: 2/5
Comment: It's not bad, but it tastes like yogurt. I don't usually like yogurt drinks.


Student 1: 4/5
Comment: It tastes like Calpis Soda and drinkable yogurt, mixed.


Student 2: 4/5
Comment: It's the same as Calpis Soda. I like Calpis Soda.


It appears speech contests and video game reviews aren't the only areas in which I am the harshest judge ^^;;  

Recently, my wife and I went to 神戸 (Kobe) with two of our friends. We went to the ぬのびき Herb Park, and then we had the famous Kobe Beef.


すばらしかった。
It was wonderful.

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やった！ せんせん週、僕の附属 坂出 中学生 は 坂出市 の スピーチ大会に行き
ました。 3番だった！ おめでとう、白山ちゃん :)

The week before last, a student of mine from Fuzoku Junior High School went to a speech contest and took 3rd place. Congratulations, Ms. Shirayama! :)
  

お金は、本物幸福じゃない。

余り、お金持ってない。でも
友達持っています。 愛するの奥さんがいます。 素晴らしい国に住んでいます。
だから、俺は、本当に裕福な人だ。
How many times have
You heard someone say
If I had his money
I could do things my way

But little they know
That it's so hard to find
One rich man in ten
With a satisfied mind

Once I was winning
In fortune and fame
Everything that I dreamed for
To get a start in life's game

Then suddenly it happened
I lost every dime
But I'm richer by far
With a satisfied mind

Money can't buy back
Your youth when you're old
Or a friend when you're lonely
Or a love that's grown cold

The wealthiest person
Is a pauper at times
Compared to the man
With a satisfied mind

When my life has ended
And my time has run out
My friends and my loved ones
I'll leave there's no doubt

But one thing's for certain
When it comes my time
I'll leave this old world
With a satisfied mind

How many times have
You heard someone say
If I had his money
I could do things my way

But little they know
That it's so hard to find
One rich man in ten
With a satisfied mind

そうですね。
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One of Japan's finest drinks in regular production is Mitsuya Cider. It's not just visually clear, it has a clean taste about it. At the core, one might compare it to 7-Up, but at the core, one might also get punched in the face by me. Mitsuya's subtle hint of lemon is appreciated, though there's a lemon variety that ups the presence of that taste, for those that want more. I love to pour a big glass of this over ice on a hot day. Nothing better. I just wish it didn't give me such a huge headache. :(

(Yeah, some pops consistently give me headaches. This is a problem with me though, not the soda, so it goes unpunished.)



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Mello Yello was the Coca-Cola company's answer to Pepsico's extremely popular Mountain Dew. Coke saw the success of Mountain Dew and, as many businesses would, said, "Me too." I guess dropping the 'W' from both words was the company's attempt at being edgey? It hasn't worked. Pepsi's strong foothold in the "citrus soda" market has over the years proven to be a mighty big hill to climb for Coke, as Mello Yello constantly stands in the shadows of Dew. I admit I'm a Dew man myself when it comes down to it, though I should say I do love a good Mello Yello once in a while.
メローイエローはマウンテンデューの悪いいとこです。


It's a little more lemony than Mtn Dew, especially the Japanese version. Japanese Mello Yello has a stronger lemon flavor than the American counterpart, which comes as no surprise, given the outrageous popularity of lemon as a flavor of everything here.

It's not something I crave too often, but when it's around, I like a good 'Yello. 3 Stars!


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Now that the original Mountain Dew has been reviewed, there's a Japan-only grape spinoff that came out this summer and is now slowly fading from the market. I expect it to be impossible to find by the end of November.


This pop is OK in small bursts. Its grape flavor is surprisingly stronger than I expected it to be, especially since it's a Japanese exclusive; flavors tend to be a little more subtle here, especially in beverages, perhaps CC Lemon being the biggest exception. But it's not so much a grape fruit flavor or traditional grape soda flavor so much as it's that patented grape candy flavor -- you know, the kind you taste in almost all grape gummies, chewing gum, Warheads, or Jolly Ranchers.

That's fine, because hey, if I want a "traditional" grape soda, I already have 10 different options for that, and it'd be hard to beat Welch's at their own game. The problem I have is that it's labeled "Mountain Dew Grape," and there's not much Dew to it. If I want a pure Cherry soda, for example, I have Chery Crush or Cherikee Red (that IS spelled correctly, but if I want Cherry Mountain Dew, then I pick up a Code Red Mountain Dew. If I want an orange pop, I pick up an orange Fanta, something generic, orange Crush, or Sunkist, but if I want Orange Mountain Dew, I go for Livewire. See where this is going?

Grape Mountain Dew might have that candyish grape taste about it, but it doesn't really seem like a flavor of Mountain Dew to me. This is not to say something HAS to be Mountain Dew in order to be good -- not so at all -- the name is just a little misleading. The drink itself, overall, is enjoyable on occasions, but I often don't find myself wanting to finish the can, let alone go for multiples.

I know it's going out of production soon, so I have the instinct to stock up while I can, but every time I go to a machine I just can't bring myself to spend the money. Final verdict: this one is just OK.



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Mountain Dew's original marketing was actually to like, old people and farmers -- quite the contrast with today, when it's marketed generally at teenagers and college kids. Compare the original advertising scheme:


...to the more recent theme of the last, let's say 25 years, perfectly captured in this clip, which I think made its debut when I was in high school:


But commercials don't change the taste of the drink itself, and cheesy ad campaigns be damned, I love Mountain Dew. You can detect just a little bit of lemon, a hint of lime, and...some kind of blend that only, for my money, just tastes like Mtn Dew and that's that.

I love Japan -- love it to death. But no human can deny the power of the subconscious, and we all need to have some kind of comfort snack or drink. Mountain Dew is a sort of connection to home for me. I like to end a day a nice cold Dew from the fridge. The Japanese version with its cane sugar and slight decrease in the amounts of caffeine and carbonation render it a bit inferior to the American version in my eyes, but that's of course because I grew up with the latter.

Of all the sodas I consume, one that keeps on satisfying me time and again is Mountain Dew. I can't rightly give it anything other than a 5-star rating.



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Anyone who knows me knows I love a good soda, or as we call it where I grew up, "pop."

I'm going to start doing some pop reviews on this blog, because I notice a lot of people are really curious about drinks I'm walking around with, even though they're usually not imports! Here in Japan, you have a wonderful variety of sodas on the market, especially the seasonal ones that rotate in and out of stores. Some of those are definitely cut way too short (come back, Pepsi Azuki!).

Fitting for the first one, I might as well start with the king of all carbonated drinks, Coca-Cola. Years and years before the birth of Pepsi, Coca-Cola making a name for itself with its unique taste.

In the 1980's, fearing the uprising of Pepsi's "new generation," company hotshots changed the flavor a little bit, which resulted in huge backlash. Tail between its legs, the company backpedaled and went back to the old flavor, rebranding the drink "Coca-Cola Classic." On paper it looks like a terrible PR move, but I have a feeling Coke knew the new formula would bomb all along, and used the "failure" as a way to rekindle America's love of Coke.


History lesson out of the way, Coke is the single most popular soft drink in the world today, and for good reason. Did you know that aside from "OK," the words "Coca-Cola" are the most recognizable across any language? I saw that on the Food Network. TV is great.

Coke is, to me, the definition of good cola. There are very few times when a Coke does NOT sound good to me. There are several sodas I personally like a little more, but the Coke legacy cannot be denied, and its satisfying taste earns it a high score. Always Coca-Cola.