matcha tea soda

I recreated the matcha tea soda that I had in Kyoto.

Put 1 teaspoon of matcha into a bowl and add 1/2 a teaspoon of light brown sugar.

Add 2 ounces (about 60 milliliters) of hot water (not boiling) and whisk until frothy.

Add some ice to a glass and pour the matcha in.

Then fill the remainder of the glass with soda water.

NOTES: Not as green as the one I had in Kyoto but still really refreshing. I'm making these again while the daytimes are still warm.

coke x world cup

Coke is a sponser of the World Cup, which is happening now in Brazil.

To promote this event, they have many bottles with "names" on them circulating in Japan.

There are family names as well as first names. They ask you to "look for your name" when buying a Coke.

Well, since they only have Japanese names, they didn't have "Kat".

I tried looking for Satoshi's name but couldn't find it.

You can also go to their shop in Osaka and "make" your own labels with your name on it. I think you need to show ID to prove that that is your name, though...

Anyway, I'm not paying too much attention to the World Cup, are you?

Is the country you are living in participating in the World Cup?

imbibing

A little list of things I've been drinking lately...

This tea fruit soda at Corridor. Sweetened tea syrup is added to a glass with fresh fruits and then topped off with club soda. I want to re-create this one.

Smirnoff's Ice Green Apple.

This one reminded me of a Jolly Rancher's candy, but more on the sour side...

Bacardi's Strawberry Daiquiri...meh, this one was way too sweet.

Bacardi's Mojito...I don't think I've acutally had a mojito before, I didn't care for this for some reason.

Minoh Beer's O-saru IPA, a fruity IPA with a little bitter finish.

This one was created for an event that they participated in. Love the label!

Otoko Ume Sour, this one really smelled like ume and was a bit on the salty side.

Guess with the warmer weather I've been craving fizzy drinks. How about you?

blueberry soda

The weather here is far from being summery, but blueberries are in the markets, so it was my chance to try this recipe I saw in "USA Today" when I was in Hawaii last year.

Blueberry syrup : makes about 2 cups from "USA Today: Weekend" Anton Nocito, October 2013
1.5 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
9 tablespoons lemon juice

you can find a detailed recipe, here.

NOTES: I cut this recipe to 1/4 because I didn't know how it would taste, and because well, we shouldn't be drinking THAT much soda...

The recipe says to strain it, but I left the blueberries in...why waste?!

Also, the recipe says to add 3 tablespoons to a tall glass with ice. But I didn't know how tall the glass had to be, so I just added a teaspoon to my "short" glass and topped it with soda water.

I'm sure you could add more syrup to taste.

This was super refreshing. And it reminded me of the berry soda I had at Corridor.

Too bad our weather hit a cold snap and we are still below 50F...I'd definitely make this one again though.

kick-a

Spotted this teeny can of Pepsi in a vending machine I walk past often...Pepsi Refresh Shot...100 yen

It has 2 times the amount of caffeine as a regular can of Pepsi.

200 milliliters (about a cup) of soda...Boy, was it potent!

Had a slight headache after drinking it.

Tried it but won't drink it again...If you spot it and try it, let me know what you think...

It's Friday. I hope you have a great weekend.

It may be a little quiet here, we have some friends visiting over the next couple of days...talk to you again soon!

made in the usa

Even though this post is dated the 4th, it'll be the 4th for us in Hawaii, tomorrow.

I recently tried this ginger ale made by Boylan Bottling Company, in New Jersey.

They use cane sugar, and if I remember correctly, no preservatives.

We liked this, nice kick from the ginger. And lots of fizz.

Happy Birthday America!

ginger ale

I know I was talking about soup weather but during the daytime it's been kinda summery. Still, you see people wearing boots and mufflers. Which makes me perspire just looking at them.

And I know they are looking at me weird because I am still wearing t-shirts and capri jeans...whatever...

For some reason I've been craving bubbles, but didn't want to buy soda, so I made...homemade ginger ale.

So easy, take a tablespoon of ginger syrup.

Add 200 ml (1 cup) of club soda.

Not as sweet as some of the ginger ales out there, but delish and refreshing!

hawaii drinks

On a recent trip to Whole Foods, I bought a bottle of Waialua Soda Works' Root Beer...yum!

I don't drink a lot of soda but this was really good and it is "made in Hawaii" with a lot of the ingredients from Hawaii too.

Since I only drank half of the bottle with lunch, the other half was consumed after dinner with some chocolate chip ice cream as a root beer float...nom!

The float was awesome but even better were all the dark-ish chocolate chips at the bottom of the cup! whoo!

got gas?

Nope, it's not what you are probably thinking. If I remember correctly when we went to France they asked us if we wanted our water with gas or without. This means carbonated water or not.

Since moving to Japan, I've stopped drinking soda. But, there have been times when I want a little fizzy something to drink--but don't want to fall back into drinking soda...so, I've found carbonated water...I know, to buy water is a bit crazy and can be expensive.

Luckily, we have 100 yen shops here. This means EVERY item in the store is only $1 each (it is amazing what they sell in these stores these days!)...I found these imports in the 100 yen shop...if you were to purchase these in the supermarket you can expect to pay up to 300 yen ($3) a bottle.

From left to right: San Benedetto (Italy), Vals (France), Brio Blu (Italy).