Food and Drink

Well ok, maybe not wrath, but how about ruin?

Actually, poor pun and crumbling car aside, it still amazes me that in a little over an hour from Tokyo — or at least its western suburbs — a city dweller can be far from the clutter and commotion of the capital, and in this fairly fetching valley.

Plus, if that’s not enough, the area is positively packed to the gunwales with grapes.

Perhaps the only problem being that while a lot of the wine produced there may not exactly warrant a wine drinker’s wrath, repulsion is often far from a rare response.

On a hot and humid day, a nice ice-coffee is certainly not to be sniffed at, as not only is it refreshing, but also revitalising. Yet what if the drink’s considerable cooling qualities were enhanced more with a bit of menthol?

‘No!’ you say?

Well, it’s too late I’m afraid, as Kirin obviously considers mixing in a modicum of menthol a mighty fine idea indeed, making its Fire brand a little less ferocious — maybe.

Actually, it isn’t quite as bad as one would imagine, but an idea that definitely works with tobacco and toothpaste, doesn’t quite cut it with coffee. Passable, but at the same time, not exactly palatable.

With mentions of Metabolic Syndrome now a media mainstay, drink makers would appear to be pulling out all the stops to make their beverages seem beneficial, with even knocking back the booze offering at least a nod towards nutritiousness.

For drinks giant Suntory, however, sensing that there’s at least some sustenance in what one is supping is obviously nowhere near as good as seeing it, so Capsela is crammed full of capsules, that in turn are packed with a veritable plethora of vitamins — making it both wholesome and hypnotic.

Sort of.

And, what’s more, it doesn’t taste too bad either, in its weak, lemon-like way. The only problem being, for me at least, is that the capsules remind me of fish eggs, which I’m not overly fond off at the best off times, and especially not when bunged in a beverage. Otherwise it’s fairly good, in a floating fish egg fashion.

Young Keiko Kitagawa on the other hand seemingly has no such concerns.

A fair number of Tokyo’s train stations now boast juicer stands, which sell freshly squeezed juice that, rather appropriately, can be happily supped while standing. These relatively recent additions offering the chance of some welcome relief after a particularly packed commute, or even some help with a horrible hangover.

However, for those frequenting stations that don’t have such stands, or are simply turned off by train travel, then help is luckily at hand, or even in one’s pocket, with this pint-sized portable version.

A beverage that is not only portable, but extremely palatable, although the bountiful number of coconut bits can initially be decidedly disconcerting.