I love milk tea. In America I had never had it, and once I tried an ice cold glass of milk tea during summertime in Japan I was hooked. You can buy cold milk tea in bottles everywhere, which is nice because it saves brewing up your own batch during these hot days.
The most famous and popular brand of milk tea is Gogonokocha, made by Kirin. Before I became a discerning milk tea drinker I drank this exclusively. You can get it in big one liter bottles and stock your fridge with it. It’s cheap, too. Recently some premium brands came out, and now you can get some really delicious milk teas.
My complaint though is just that my favorite one is made by Coca Cola. This just kills me. Kochakaden is found everywhere, especially in vending machines, and tastes great. It has a ever-so-slight bitterness that is masked by a creamy rich milkiness, and is slightly sweet. Compare it with it’s chief rival, Gogonokocha Special Milk Tea, and you can tell the difference immediately. The Special Milk Tea is too sweet, and the sweetness completely masks the bitter edges of tea flavor that is so important to the blend.
Anyway, it pisses me off that I have to go buy a Coke product when I want to enjoy (what is to me) a unique experience to Japan. Interestingly enough, most Coke products in Japan aren’t very sweet and are quite good. A cursory check of the Coke vending machines in my area showed that out of 30 different products in one machine, the normal Coke product only had one slot. Maybe Coca Cola has learned that Japanese people are a little more sensitive to sweetness. They are doing really well in Japan with products other than cola, and they’ve got me hooked on their milk tea.
