Zooce | Japanese Translator For Hire

Zooce Sparkling is a new beverage from Japan that is very hip and very now. Teens and tweens have been drinking it while skateboarding and listening to hip-hop, or so we've read. American adults like us couldn't be more jealous of both the packaging and the taste, so we are begging our young overseas friends to lend us some. Guess we'll be sticking to our Metamucil and Grape Nuts until that time comes.

Look at the colorful animals. It's okay. Go ahead and touch them. They won't bite. Okay, so the leopard-spotted elephant probably might run you over, but only if you forget to feed his buddy the star-spangled moose. The plaid squirrel is harmless, as long as you promise to keep your hands off his nuts.

Now pour yourself a glass. Notice the light taste. Very fruity, right? Kind of like a new sort of hybrid juice/soda? Clear and sparkling and good, isn't it? Unlike many of the beloved sodas in our repertoire, this one goes down smooth, not even leaving behind a an afterparty mess in our bellies.

Zooce comes from the Suntory group. It's difficult to find any English information on the soda (so by all means, tell us what you know). My colleague reminded me of the Bill Murray scene from Lost in Translation where he films a Suntory whiskey commercial. And that, friends, is about all we got.

Fanta Muscat | Patience is Key

We're on a roll! Only four months since the last post!

I promised a casual stranger I'd sift through the ashes of "the Fizz" this week, to resurrect the project for a post on a particular beloved drink. A promise from my lips is a promise richer than goat's blood. I'm writing this review on a napkin, sitting on a neighbor's roof with a cherry stem in my mouth. I'm trying to do that thing where you tie the stem into a knot using only your tongue. Saw it on the internet once. I've been hiding from the fuzz since last night. They caught me in a cage sipping a bottle of Fanta Muscat through a (rare) hollowed-out (infant) elephant tusk.

Truth is, "the W.F." has been on my heart a ton lately. When a certain writing project comes to an end—and assuming I'll have found a cure for this rare neck disorder—I'd like to make this blog a more constant, less part-time gig. Right now it seems to be more of a part-part-part-part time gig. Except with more "parts." To those of you who fancy reading vital information related to sodas, I send my apologies. If there's anything you'd like to see in the future on our improved beta 3.1 site, shoot me an email. Or if you'd like, send me sodas. I'll always be willing to drink and write about them. Sometime before Armageddon.

On to the drink...

My third cousin purchased this bottle on a recent voyage to Japan. Japan is a village outside of Hungary, and if I'm not mistaken, it exists on a quaint hill overlooking springs and ferris wheels. Here in Japan, Muscadines run free, along with tiny leprous rabbits. Seriously, this drink is gooder than you can imagine. We drank it over ice, and immediately decided it was time to go sailing. And just so you can fully grasp the absurdity of our admiration, neither of us owns a sailboat, nor do we live by the water. We'd like to live by the water someday, but can only hope to do it after this gall-dern recession ends. Soda bloggers can't find work these days—who saw that coming?

I'd like to find some more bottles of this drink outside of France or Japan, so if you happen to be in-the-know, help a brother out!

Have a great summer, caffeine luvrs. See you soon.