Tokyo Times

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.