Twentythree

Does the new “Clear Coffee” have what it takes to bring a non-coffee drinker into the fold?

For many coffee drinkers, a cup of joe is a daily ritual – skip that morning cup and something just feels off. At the same time, though, more and more young people in Japan are said to be steering clear of coffee altogether, according to research conducted by Starbucks and Shibuya109 lab, a youth marketing organisation based in Tokyo’s Shibuya district.

▼ Participants enjoying some tasty market research.

In order to help bring those non-coffee drinkers into the fold, Starbucks has done something quite extraordinary: created a new line of coffee drinks for those who don’t like coffee.

Called Clear Coffee, there are two varieties to choose from – Standard and Citrus – both of which aim to appeal to anyone who’s ever been interested in coffee but always found it too bitter or intimidating to try. Made using Sumatra Masa Depan beans, a special blend created to mark Starbucks’ 30th anniversary in Japan this year, the coffee is extracted as a ristretto shot instead of an espresso shot, which concentrates the coffee’s sweetness and richness while reducing bitterness.

Our Japanese-language reporter K. Masami, who drinks at least one coffee a day, admits to usually gravitating towards rich, strong drinks. During the sweltering heat of summer, though, she tends to prefer lighter, more refreshing beverages, so she decided to try the new Clear Coffee to see if it really might be palatable for non-coffee drinkers.

Ordering the standard Clear Coffee, it looked much closer to an iced Americano than the chain’s regular iced brewed coffee, which makes sense because it’s prepared in a similar way by diluting coffee with water. In addition to containing a ristretto shot, it also contains Classic Syrup for sweetness, seeing as bitterness was said to be the main driving factor turning potential coffee converts away from traditional coffee.

Taking a sip, Masami found it had a gentle sweetness and an extremely clean finish. The bitterness had been noticeably toned down, but remarkably, the aroma of coffee was still present, creating a drink that felt unmistakably like coffee without overwhelming the palate. It was refreshing, didn’t leave a lingering aftertaste, and though it was lighter than a typical coffee, it still had enough body to avoid tasting watery.

The closest comparison Masami could think of was that it’s the coffee equivalent of Starbucks’ popular Chillax drinks, which are mellow, easy to drink and pleasantly refreshing.

After tasting the standard version, Masami could easily imagine the citrus working well with the drink’s light, refreshing character. However, seeing as the Clear Coffee already contains a shot of ristretto, she decided to avoid over-caffeinating herself and try the Citrus version another day.

So would she recommend the Clear Coffee? Well, if you’re someone who loves the bold bitterness of a traditional coffee, Clear Coffee may not completely satisfy your cravings. The coffee aroma is still there, though, so it doesn’t feel like you’re drinking a fake, flavoured beverage, and its lighter, sweeter profile makes it considerably easier to drink than a standard iced coffee. In that sense, if you’re a coffee lover who wants some lighter coffee refreshment, perhaps after you’ve already had your regular cup of joe, it’s a drink that’ll still interest your taste buds, especially if you know what to expect before diving in.

As for non-coffee drinkers, though, the Clear Coffee has a real chance of achieving what it sets out to do, acting as a gateway drink for those who wouldn’t otherwise think to order a coffee. It’s noticeably different from Starbucks’ usual coffee line-up, so it really does bridge the gap between bitter coffees and sweet lattes and Frappuccinos, which is something the chain wanted to address with the new release.

On sale from 31 July, the Clear Coffee is on the menu at 490 yen (US$3.30) for dine-in, while the Citrus Clear Coffee is slightly higher, at 590 yen. Both drinks are only available for a limited time.

Featured image: ©SoraNews24
Insert images: Press release, ©SoraNews24
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We test the sourness of the juice but get distracted by a surprise performance.

Five years ago, Japan’s vending machine scene was taken up a notch with the birth of “Feed Me Orange”, a fresh juice machine that squeezes oranges on the spot. It didn’t take long for the machine to grow from being a rare novelty to a familiar mainstay in shopping centres, proving that Japan really does have a thirst for freshly squeezed citrus from a machine.

▼ Now, though, there’s a new contender on the market, and this time it’s serving up freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Called “Kawagoto Lemon Kouka” (“Peel-and-all Lemon Effect”), our reporter Haruka Takagi stumbled upon the vending machine in Osaka’s Namba area, in among the flashy signs and neon lights of the busy Ebisu Bashi-suji shopping street. She was surprised to see it, because unlike oranges, which have a sweetness to suit a wide range of palates, lemons tend to exist on the more piquant end of the citrus spectrum, making her wonder if a machine like this might serve drinks that are too sour for anyone’s liking.

Taking a closer look, she found that customers can choose from a variety of juice options, all made with lemons from a particular region selected for having the tastiest fruit at that particular time of year. When Haruka visited, the machine was using California-grown lemons, which are said to have a medium level of sweetness and sourness.

▼ Although the lemons were from California when Haruka visited, she’s since heard that Japanese-grown lemons will be used from September onwards.

Looking closely, she read that the sugar used for sweetening the drinks is made from 100-percent natural sugar cane, but what really got her attention was the number of lemons loaded inside the machine’s rotating rack. The steady movement of the transparent rack, combined with the bright lighting and white body of the machine, gave off the appearance of some sort of futuristic lab.

At 500 yen (US$3.35) per cup, the juice is relatively pricey, but Haruka didn’t want to pass up this opportunity to try freshly squeezed lemon juice from a vending machine. So she made her electronic payment (the machine only accepts payments by credit card or QR code), and then an unexpected lemon performance began.

After pressing the purchase button, the machine moved on to the juice customisation screen, where there were three options to choose from, listed top to bottom as follows:

▼ Flavour – “Lemon” or “Salt Lemonade” / Sweetness – “Normal”, “Less”, “None” / Ice – “Normal”, “Less”, “None”

Since this was her first order, Haruka decided to opt for the standard “Lemon” flavour with “less sweetness” and “less ice”. After payment was completed, the rack began to rotate and one lemon was chosen in dramatic fashion.

▼ The fruit was placed on a glowing platform and slowly raised upwards, bathing the machine in a mysterious bluish-white glow.

▼ The lemon then dropped into a round opening with a little plop as it was sent off for squeezing.

It didn’t take long for a paper cup with a sealed plastic lid to appear in the collection slot, complete with a straw that was perfectly tucked into a U-shaped divot on the lid.

Though Haruka thought the straw might be too small for the cup, once she’d fully extended the bendable section…

▼ …it reached perfectly to the bottom of the drink. The package design was very clever and well thought-out.

After admiring all the unique details, Haruka now found herself having to try the beverage, and as someone who isn’t particularly good with sour flavours, she was a little nervous about taking her first sip.

▼ Surely the juice of an entire lemon would be far too sour to drink?

▼ After taking a deep breath and bracing herself for tartness, Haruka took a sip.

▼ To her surprise, it was actually delicious!

If she had to sum up the flavour in one sentence, she’d describe it as “a sweet-and-sour fresh juice that feels like it’s giving you a burst of energy”. The lemon flavour was certainly there, but it didn’t have the same sharp, piercing sourness as a freshly squeezed lemon – if anything, it was surprisingly smooth, with a “juice-like” quality that she thinks might even appeal to small children.

It was only the slight bitterness and oily residue from the lemon peel that indicated this was a freshly squeezed juice, and after taking a few more sips of it, the lingering aroma was so refreshingly pleasant that she began to wonder why lemon juice hasn’t caught on to become a more popular drink in Japan.

▼ Emboldened by her newfound taste for lemon juice, she decided to face her fears and order one with no sugar.

After watching the lemon show play out inside the machine again, Haruka reached for the new drink as soon as it was ready, and took a sip.

Hmm. It definitely wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t delicious enough to make her want to purchase it again. For her, it seemed slightly underwhelming.

Though she’s not entirely sure, Haruka seems to think that the juices are diluted with water, so without sugar the flavour also becomes diluted, making it less satisfying as a juice. While health-conscious customers or those who want to enjoy the natural flavour of the fruit might prefer to order the drink without extra sweetness, Haruka says that she would recommend adding sugar. The sweetness seems to bring out the tartness of the lemon, making the citrus flavour seem more pronounced, and delicious as well.

At the end of the day, though, Haruka thoroughly enjoyed both drinks, and highly recommends trying them if you can. Right now, there are only a small number of “Peel-and-all Lemon Effect” machines installed across Japan, making them a rare vending machine find, so if you spot one, consider yourself lucky.

With its refreshing sweet-and-sour flavour, this is a great drink to enjoy on a hot day or as a refreshing palate cleanser after eating an oily meal like yakiniku (grilled meat). Plus, you could always try it out with a splash of something strong to create your own freshly made lemon sour, an iconic beverage in the Japanese drinks scene.

Photos©SoraNews24
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This box comes pre-loaded with something for anime fans to treasure.

Usually, if you’re buying a box, it’s because you’ve got stuff you want to keep in it, right? And while the box we’re looking at today can, of course, fill that purpose, it’s a pretty safe bet that most people are going to be buying it because of what it already has inside.

The exterior is adorned with illustrations of characters from Studio Ghibli’s beloved anime film Spirited Away. Yubaba is here and so is her underling Yu-Bird, both in its original human-headed avian form and its post-transformation Haedori insect state, the latter carrying the transformed Boh. A trio of Susuwatari Soot Sprites can be spotted hanging out together too.

But stealing the scene, as always, is No Face, standing stoically underneath the flying Haku on the box’s lid…

…and who’s also standing inside the box!

You’ll notice we only said No Face is standing stoically on the outside, though, because the one inside the box can twirl around.

On the back of the box is a wind-up screw, and if you give it a few twists before opening the box’s lid, No Face will gently spin as a music box-rendition of Spirited Away’s ending theme, “Itsumo Nandodemo,” plays.

This being an offering from Studio Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku, going in for a closer look reveals some lovingly detailed craftsmanship.

With total dimensions of 8.5 x 10.5 x 12 centimeters (3.3 x 4.1 x 4.7 inches), the box isn’t going to hold any large-scale treasures, but it’s nicely sized for accessories, house keys, or other personal items, and the two sections help keep things nicely organized.

▼ We’re going to assume that the No Face inside the box is from the later part of the Spirited Away story, where he’s become less covetous and more considerate, the kind of guy who’s less likely to eat your valuables and more likely to pour you some soy sauce.

The Spirited Away Paper Box Music Box, as it’s officially called, is priced at 7,150 yen and is recently returned to availability after a restock, and can be ordered through Donguri Kyowakoku’s online store here.

Source, images: Donguri Kyowakoku
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Is this a cheap way to beat away stress, or a case of cheaping out that’ll have us feeling even more frustrated?

Pretty much every time we walk through a branch of 100 yen shop Daiso, we find something we didn’t know we needed, but are now keenly aware is a necessity. Cute coffee mug? Yeah, that’ll brighten up our day. Stackable storage boxes? A well-organized home or office is always a plus. Something to punch, kick, and otherwise wail on when we’re feeling stressed out? Yeah, better pick up that too.

That last one might not sound like typical Daiso inventory, but it’s exactly what our Japanese-language writer Natsuno Futon came home with from her latest shopping trip.

The Stress Relief Punching Bag-For Adult is actually one of Daiso’s premium products, costing 550 yen (US$3.40). That’d still be a bargain if it actually does reduce stress, though. On the other hand, if Daiso’s punching bag doesn’t “bounce right back up” like the packaging claims it does or is otherwise shoddily made, then you’ll just be spending money to have even more stress by buying it, so Natsuno is here to tell us if it actually does the job it promises to.

The bag comes uninflated, and a hand pump isn’t included, so you’ll either need to procure one separately or have some very strong lungs.

Don’t start pumping/blowing right away, though. In order to keep the punching bag planted on the ground and able to spring back up, first you need to fill the base with water.

If you start pumping without filling the base, the inflation process is going to be a lot harder, as Natsuno unintentionally discovered when she failed to notice this part of the instructions.

Once the bag is properly filled with water and air, it stands 110 centimeters (43.3 inches) tall. For comparison, here it is next to Natsuno, who herself has a height of 158 centimeters.

▼ And here’s Natsuno cradling it like a baby, showing it some tenderness before she starts beating the heck out of it.

After setting the bag down and putting up her dukes, Natsuno started swinging…

…and was happy to find that the Daiso punching bag really does bounce back quickly enough to keep up with her flurry of fists!

We should note that Natsuno is not a trained pugilist, and so there might be a difference in rhythm compared to the sort of gear used by professional boxers or martial artists. As a piece of casual home workout/stress relief equipment, though, she’s got no complaints about the bag’s resilience.

You’ll notice that the bag has “uppercut,” “jab,” and “straight” written on it. These are all types of punches, but with her fighting spirit now burning, Natsuno decided to give it a few swift kicks too.

This felt incredibly satisfying, even more so than the punches she’d thrown.

As a matter of fact, kicking is listed as one of the officially intended uses of the bag…

…and is actually, Natsuno feels, the best way to use it. At 110 centimeters tall, the bag can handle the height of foot strikes pretty well (assuming you’re not doing cyclone spin kicks on it). But since the bag is shorter than most adults’ shoulders, if you want to punch it straight-on, you’re going to have to squat down pretty low.

With that in mind, it might be more accurate to call Daiso’s Stress Relief Punching Bag-For Adult the Stress Relief Kicking Bag-For Adult, but semantic quibbles aside, Natsuno is happy to have a way to knock her stress away.

Photos ©SoraNews24
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