50th Post - dorinku.com launched!

To celebrate our 50th! post we're launching a dedicated url just for our site...


dorinku.com


...is the place to point your browsers at from now on.


Thanks for reading and just remember, "The feeling of wood in milk is drinking tea..".

Tea for 2? [KIRIN | Milk Tea]

This was an enjoyable milk tea beverage, it was refreshing and mellow and didn't taste artificial or cludgy like other milk teas. It tasted like milk tea should taste.

The drink is manufactured by Kirin, and the bottle contains quite a large amount of tea (500ml), and my only complaint if any would be that it was hard to drink more than half in a sitting which could be inconvenient if you're on the go and don't want to carry a half bottle of tea around. However in my case, I was greatful for that extra half when I woke up with a hangover this morning.

The tea flavour is quite mild, and it might have been better if it was a stronger brew, also the amount milk seemed inadequate creating a slightly watery taste. Overall though, if you're looking for a milk tea this is the best I've had so far. There's a review of another milk tea by asianbev, have a look for an alternative take on milk teas.


Taste (6.5)

Weirdness (2)

Satisfaction (7)

Update: The feeling of wood in milk is drinking tea..

Sports? [POCARI SWEAT | Ion Supply Drink]

It's gonna be a bit hard to give this drink a full review as I drank it last night after getting home from a big night out, and my memory from that point isn't great.

I've had Pocari Sweat before a few times and it's quite a pleasant drink. It's somewhat akin to sports drinks such as gatorade or similar and I would best describe it's flavour as mild grapefruit without the real bitterness. You could also say that it's a but lemony, but not like lemonade, and again it's only a mild resemblance to lemon.

The drink is manufactured by a Japanese company called Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd however the bottle pictured here is the South Korean version which references a Korean website. The choice of the name is quite intersting and whilst it may not be that appealing to westerners it certainly is targeting the right audience, ie. people who sweat. According to Wikipedia, the word Pocari translates to, "like a cloud floating in the sky" and means something like lightness or buoyancy.

It's most closely related to the drink Calpis reviewed earlier by asianbev although it's not milky like Calpis/Calpico.

As a sports drink it's got the right stuff in it to replenish the lost nutrients in your sweat and the flavour is quite enjoyable. It's not the sort of drink I would have regulalry, but definitely if I've been exercising it's appeal increases.



Taste (6.5)

Weirdness (6) for the name

Satisfaction (7.5)

Chunks [POKKA | aloe v - blueberry juice]

Light on the blueberrys, but high on the chunks this drink was refreshing but could have been a bit tastier.

Manufactured by Pokka, this juice is a flavoured aloe vera, supposedly blueberry flavour, however without the text on the can you'd think it was grape. Accordingly the ingredients listed on the can are 3.3% blueberry juice, 1.5% grape juice and 17% aloe vera juice and pulp bits.

This drink seems to have been designed with an overseas market in mind as it's one of the few cans that has almost entirely western text on. One side is English and the other Spanish, with ingredients listed in English, Spanish, French and Hungarian?

The chunks are nice and give you something to strain out with your teeth and chew after you swallow the juice.

Overall it's refreshing crisp style was worthwhile, but it's flavour was a bit watery.

Taste (6)

Weirdness (2.5)

Satisfaction (6.5)

Mmmm... [CROWN | Choco Heim]

Now these are tasty tasty treats! I really enjoy having chocolate when there's something crunchy like wafers with it, and this is exactly the right combination. Wafer 'sticks' with soft hazelnut and milk chocolate in the centre.

I've gone through a few boxes of these in my day, and it's a snack that I'll keep going back to. The crisp wafers on the outside are very crunchy yet light enough so that they don't cover the taste of the chocolate within. The only negative about these snacks is that the boxes only contain 5 individually wrapped Heims, which is never enough!

"Being Loved long Crown Heim" - Manufactured in South Korea by Crown.

Taste (8.5)

Weirdness (4.5)

Satisfaction (8)

only 500.. [KWANG DONG | Vita500]

Not sure what to say about this, they say good things come in small packages, but this 100ml brown bottle of C didn't quite do it for me, although again I was greatful for any fluids this morning to nurse the hangover. It doesn't actually say what the 500 refers to although I assume it means 500mg of C, which isn't a great deal imho. It says on the label that it represents 0.50% of the "Daily Value". I have chewable vitamin C tablets that are 250mg a pop and I don't think that is really a lot.

The flavour was unusual in that it didn't taste like orange or anything that springs to mind or is associated with vitamin C. It was sweet and slightly syrupy, but the taste wasn't great, sort of like a mild version of a bad cough medicine, and drinking it out of brown bottle helps to give you the illusion that that's exactly what it is.

Although my body was probably greatful for the C, this is not a drink I will be getting again any time soon... asianbev has reviewed other C drinks which are probably much better, buy those instead!

Taste (3)

Weirdness (6)

Satisfaction (1)

More chunks [JIN JIN | Lychee Coconut Jelly]

Yes, I love lychees, and lychee jellys with coconut chunks are no exception.

These mini tubs of lychee jelly are quite tasty, but I've had better. This particular brand sports the addition of little chunks of coconut embedded in the jelly, which quite fankly - works .. It gives you something a little bit more chewy to contend with as you slurp the jelly down. There's only one left in the packet there... damn they go quick!


Taste (8)

Weirdness (2)

Satisfaction (6)

[Calpis | Calpico]

This is one of the most popular drinks in Japan (along with Ramune Soda.) In it's native country it is called Calpis Water, but in the English-speaking world, it is known as Calpico (because Calpis sounds too much like "Cow Piss".) The name Calpis means Calcium (cal) good taste (pis).

Quotes on the bottle include:

• original flavor
• refreshingly sweet and tangy
• non-carbonated soft drink
• tastes like nothing else in the world. refreshing and light, sweet and tangy flavors
• Hello Kitty -- (this is a special edition kind of like Santa on cans of Coke at Christmas time

This is a very sweet water with a very light milky taste. If you're not a milk fan, don't let this deter you, because it's incredibly subtle, and you might be surprised. I'm not blown away by amazing flavor, but this is something I could drink most days because of it's subtle refreshingness.





Taste (8)

Weirdness (4)

Satisfaction (9)

More Lychees [TAO TI | LYCHEE WATER]

Aah lychee... the fact that they import these things to Australia makes me truly greatful! Lychee is probably a fruit that would automatically get high satisfaction ratings from me, and this drink is no exception.

It's a bit milder than the straight lychee juice I reviewed earlier, and accordingly it's labelled as a lychee water. The mildness has it's advantages, as it makes the drink smoother and easier to consume.

Lychees in general have such a unique taste, and drinking a beverage like this really reminds of their unique nature. The flavour is somewhat reminiscent of a fragrance, the kind you would expect to smell on a bunch of sweet scented flowers, yet you can drink it down.

"Looking for something different, something exotic? Pampers your desires. Opens you up to a brave new world of sensuousness."

I don't know who wrote that, but a "brave new world" based on a single beverage might be taking it a little too far, but who am I to disagree?

The drink is produced by a company called Telford International under the brand name Tao Ti , which distribute from Hong Kong.

Taste (9)

Weirdness (3)

Satisfaction (9.5)

2,500 mg Vitamin C [Pine | Fruit Rings]

The Lemon 1000 makes a nice compliment to Fruit Rings brought to us from a Japanese company called Pine. The Fruit Rings contain individually wrapped Life Savers filled with Pop Rocks all through them making for a nice 2 in 1 candy experience. The Pop Rocks explode whenever you suck the Life Saver down in size to the points in the candy structure which they reside. The 2 flavors you're forced into getting in each sack are the awesome lemon and the not so hot green apple (shouldn't this flavor have died out with the 80s.) The bag of around 24 Fruit Rings contains 2,500 mg of Vitamin C - 45 times more than a human being can absorb in a day's time.


Taste (7)

Weirdness (6)

Satisfaction (5)

1,000 mg Vitamin C [Pokka | Lemon 1000]

Japan is a culture obsessed with indicating the amount of Vitamin C contained in a product on the packaging. In the case of Pokka's Lemon 1000, it's 1000 milligrams - about 15 times more than your body is capable of absorbing and using a day. Thanks.

It doesn't taste too bad, but it's a lot more simple than I was hoping for. It basically amounts to a heap of lemon juice squirted into
water. There's enough lemon that you can't call it lemon water, but there's enough water that you couldn't call it lemon juice. Both flavors exist in a nice harmony. I wish that there was more sugar to sweeten it up like lemon flavored candy. As it is now, it's a bit much on the sour side.


Taste (5)

Weirdness (3)

Satisfaction (4)

[Taste Nirvana | Thai Coffee]

Crap.


Part of me wishes I could stop my review at that, but I will trudge on. This is my second and perhaps final stab at a Taste Nirvana Thai drink product. Much like the Creamy Thai Tea, the Thai Coffee has a decent taste but a miserable artificial aftertaste almost certainly caused by it's dairy substitutes and preservatives. The flavor of the coffee is crisp yet rich. I think Thai coffee has the potential to be excellent, but Taste Nirvana fails to provide it in bottle format. My biggest gripe is that it is full of floating white chunks of dairy/sugar/preservatives. They have the consistency of wax and there's nothing that can be done to avoid them. In other words, even if all you want is to drink some Thai Coffee, with this product you're going to be eating a mouthful of wax in the process. Taste Nirvana - thank you. Thank you for letting us all down again. On a continent of superior coffee, it doesn't make sense to go with one that barely makes the grade.



Taste (4)

Weirdness (2)

Satisfaction (2)