10 Japanese Non-Alcoholic Drinks

The Japanese vending machines that are omnipresent in the streets are proof of this: the Japanese consume a lot of drinks that are out of the ordinary. What's more, they naturally consume relatively little water on a daily basis: different non-alcoholic Japanese drinks exist apart from water - without being very sweet sodas. For those who don't like classic mineral water too much, Japan is a source of nice surprises and discoveries! Charlotte Chronberg, founder of Maison Aimi, for example, was inspired by barley tea, mugicha, to create Maison Aimi! In today's article, we present 6 non-alcoholic Japanese drinks that are different from water!

Summary

Green tea, kombucha and matcha

Cereal tea: mugicha and sobacha

Lemonade: Ramune

Japanese bubble tea: Mogu mogu

Milk drink: Calpis and calpis soda

Green tea is THE Japanese drink par excellence. More than all other teas - black, white - it is consumed very regularly in Japan, especially during meals. It is not uncommon to find hot water fountains in restaurants and university cafeterias to serve your green tea.

Furthermore, green tea comes in different forms, including:

• Cold green tea: you will regularly find it in Japanese vending machines and in combinis (the “convenience stores” open 24 hours a day in cities in Japan)
• Kombucha: be careful, Japanese kombu cha has nothing to do with Western kombucha! Japanese kombucha is in fact a green tea mixed with algae ( kombu algae, hence its name) while the kombucha that we find in stores in France is made from a fermented mushroom and is known for the probiotics it contains.
• Matcha: Matcha tea is an extremely concentrated green tea. In fact, it is developed from very specific green tea leaves, hand-selected for their youth and quality, and ground into a water-soluble powder. Thus, matcha tea consists of ingesting the green tea powder, while green tea is only an infusion.

The concept of cereal tea, also called cereal infusion, is very developed in Japan. There are several cereal teas, including mugicha (barley tea) and sobacha (buckwheat tea). In addition to their caramelized taste, these teas have in common that they do not contain theine and can therefore be consumed throughout the day by children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the elderly.

The advantage of these teas is also that they can come from plantations that grow elsewhere than in Japan. Thus, Maison Aimi's mugicha comes from organic barley seeds grown in France while Maison Aimi's sobacha comes from organic buckwheat seeds, grown in Europe and hulled in France.

Ramune is a famous Japanese lemonade. It is distinguished by the quantity of its flavors and by its glass bottle with a specific shape .

In addition to the classic flavors, you can find the sakura flavor, the mochi flavor, the yogurt flavor or even the melon ramune (a flavor that has nothing to do with the melon that we know in France).

Its surprising glass bottle has the particularity of containing, in its neck, a marble . The latter serves as a seal, allowing the drink to remain sparkling even if you consume it in several times.

🧋 Japanese bubble tea: Mogu mogu

Mogu mogu is a bit like bubble tea (of Korean origin) , but the tapioca balls are cubes of coconut jelly, called “nata de coco”.

It can also be compared to a chewy fruit juice because unlike bubble teas its base is made of fruit juice. Mogu mogu passion, coconut, or lychee – this drink comes in many exotic flavors.

This very refreshing and fruity drink is particularly consumed by the Japanese during the high summer heat and during matsuris (this is the name of Japanese festivals).

The taste of Calpis, a very popular drink in Japan to the point of being found in all Japanese vending machines and konbinis, is very particular and different from what you know. There is no drink in France that resembles it.

In fact, it is a non-alcoholic drink made from water and fermented milk . It is known to be good for health and digestion thanks to its lactic ferments.

There is also try the soda version of Calpis, a sparkling version that retains the distinctive taste of the original Calpis.

You may be surprised to find coffee on this list, but Japan is one of the biggest coffee-consuming countries in the world! Hot in filter coffee or espresso mode, iced, latte, flavored, bottled in vending machines... in Japan, you will rediscover coffee!

And if you are a purist, you will be able to marvel at the finesse and precision of Japanese roasters. There are many brands of local coffee . Sumiyaki coffee, for example, is a charcoal-roasted coffee with a very particular woody flavor!

When you travel to Japan, you will inevitably come face to face with a vending machine. And you may be surprised to discover that many of the drinks in the vending machines are alcoholic… How can you tell the difference between non-alcoholic Japanese drinks and alcoholic drinks? All you have to do is look for a small, often black, label on the can that says “お酒” (osake = alcohol). If there is none, you are in the presence of a non-alcoholic Japanese drink.

The Japanese have many non-alcoholic drinks to discover and enjoy. Often very different from what we know in France, they have in common that they are mostly not very sweet, tasty and good for your health. What Japanese non-alcoholic drinks did you know? Which ones have you already tried?