I think cola has a different image in America than it does here in Japan.
In America, I think, it’s more common for people of all ages from children to adults to drink cola. But in Japan, generally speaking, sweet drinks and foods are usually consumed by children and young women.
People my age, especially men, in Japan normally drink coffee, tea and alcohol. I also don’t have much of a “sweet tooth”. I don’t eat chocolates or candies very often and I seldom drink cola or other sweet drinks.
I like coffee (“normal” coffee…not the overly sweet type found at places like Starbucks) and, of course, beer.
So, in an attempt to lure more people like me into drinking their product, Pepsi-Cola in Japan is offering a new type of cola called “Pepsi Dry“.
The label says 「甘くないコーラ」 ("not sweet cola").
Supposedly this new cola is half as sweet as normal cola and has a “dry, crisp taste”.
I think I’d like this more than normal cola…but I probably won’t bother to try it. As I said, I’m not much of a cola drinker.
How about you? Do you have a sweet tooth? Would you try “Pepsi-Dry”?
Tokyo Five 
I’d give it a go, sure. But all the most interesting cola flavors aren’t brought to the States, which explains why we still don’t have Raspberry Coke like the good folk in New Zealand used to have.
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> the most interesting cola flavors aren’t brought to the States
Well, I guess you’ll have to visit Japan then!
>New Zealand
Speaking of New Zealand, their city that was devastated by a big earthquake last February was just hit by another one yesterday!
Earthquakes are the worst of all natural disasters because they can and do strike anytime without warning…and the same place can be hit repeatedly!
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Yeah, I been through a couple living in Washington and California. Even had one here in Phoenix once. They do pretty much suck.
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>I been through a couple (earthquakes) living in Washington and California. Even…in Phoenix once
That’s one reason why the east coast of the U.S. is better than the west coast! I’ve never experienced an earthquake in Florida.
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I just tried it today, I liked it. If you’re a big time sugary soda pop drinker (or diet soda drinker) this Pepsi may not be for you. The reduced sugar content really lets the bitterness of the kola nut flavor shine through. I think this is one reason why I liked it, but then again I also like other bitter beverages such as coffee and a good strong IPA or ESB ale.
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So it tastes completely different from “regular” cola?
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Dry? I tried The Sakuranbo Cola, which has been in convenience stores lately. Didn’t taste like cola at all. I have a picture on my blog about it. To be honest, it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. As for Pepsi Dry, I’m not sure if I’ll try it. Maybe once. I don’t care much for Pepsi. I prefer Coke 🙂
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>Dry?
It’s not the first “dry” soft drink I’ve heard of. “Canada Dry” has been around for years.
>I tried The Sakuranbo Cola
I commented on your post about it. It doesn’t look appealing to me at all.
>I don’t care much for Pepsi. I prefer Coke
Yeah, I suppose Coca-Cola is better that Pepsi-Cola…I seldom drink either though.
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I’m from Canada, so I know all about Canada Dry 🙂 I drink it occasionally. But dry cola is something I haven’t seen before.
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Me too. Besides Canada Dry, the only “Dry” drink I’ve seen before was “dry beer”.
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I just tried Pepsi Dry. What can I say? It’s interesting. I’ve never had a cola that had so little flavour. It’s a very light taste. It seems most of the flavour in cola comes from the sweetness.
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So you tried “Pepsi Dry”? And you didn’t like it?
I think “normal” cola is too sweet…so maybe I’d like this one more.
Unless it tastes like diet cola! Diet cola is revolting.
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It was just bland. Diet Pepsi has a sweetness, Pepsi Dry has no sweetness at all.
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Well, I guess there’s no need for me to try it then.;)
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I’ll definitely be trying Pepsi-Dry. I’m a big time soda drinker, most people start their morning with a cup of coffee, I start mine with a Coke! I try all the different Pepsi flavors that come out here in Japan, I’ve never liked a single one, but it’s still fun to try them.
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>most people start their morning with a cup of coffee, I start mine with a Coke!
You must really love cola!
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OK, you have to take one for the team and taste-test this. ^_^ (Or get some others to do so.)
Me, I tend to do diet sodas these days, not because I care about calories, but I just don’t do the sugar that well. ^_^; I’m not a coffee drinker so to get my caffeine fix, I needs me Diet Mountain Dew. ^_^;
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>you have to…taste-test this.
Maybe my kids will try it. If they do, I’ll write there impression in a comment on this post.
>I’m not a coffee drinker
In Japan, people will drink coffee at any time of day. But I heard that in America, people only drink coffee at breakfast time…or not at all.
Is that true?
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I do like colas. It’s definitely not good for me though. I am pre-diabetic. I’d love to try that Pepsi Dry. In fact, I’ll make a point of it when we’re in Tokyo sometime next year. 🙂
I did notice that the coffee in Japan was a lot stronger than in the U.S. Then again, Starbucks is too strong for my husband. I do like tea. Ok OK… I admit it. I do like sweet things.
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>I did notice that the coffee in Japan was a lot stronger than in the U.S.
I’ve heard that before. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the U.S., so I can’t remember how the coffee is there.
I’ve also heard that Japanese beer has a higher alcohol percentage than American beer. Is that tight?
In Japan, beer is typically 5%…but it can be as high as 8%.
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Even I prefer coffee, tea and beer, wine too but not that often, but sometimes I have some sweet drink for a change. If I should try Pepsi-Dry I would first read the ingredients list carefully because I try to avoid artificial sweetening. Now I have a question for you: what is “normal coffee” to you?
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>what is “normal coffee” to you?
When you go to a restaurant and order coffee, what is brought to you in most restaurants is “normal”. What Starbucks sells tastes like over-priced hot chocolate to me.
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I see. From my experience, Starbucks espresso is OK. What other varieties they have I don’t know because I never use milk.
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Well, granted, I have only tried a couple of “coffees” from Starbucks…so I can’t be certain of their entire menu.
But I was unsatisfied both times I went there.
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Pepsi what??? Makes it sound like booze to me. Mind you, the packaging does look nice. When did this Pepsi Dry come out? Personally, I’m not much into sweet-tasting stuff. Here in Hong Kong, sweetness in foodstuffs is more like at the American level of sweetness – which is pretty sweet for my taste.
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>When did this Pepsi Dry come out?
I’m not sure what the exact date was…but recently.
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