KFC Peach and Peach Krushers

KFC Japan has a new Krushers variety, Peach and Peach which contains peach bits and juice from both white and yellow peaches. Vanilla biscuit is added for more crunchy texture. Like the other Krushers varieties, and packs calories (329 kcal), but nevertheless not as much as the Matcha Azuki variety (552 kcal).

Key Words: Kentucky Fried Chicken, Krushers ケンタッキーフライドチキン
http://krushers.kfc.co.jp/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

McDonald's Halloween Chocolate Fries

 McDonald's Japan has made some news with this Halloween themed special. Add 60 yen to the price of any set and you get fries covered in chocolate and pumpkin sauce creating nice colorful imagery.

Sourcing: potatoes (US), cacao (Indonesia), pumpkin (New Zealand)
 Key Words: McDonald's, Halloween, cacao, chocolate, pumpkin マックドナルド ハロウィン カカオ チョコ パンプキン
http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/campaign/halloweenpotato/index.html

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Sapporo THAT'S HOP Sorachi Ace

Sapporo has a craft beer line called THAT'S HOP and now they have added a new beer called Sorachi Ace, named after a hop variety.



The company, this product and the history of the hop have a related, interesting history.
1) Sapporo, with local farmers in the Sorachi 空知 area of Hokkaido, developed this hop variety in the 1984 and sold beer varieties using this hop, but these products were before their time (according to the company).
2) US hop grower Darren Gamache of Virgil Gamache Farms in Washington State obtained Sorachi Ace from the USDA Hop Cultivar Collection, cultivated it and offered it for sale in 2006.
3) during the Hop Crisis of 2008 when hop prices soared due to supply and weather problems, many brewers in the US turned to this hop variety which has a special lemony auroma. Since then it has been a steady niche hop variety in the US and Europe.
and
4) now things have come full circle with Sapporo collaborating with Darren Gamache to bring the hop back to Japan for Sapporo THAT'S HOP Sorachi Ace beer.

From what I can see this beer if only available on Amazon and possibly in special Sapporo beer halls. Amazon is also the place where most of the information about this beer can be found - very little on the website.

Key Words: Sapporo Beer, Sorachi, Hokkaido, Sorachi Ace, Hop サッポロビール ソラチエース 空知支庁 北海道 ホップ
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01I13TX1E

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Morinaga Lipton Tea Halloween Designs

 Seen in a convenience store: Lipton varieties are already in a Halloween mood. Lipton goes through Morinaga in Japan.

森永 リプトン

Danone Oikos Yogurt for Halloween

Spotted this Halloween themed Danone Oikos Greek-Style yogurt in an convenience store.
ダノン ヨーグルト オイコス

Glico Highland Select Milk

Glico is probably best known for Pocky chocolate covered sticks, but they also have a big and growing dairy business.

Their premium milk series uses raw milk sourced from several select highland regions which are cool and very conducive to the production of high quality dairy. This product it is branded Glico Special Select Milk. The 5 areas used for sourcing are Zao Highland 蔵王高原 (Yamagata Prefecture), Nasu Highland 那須高原 (Tochigi Prefecture), Shinshu Highland 信州高原 (Nagano Prefecture), Ishimi Highland 石見高原 (Shimane Precture), and Aso Highland 阿蘇高原 (Kumamonto Prefecture), geographically located all over the main islands.

In these cool, highland areas, the quality of the milk is superior according to typical indicators such as fat content, solids not-fat content, bacterial count and cell count. When you buy this product, the sourcing of the milk you receive depends on which area is closest to you.

Key Words: Glico グリコ, Zao Highland 蔵王高原, Nasu Highland 那須高原, Shinshu Highland 信州高原 (Nagano Prefecture), Ishimi Highland 石見高原, and Aso Highland 阿蘇高原
https://www.glico.com/jp/product/milk/kogenmilk/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

McDonald's Tokyo 2020 Olympic Tumblers

How early is early? McDonald's Japan started giving away coffee tumblers (thermoses) with Mega Sets even before the Rio Olympics were over. With the theme Rio to Tokyo, the selections are as pictured above. I chose the checkered version shown to the right because I am a sucker for writing in Kanji and that one even has the year 2020 written in Kanji, something increasingly rare in general practice. Japanese people continue to see English, even nonsense English, as stylish, while I still see Kanji as much more visually pleasing than Western languages.

No indication as to when this promotion will end. I assume it will end far short of the 2020 Olympic opening ceremonies.

http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/campaign/hissho_burger/tumbler.html

Key Words: McDonald's, tumbler, 2010 Olympics マックドナルド タンブラー オリンピック

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Coca Cola Georgia Cold Brew Coffee

The cold brewed coffee movement started about 5 years ago and has really taken off in the US. In Japan, Coca Cola is now offering a premium Georgia branded coffee in bottle shaped cans produced using the cold brewed method.

The cold brew method involves steeping ground coffee in room temperature or even chilled water. The result is a coffee with a different taste profile. Volatile compounds are not lost or degraded due to higher temperatures, but other compounds which are not as readily extracted from the beans might not be present.

Therefore, the premium price reflects not only marketing, but longer production time and the need to use 1.3 times as many coffee beans as regular coffee.

Key Words: Coca Cola, Georgia, Cold Brew Coffee コカ・コーラ ジョージア コールドブリューコーヒー
http://www.georgia.jp/coldbrew/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Suntory Craft Select Beer Bar

Over the past few years, Suntory's Craft Select series has been introducing a consistent string of excellent beers - always interesting, frequently best in class. The current IPA is simply the best IPA I have ever tried. I also think the design using metallic colors is modern yet subdued and very attractive. These sell at a slight premium vs regular beer - 227 vs 217 yen per 350 ml can.

The current copy reads essentially, "When you gather with friends and drink Craft Select you can enjoy a different from what you normally drink, or in the home you can enjoy a different taste, that's BEER BAR". It does not really work in English, but of course the English "BEER BAR" is only used for decoration, not for meaning.

Key Words: Suntory, Craft Select, BEER BAR, IPA サントリー クラフトセレクト ビアBAR
http://www.suntory.co.jp/beer/craftselect/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.

Grand Kirin Izayoi no Tsuki

Grand Kirin is Kirin's premium glass bottle beer, styled on craft beers. It is marketed as so delicious that one bottle is enough. Most of the varieties in this series are IPA beers.

The new Grand Kirin variety uses calypso hop and claims a mature or ripe fruit or citrus flavor. The name Izayoi no Tsuki means the moon phase just after the full moon, something associated with a hesitant, late rising moon. This phase is well known enough to be the name of a famous anime character.

Just today, I visited a convenience store and saw that the stock of this beer was completely sold out. So unfortunately, I cannot comment on the taste. I do however like the design, especially the IPA replacing one stoke in the Chinese character for moon.

Key Words: Grand Kirin, Izayoi no Tsuki, グランドキリン 十六夜の月
http://www.kirin.co.jp/products/beer/grandkirin/

Photo is a web capture for explanatory purposes, copyright belongs to the company.