It’s always fun for me to have my own gastronomical assumptions revealed. Earlier we posted a cross-cultural example (soup for breakfast in South Korea) and historical examples (mmm aspic, 7-Up with milk, and prunes are for kids!). On Shakesville, Deeky posted this photograph of ice cucumber-flavored Pepsi being sold in Japan:
UPDATE (June ’10)! In another flavor-shake-up, BoingBoing posted these Pringles from Singapore in Seaweed, Soft-Shell Crab, and Grilled Shrimp:
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Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
Comments 31
Sabriel — September 4, 2009
Oh my gosh, that is probably delicious! Cucumber slices in water are a lot like lemon slices in water: they make it taste extra crisp and fresh. It's probably a lot like sprite or 7-up only smoother.
Now, I am from Atlanta and not from rural Georgia... but I always thought cucumber water was a southern thing. In other words, we do it in the US too.
Jillian C. York — September 4, 2009
Yum! When I was in Japan last month, I also spotted Green Tea flavored Coke: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jilliancyork/3621527579/in/set-72157619684163116/
It was pretty tasty. NOT so tasty was Starbucks Japan's "jelly frappuccino":
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jilliancyork/3622279894/in/set-72157619684163116/
Rhys — September 4, 2009
Japan seems to have no less than a dozen 'different' Pepsi flavors - unsurprisingly, most of them are, erm, 'off-beat' and therefore largely unmarketable here in the US. Nevertheless, I'm always puzzled and somewhat annoyed to see them coming out with new flavors while we're stuck with the original and a few diet deviations. I gotta wonder sometimes if it has to do with the govt. protected corn lobby and our use of corn syrup in soft drinks instead of sugar. From what I can tell, we're one of, if not the only, country in the world that uses corn syrup instead of sugar, which is a shame. Ever had Mexican Coke? Mmm...
kate — September 4, 2009
And if it's sold in Japan, then why is it labeled in English?
rachel — September 4, 2009
I seriously would try it. If I'm ever in Japan, I surely will.
bluey512 — September 4, 2009
Japanese products sold in the US are often labeled in Japanese. I don't think that's very weird. Probably because the national origin of the products in question, both Japanese and American, are part of the marketing.
I can't quite imagine how a cucumber soft drink would taste. I don't even like soft drinks, but I totally want to try this one.
PANIC — September 4, 2009
I absolutely trust Japan to deliver tasty treats. They haven't let me down yet.
As an aside, cucumbers are an amazing garnish on a G&T or martini.
Vettekaas — September 4, 2009
a bit off the topic, but when I was in Japan, I noticed that many flavors I encountered (in terms of chips, drinks, etc) tried to replicate the imitated flavor more faithfully than here in the US. For example, in the US, we've been accustomed to "grape flavor," "orange flavor" etc... and we know that these flavors actually taste nothing like grapes or oranges. But the grape drink I tried in Japan actually kind of reminded me of the taste of grapes more than the taste of grape flavor.
Kevin — September 4, 2009
Came out about 2 years ago I think (it was "new" when this video was made), and this video is probably a bit odd without knowing more about Cheapy and his site, but I thought I'd share since the post reminded me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wStu1hIag0
For CheapyD's review of Ice Cucumber (and its reaction to real cucumber...)
lucy — September 4, 2009
As another example, you can get corn sundaes at KFC in Thailand.
Jonah — September 4, 2009
I had some fantastic cucumber ice cream in Boston this summer. I'm sure this is delicious too.
meerkat — September 4, 2009
I have drunk that soda. It was good, but not good enough to get me to drink a lot of soda. I probably would have gotten another one eventually except it was replaced by Pepsi Shiso, which I found much more bizarre of an idea. It was pretty good too. (Shiso is a flavorful leaf that I had previously encountered mixed in with pickled plum.)
Christina M — September 4, 2009
If it were real cucumber, I'm sure it would be tasty. . .
Did anybody else notice the disgusting deep green color? Maybe it's really cucumber peel.
Fresh Cucumber » “Ice Cucumber” » Sociological Images — September 4, 2009
[...] here to see the original: “Ice Cucumber” » Sociological Images AKPC_IDS += "542,";Popularity: unranked [...]
Forestroad — September 4, 2009
They sell cucumber sparkling water at my co-op...it's delicious. But yeah, that pepsi color looks gross.
Elena — September 5, 2009
Japan has a big emphasis on seasonal foods — Kit Kat changes their chocolate flavors every few weeks (cherry blossom Kit Kats are sold every Spring to celebrate the end of the school year and examinations), Ramune is the stereotypical summer drink, and so on.
If you want to get really pedantic, the Japanese tradition of associating items to the rhythym of the seasons goes back a long way, and is an essential part of haiku.
Caus-Sto — September 7, 2009
Holy crap, that looks delicious.
maryanne — September 8, 2009
Here in China, I'm constantly discovering new, wholly unexpected flavors for ordinary things: cucumber, lychee, sea weed, and blue berry flavored potato chips; green pea and mung bean flavored popsicles; donuts sprinkled with a cotton-candy-style shrimp or pork fluff or filled with red/black bean paste or ham. You can buy aloe and mung bean yogurt. You can buy 'wheat' flavored soy milk.
Ike — December 8, 2009
Today, I had an orange, a cup of Mt. Dew, and a pack of dried seaweed for breakfast. Oh, the joys of being a college student. (In Massachusetts, by the way, if you were curious.)
grumphis — July 1, 2010
those seaweed chips look delicious! i don't know if it exists in the states, but we have seaweed flavoured rice chips up here in canada, and they're amazing with hummus.
Anonymous — July 2, 2010
I am living in Japan at the moment. (The current kitkat in Tokyo is Bitter Almond - last was Rasberry Framboise) I always have a look around the snack aisles because they change so often. Today i found Chocolate Milk Ice Tea...
But what I find odd is that I've noticed that Starbuck's America and Japan do ice tea, yet, Starbuck's in England don't. How come tea nation is devoid of ice tea? Weird.
DC Guide — August 4, 2010
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