Must be a Special Strawberry

Tochiotome Tochigi Strawberry Drink

Brand: Acure

Price: 190 yen

Place of purchase: Acure Vending Machine

Rating:

The bottle claims that this drink uses real strawberry juice. The manufacturers are very specific with the type of strawberry too, specifically mentioning the name “Tochiotome” on their website. I know there are plenty of strawberry types here in Japan, but I didn’t realize their flavours could be so distinct; this particular strawberry is apparently known for its sourness, and it brings that to this drink. This beverage is thin so it doesn’t feel like you’re chugging a smoothie and it goes down smoothly.

It is written on the bottle that real strawberries are used, but it doesn’t hide that only fifteen percent of the drink is made from real strawberries. For me, it biased my perception of the flavour and the drink tasted fake and synthetic. The sourness used as the selling point of the drink seems to be more of a demerit as it overpowers the sweetness strawberries are known for. This could be the particular type of strawberry, but this strong sour flavour made the drink difficult to get through the whole bottle.