TOKYO —

In recent months, we’ve brought to you news on several interesting and creative beverages such as fat-busting cola, salty watermelon flavored Pepsi and Okinawa brown sugar cola.

Now, major beverage maker Suntory Holdings Limited has announced another new innovative drink that will come on to the Japanese market on July 31. The new drink, called Espressoda, is actually a carbonated coffee drink. However, based on the response on the internet, it appears that Japanese consumers are not so sure about coffee soda as a drink.

The drink combines the rich taste of espresso coffee with the refreshing feel of soda, and Suntory hopes it will be popular with the 20s to 30s age group. They have also made the packaging stylish, with a black and silver label on a plastic bottle with a unique surface texture created in the image of ice to give it a cool look. What’s also of note is that Suntory apparently spent 5.8 billion yen on new carbonating technology which made it possible to carbonate the drink without ruining the flavor of coffee in the process. That’s some expensive soda making technology.

While the idea of Esspresoda sounds intriguing, the response from Japanese Internet users has been somewhat lukewarm. Some people apparently have not had good experience in the past with other carbonated tea or coffee drinks. Others feel that people may buy the drink once out of curiosity but are not likely to make repeat purchases. Regardless, the drink will probably attract a certain amount of attention when it comes out next month. 

Espressoda will be sold at a price of 140 yen for a 330ml (11.22oz) bottle. Since sales of carbonated drinks have risen significantly in Japan in the past five years, I’m sure we can expect more interesting sodas from Suntory in the future, especially now that they have their new carbonating technology.

RocketNews24

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  REMzzz at Jun. 13, 2012 - 08:22AM JST

  Sounds terrible...

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  Godan at Jun. 13, 2012 - 08:36AM JST

  5.8 billion yen to develop this? Call me nuts, but I think I will give it a try to see what carbonated coffee comes out like.

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  ultradork at Jun. 13, 2012 - 08:38AM JST

  I'll try it but have low expectations. Usually, I find cold green tea to be the best choice during the day. A bit of caffeine, vitamin C, no calories and if it happens to actually fight cancer, that's an added bonus. I make a strong espresso at home every morning to kick-start the day. Grind the beans fresh, enjoy black, no sugar or milk. In warmer months I pour it into a beer mug that I keep in the freezer, cools it without diluting it.

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  Virtuoso at Jun. 13, 2012 - 08:42AM JST

  You can make it at home with instant coffee, sweetener and club soda. But I don't know if you'll save any money by doing it that way.

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  irishosaru at Jun. 13, 2012 - 09:24AM JST

  God that sounds horrible. I'm just thinking about how it would feel in my mouth......just seems like an incredibly bad combination of taste and sensation.

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  paulinusa at Jun. 13, 2012 - 09:27AM JST

  It COULD be decent if Suntory doesn't add sweetners and unnecessary ingredients. I'll reserve judgement until I come to Tokyo and try it.

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  vinnyfav at Jun. 13, 2012 - 09:45AM JST

  I've never been a fan of soda, so I will admit I am likely to be very biased against this. But carbonated coffee is going to taste awful. I shudder to imagine it.

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  bass4funk at Jun. 13, 2012 - 09:45AM JST

  Here we go again, they really need to stop making these Frankendrinks! These companies are seriously running out of ideas. What's next, "carbonated Horumon latte???" Jeeez!

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  REMzzz at Jun. 13, 2012 - 09:58AM JST

  @bass4funk, carbonated soy sauce is more likely ;P

  However i still think there's room in the drinks market for something truly interesting, and not a truckload of questionable seasonal drinks.

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  NeverSubmit at Jun. 13, 2012 - 10:02AM JST

  Carbonation definitly stimulates the perception of quenching one's thirst but has anybody considering the effect on global warming of all the CO2 in the bottle.

  That sound you hear when you open a carbonated drink is pure CO2 entering the atmosphere.

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  ultradork at Jun. 13, 2012 - 10:09AM JST

  Yes and every time every human and animal exhales - CO2 is released - OMG!

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  TokyoTanuki at Jun. 13, 2012 - 10:23AM JST

  Just open your bottle near a plant and it will thank you for that CO2. =)

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  otaku2012 at Jun. 13, 2012 - 10:32AM JST

  What the hell. Japan has taken over in technology, cars and motorcycles, animation, and now they are taking the one thing america is known for(fatty unhealthy foods) and Japan is taking that over too. I am not complaining AT ALL, I am just saying.

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  Thomas Anderson at Jun. 13, 2012 - 11:04AM JST

  @ultradork

  Yes and every time every human and animal exhales - CO2 is released - OMG!

  We are just breathing out the CO2 that was already there to begin with. We don't really add any more to it.

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    Moderator at Jun. 13, 2012 - 11:09AM JST

    Back on topic please.

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  combinibento at Jun. 13, 2012 - 11:30AM JST

  Even "normal" coffee (i.e., the non-carbonated stuff in a can sold in vending machines) in Japan does not have a proper "coffee" taste. No matter what the can says, whether its the stuff sold for 130 yen rather than 120 yen, whether it says the beans are super special or dark roasted, no matter what -- it all tastes like a bastardized version of a bad Starbucks drink. Even the "black" so-called bitter drinks taste like a black tea more than coffee. So I would be extremely surprised if this carbonated soda tasted anything remotely like coffee.

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  Kimi Zhuyu at Jun. 13, 2012 - 02:05PM JST

  I am not sure if I want to try this..

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  NeverSubmit at Jun. 13, 2012 - 03:37PM JST

  We are just breathing out the CO2 that was already there to begin with. We don't really add any more to it.

  Not true, the respiratory process, like combustion, creates CO2. Each breathe generates more than existed before.

  Drink up your CO2 in a bottle.

  Maybe environmentalists will start throwing paint onto people who drink this stuff, much like they do to people who wear fur.

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  Seawolf at Jun. 13, 2012 - 05:38PM JST

  So, it's kind of "Dr. Pepper" without the sugar? Wonder what will happen if you mix it with milk to make an espressoda-latte? Maybe calpis might work...

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  tsukki at Jun. 13, 2012 - 06:15PM JST

  Two words: Acid reflux

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  Dutchduck at Jun. 13, 2012 - 09:53PM JST

  Yeah coffee and bubbles, what`s not to love about this?

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  sensei258 at Jun. 14, 2012 - 04:35AM JST

  Coke tried coffee-flavored cola about 10 years ago. It didn't last long, and hasn't been back. It tasted awful, and I like coffee.

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  SuperLib at Jun. 14, 2012 - 11:50AM JST

  Sounds horrible. Naturally I'll try it.

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  bicultural at Jun. 14, 2012 - 12:17PM JST

  Tried lemon tea soda a few years back. It actually wasn't bad. Not so keen on trying this one, though.

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  smithinjapan at Jun. 14, 2012 - 12:20PM JST

  Somebody needs to be fired... fast.

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  Foxie at Jun. 14, 2012 - 12:41PM JST

  I am usually eager and open minded about trying out all those new drinks. But, coffee soda, no thank you.

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  WilliB at Jun. 14, 2012 - 04:05PM JST

  I´ll give it a try, but I expect it to be terrible. Still not worse that most of the other sugary gunk out there...

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  Kelvin Teh at Jun. 14, 2012 - 08:29PM JST

  Can you bring it into Malaysia? I'll definitely buy a bottle.